Before you read! *Optional* If you want, please listen to this song while reading!
These months without you, my love573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJCSODC3Htt
Have felt like years of being alone573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhv3urLRGeb
How I miss the presence of your warmth573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡatYql4weuw
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1k1eZZX2HE
"That's good!" Her husband replies, his voice sending a sad smile across her face. "How are they?"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm0dpivbTbr
She sighs, unable to shake the wavering in her voice. "They both miss you with all . . . Their . . . Hearts." She begins to cry softly.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHkPgwFKuk
"Why are you crying?" He asks gently. How she wished she could just feel him again, see his face again.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXyePqD5W9p
"I don't know how much longer I can do this . . . " She answers honestly. "I just miss you so much."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkLOjkBn2T7
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuUwUnbEwP
"Okay." She smiles again. "I'll see you before you know it!"573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZFKHRPumy
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 sky573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJoCanLyQ0d
Before they were filled with ash and gray573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfdkVvo69a
And I miss how we would dance through the night573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROWF2fbQMz
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmiSFomf93
Lunch is a cheese sandwich on the end pieces of bread.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgMkuieOczb
She goes back to welding.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxdABPOWzqB
And leaves to walk her children home.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0msoJ2yHaq
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 paper573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1xkTgwcH3
Are what terrify me the most573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0T2bAV6jT
And I sometimes have sleepless nights wondering573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdqlEaIwcuP
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSFK37fNrw
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgOPGZVpdw1
At work two weeks later a messenger arrives carrying a handful of telegrams, delivering them somberly to several women. Four women received two.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyB2xSNURW
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,573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡna1Eacmdkh
A stamp and a stub of pencil573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKBpa5Dkpp
All that's left is to write a single letter573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlZHszC8sOF
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 defeated573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXx8MR5dDP5
They wave their white flag573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbsiJBtTace
And after a night of celebration573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyXsMSqSoC
They tell us to pack our bags573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLpoAVYTnu
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 land573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RzjY3jY0F
I'm finally going home573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxlwS5JrNg
And I can't wait to see573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4nXTtoyR9
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApSiRdnBic
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw71dd4DXZD
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRhYLUiD2q
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBjlbp3hzl
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 first573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl17WfQ3MK3
Even from miles away573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSjCqKlpMz
Whether it's the darkest night573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfsyWMYUQ97
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8y1PWA6op
"You have no idea how much I've missed all of you." He whispers into her ear.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwS3cbS5KBw
"I love you so much," she replies, the sound of his voice bringing her back from her astonishment.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaHexGJVBV
"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."573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2rybtJQMC
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.573Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyKQnEzQgX
"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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