Posted in Short Stories

My friend Lulu sent me a short story that she has written.  I think you'll enjoy it.  Please be sure to leave a comment and let her know your thoughts.


 
                8 year old Katie Beddows felt tears sting her eyes as she hugged her father in the train station. He released her and turned to hug her twin sister Kathy and then her mother.
 
                It was 2006 and Jim Beddows was going off to Iraq to fight. His brown eyes were shadowed with pain as he surveyed his family.
 
                He ascended the steps of the train and disappeared from Katie's sight. As the train slowly moved out of the station she unashamedly let her tears flow.
 
                Later that evening Katie's family was gathered in the living room. "Mommy," Katie asked pushing back a lock of her straight blonde hair.
 
                "Yes dear?" her mother responded.
 
                "What do you think Daddy is doing right now?"
 
                "Well he should be calling us soon so you can ask him yourself."
 
                As she said the phone rang a few minutes later. "Hello," Mrs. Beddows said. After a few minutes of conversation she turned the phone on speakerphone.              
 
                "Hi girls," he said.
 
                "Hello Daddy," they responded gathering around the phone.
 
                "What are you doing?" he asked.
 
                "I'm sewing something for you." Kathy responded playfully.
 
                "I miss you, Daddy." Katie said in her soft voice.
 
                "I miss you too, honey."
 
                They continued talking and soon they ended the conversation. Later that evening Katie cried herself to sleep as she thought of everything that could happen to him. She loved her father and couldn't live without him.
 
 
 
 
 
 
                8 months later Lieutenant Jim Beddows sat in the office trying to comprehend what his commanding officer was saying.
 
                "Now there is no guarantee that anyone will make it back from this mission but we have to try," the man said.
 
                The army had decided that Jim should lead 3 men into dangerous territory by night to gather information. Jim knew that the chance of their making it back was slight and he was worried. He did not fear death-for he was a Christian- but he worried about what would happen to his family if he died.
 
                When he left the office he went to his room and sought comfort by seeking his heavenly Father in prayer. He finished with a peace that whatever happened, God would provide for his family. 
 
                That evening the men set out. As they walked along the ground in the danger zone Jim could see fear in the other men's faces-a fear which he himself felt.
 
                All of a sudden he heard voices and footsteps running along the ground. They were discovered. He heard bullets punching the air.  Next to him Sergeant Hines fell and up ahead Bradford yelled in pain and pitched forward. Jim felt a searing pain in his thigh and, realizing that they could go no farther, started to run back. His thigh burned with every step. When he entered the thick woods his mind started to reel. He staggered a few more steps and fell headlong. Everything went black.
 
 
 
 
 
                Katie was jumping rope in front of her house when Kathy ran up behind her and snagged her rope. Katie turned around and chased her around the yard. She finally caught her and pushed her to the ground and tickled her.
 
                "Katie, stop!" Kathy shrieked.
 
                "You deserve it!" Katie giggled. "Why did you do that?" she asked stopping and leaning back.
 
                "Because I felt like."
 
                "Katie, could you collect the mail please?" her mother called.
 
                "Okay Mom," she responded. She sauntered to the mailbox, grabbed the thick stack of mail and started walking toward the house, sorting through the mail as she did so.
 
                "What's in it?" Kathy asked. It was a family rule that whoever retrieved the mail could look at it first, but that didn't keep anybody from asking.
 
                "Um, Junk… junk… oh-here is our American Girl magazine. And there's more junk… hmm, here is a strange letter addressed to mom."
 
                They reached the house and Katie said, "Mommy there is a strange letter for you."
 
                "Here let me see it," Mrs. Beddows replied wiping her wet hands on a dishtowel. She took the letter from Katie and studied it for a moment. Her face turn pale and she sank down into a chair. With trembling hands she opened it and Katie leaned over her shoulder to read it.
 
                "Dear Mrs. Beddows," it began, "we are sorry to inform you that Lieutenant Beddows went missing while on a mission a few days ago. We have recovered his body and are flying it to you for burial-"
 
                "No!" Katie shrieked feeling as if her heart had been torn in two. She felt her mother's arms encircle her but she tore herself away and ran to her room. She threw herself onto the bed and sobbed. "He can't be dead. I love him," she thought. Katie's worst nightmare had come true.
 
 
 
 
 
 
                Jim awoke that morning with a new sense of determination. He had been hiding from the insurgents in a ditch for 3 days. He had survived by eating berries and drinking sparingly from his water canteen. This morning he decided that he would attempt to go back to camp. It was a treacherous journey with 15 miles between him and the camp. It would take him twice as long with his hurt leg. The wound didn't seem to be doing well so he wanted to get to a doctor quickly.
 
                When darkness began to envelop the land he set out. He limped along as quickly and as quietly as possible.  Five hours after he started he heard a sentry challenge him.  "It's me, Lieutenant Beddows," Jim called out weakly. He stumbled a few more steps and fainted.
 
                Jim awoke in a hospital bed. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his mind. Suddenly he remembered the incidents of the previous days and looked down at his leg in alarm. It was still there. He fell back against the pillow with a sigh.
 
                "Ah Lieutenant, you're awake," said a doctor coming to his bed.
 
                "How is my leg Doctor?" Jim asked.
 
                "Well it will never be the same again. You will always walk with a limp but it won't have to amputated. You are going to receive an honorable discharge."
 
                Jim suddenly spotted his commanding officer approaching. "Lieutenant you surprised us," the man said. "We thought you were dead. We found the remains of another soldier and assumed it was you. We already sent a notice to your family saying that you had been killed and that we were going to send the body for the burial. As a matter of fact we are planning on just sending you instead as a surprise. In a week you will be able to see your family again."
               
                Jim, almost fully recovered, gently lowered himself into the seat in the tiny airplane.
               
                A little man entered the plane and sat down next to him. "Hi I'm Barry Weaver," he said in a nasal tone. Jim hid a smile in the back of his hand.
 
                "I am a reporter here in Iraq and I heard your story. I think it would make an interesting story and I am going to travel with you."
 
                "Well it is good to have you Barry. I'll have someone to talk to during the flight."
 
                Jim looked out the window as the plane lifted from the ground and gave a sigh of satisfaction. He was going home.
 
 
 
 
                Katie splashed water on her face in an attempt to wash off the tear stains. "Katie," her mother called. "We need to go to meet the plane now."
 
                Katie walked slowly to the car and slid in next to her sister. Kathy smiled weakly at her and turned her head away quickly. She was not the kind of girl who showed her feeling easily.
 
                The whole drive to the airport Katie fought to keep her tears from falling. A few neighbors were gathered there. They stood on the runway as the plane that carried her father's body taxied in. Katie swallowed hard and a solitary tear slid down her cheek.
 
                The door of the airplane slid open and the steps fell down. A man's legs appeared and then when she looked up she saw that the legs belonged to her father. She gave a shrill cry and flew forward dimly aware that Kathy was following her. Her father knelt down and the girls ran into his arms. Tears ran down Katie's face as she embraced the father she thought she would never see again.
 
                The next morning the family was eating breakfast. "Girls look you're in the newspaper," Katie's father said. Katie rushed over and looked at the paper.
 
                Barry Weaver had snapped a picture while the girls were embracing their father. Kathy's face was radiant, but Katie's face portrayed the deep emotions that she felt.
 
                Katie lay her head down on his knee and sighed with contentment.
 
 
 
 
 
        P.S. I thought of this story when I saw a picture of a soldier hugging two little blonde girls. One little girl was crying and the other one was smiling. It was such a sweet picture that I kept looking at it until this story came to me.