Before you read! *Optional* If you want, please listen to this song while reading!
These months without you, my love682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswPc6VhHsq
Have felt like years of being alone682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJnYzwKLuVw
How I miss the presence of your warmth682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75CcrqBt4I
And the things that can't be seen through the telephone
"I've been doing well," she breathes steadily into the receiver, careful to not wake the children.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDUFafPtCPB
"That's good!" Her husband replies, his voice sending a sad smile across her face. "How are they?"682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAtCzXuf0vL
She sighs, unable to shake the wavering in her voice. "They both miss you with all . . . Their . . . Hearts." She begins to cry softly.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG70QkBHBOR
"Why are you crying?" He asks gently. How she wished she could just feel him again, see his face again.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyQfZ1OlYS
"I don't know how much longer I can do this . . . " She answers honestly. "I just miss you so much."682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2CF4MowfH
He pauses for a moment, the dull tone of feedback accompanying her silent tears. "Don't worry, beautiful,"--his voice grows soft--"I'll be home before you know it." He promises.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQYCkz6G0a
"Okay." She smiles again. "I'll see you before you know it!"682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVCMgVLSdM
After saying goodbye for the thousandth time, she once again goes to sleep on a bed that feels too large.
I miss the way you looked into the sky682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEtveOJXlG
Before they were filled with ash and gray682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAsmlgmqJh
And I miss how we would dance through the night682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuCYX8RDc6
Casting all our cares away
She runs to work after walking her two young children to school. Today she gave her children her breakfast. As soon as she clocks in she slips on her rubber gloves and mask, then begins to build war tanks and airplanes. The sparks burn small holes on her clothing, but she continues, knowing that they'll help her husband fight.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTabqDGlqaq
Lunch is a cheese sandwich on the end pieces of bread.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqfk5sHPAM
She goes back to welding.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwV0THYcXm
And leaves to walk her children home.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGPif4vJShg
She gives them watery, tasteless vegetable soup for dinner. And prays that she'll be able to live a life again in which she can feed her children until they can't eat another bite.
Yellow slips of paper682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNZwkWA0Vq
Are what terrify me the most682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MZSYTJfL9
And I sometimes have sleepless nights wondering682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbwLMhtLjp
Are my wife and children going to receive one of those?
It's late, but she tunes the radio until the voice speaking through it clears a bit. She can barely make out what it says, and she closes her eyes to try and sort through the static.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7y5LxjqMbT
Another defeat is revealed. She sits on the couch through the entire night, worrying about the safety of her husband even more. And as the sun rises, she goes to wake her children to start her day again.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYWNUb1JPP
At work two weeks later a messenger arrives carrying a handful of telegrams, delivering them somberly to several women. Four women received two.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3V2GPmdEm
A very young, small woman with a growing stomach falls on her knees as she reads her telegram. And her sobs echo throughout the warehouse. No one can comfort the young woman. The messenger leaves without giving her one, yet she doesn't want to get her hopes up.
I was able to scavenge a slip of paper,682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmaveUrDEJn
A stamp and a stub of pencil682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7qCys3aup
All that's left is to write a single letter682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooOEhYxpvT
Just to make sure that my family isn't living in tensile
Another year has passed, followed by another letter sent. Another reminder that he's still alive, still waiting until the day he returns to them. She returns it to the worn envelope in which it came from, atop a stack of past letters. Then, she waves her children goodbye as they walk to school, leaving for work in the other direction soon afterwards.
Our enemy has been defeated682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTNfoDPf3Gl
They wave their white flag682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWCKcsDsb1P
And after a night of celebration682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡegAbcZFXWt
They tell us to pack our bags682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdH4GmHvL1
We're going home
It seems like all of America cheers as listeners tune in to the broadcast. The surrendering of Germany means that America's warriors are finally returning. Her small family begins to dance around the living room, already dreaming of the day they get to see their father, her husband, in the same room once again.
The plane begins to land682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWopOwcJyzW
I'm finally going home682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnuP9gXExtD
And I can't wait to see682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSvZ6M8GL4N
How much my children have grown
She daintily applies a layer of powder on her and her daughter's face. And for her son she smooths down his wind-blown hair. For six years they've grown without a father. Her daughter is now sixteen; her son is fourteen.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEHkZMuDYuJ
For six years she's prayed for her husband's safety, prayed for him to return to her and their children. She's worked countless hours for the first time in her life, had years of sleepless nights, received 104 letters, and still knew that he would one day return.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVUQ80lXN0i
In the dark of the night the three leave. Many houses along the way are abuzz after the return of fathers, brothers, and sons. She feels a silent tension and excitement buzzing in the air, yet she can't help but feel nervous and nauseous.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7yscVadMEH
They pass one soldier. Two. Seven. None of them are the one they're looking for. She sees a crowd gathering near an area, and she leads her family in that direction. "Over here," she tells them quietly.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8nSnABTgx
As they walk a large plane comes into view beyond the crowd. They begin to witness families being reunited as men step off the plane. She looks around for her husband.
I can always notice her face first682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJTWM8SScL
Even from miles away682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSuzoFnCHO
Whether it's the darkest night682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVrv7LpELx
Or the brightest day
Her son gasps and runs ahead. Soon after, his sister follows. She pokes her head above the crowd, looking for her children. And then it seems like time stops and the world pauses as she sees him. He's embracing his children, seemingly squeezing them as hard as he could. She walks through the crowd and that's when their eyes meet. His children release them and they look towards their mother. Tears well in her eyes as she looks at the face that she's missed every single day for the last six years. The two walk towards each other and unconsciously, she wraps her arms tightly around him, as if she'd lost control of her body. Maybe it was the shock that accompanied his return.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCQFcdap1r
"You have no idea how much I've missed all of you." He whispers into her ear.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeH7Ax8e2UO
"I love you so much," she replies, the sound of his voice bringing her back from her astonishment.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRINyHKPmTx
"And I'll never stop loving you." He replies, smoothing down her hair in order to kiss her forehead. "I've missed six years of my family's lives, but I'm here now. I'm back. And I'm here to stay."682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhmuLDzdkc
They pull back, and after looking into each other's eyes for the first time in six years, they kiss warmly and she pulls him against her tighter.682Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafd9l6FfMH
"We have so much to tell you," she leans against him as their family walks home to celebrate his return.
I know I crossed the 700-word approximation by a lot, and I know that you may or may not have finished reading before the song ended. I just really liked the story and where it was going. I'm sorry I played the pronoun game the whole time, but I just thought that it would be better to be vague in order to show off how the war could affect any family, not just singling out one. Thank you for reading and making it through!
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