Repeated History
A Short Story by Jaimie
It is the year 2014 and I am sitting beside the tombstone of my beloved. "Leo," I breath out as a chilling wind passes over me. "She’s growing so fast. She’ll be six this Christmas. I wish you were here. She looks so sad at times as she watches the other children and their fathers," I whisper as a lone tear trickles down my cheek.
"Miss?" comes an aged and weathered voice from beside me.
I look to my right to see an old woman with graying hair staring at me with knowing eyes.
"Did you lose someone in the War of Times too?" she asks me.
I can see the pain in her eyes as she glances at the tombstone of one Lieutenant Steven Hudson. A few more tears escape my eyes as I nod.
"Yes, I did. I lost my husband, Leo, on Christmas, the day of my daughter’s birth." I reply in a soft voice.
"I lost Steven on Christmas too, our forty year wedding anniversary." she tells me.
"Oh, I’m so sorry," I whisper as I can relate to her and her pain.
I return my gaze to Leo’s tombstone.
"The pain never goes away, does it?" I quietly ask her.
I can feel her force a smile.
"No, I’m afraid not. It does get better, but it never leaves," she says to me.
We sit there in silence as the cold December wind once more dances around us.
"You know, it does help to talk about it," she spoke in an unsure voice. I could feel the surprise rise as she spoke those words, the same words Leo told me the day we met. I nod and more tears fall as I remember.
"I met Leo six months before the war was announced. In fact, I met him on Christmas..."
I was sitting on a bench beside the fountain on Main Street when he came up to me. He looked so beautiful as he stood there in the pale moonlight.
"Now why would a pretty woman like you waste her time frowning?" he asked me with that sly smirk of his.
For once that night I smiled. He sat down beside me.
"C’mon... You can tell me," he said in a caring manner.
I felt like I could tell him anything.
"It’s the ten year anniversary of the day my father died," I whispered in a hoarse voice.
I stole a quick glance at his face to see regret written over his face.
"I’m sorry, I had no idea," he told me.
"It’s okay.. How could you have known?" We sat there in silence and I expected him to stand and leave.
"You know, it does help to talk about it," he whispered.
"My father is Lieutenant Lucas Stambaugh. He died in the War of ‘98 on Christmas day.. He sacrificed himself to save his platoon and the lives of the various prisoner’s held captive by the enemy,." I told him.
I saw him look up at the stars.
"My brother died in that war too. He died the day after Christmas, his birthday." he spoke slowly.
"I’m sorry," I whispered.
"It’s okay,. I guess I’m over it now. It still hurts, you know," he confessed. I nodded.
"I know exactly how you feel," I told him. He looked me in the eyes with that child like smile and I couldn’t help but blush. I had finally found someone who knew exactly what I was going through, someone my age. He was someone I could relate to. We started going together about a week later.
Six months later we were married at that fountain and said our "I Do’s" in the fountain’s water. Then my world came crashing down when they announced a draft for the coming war. I knew at once that Leo would have to go and I couldn’t risk losing him. Especially since I was six months pregnant. I needed him. I rushed to the car and drove a little too fast to his construction business. I drove right off the road and into a tree. I was rushed to the hospital that night and that’s where Leo met me.
"Oh thank God you and the baby are alright," he breathed as he kissed my hand.
I smiled and then the tears came as I remembered why I was driving in the first place.
"Lynden? What’s wrong?" he asked me with worry in his voice.
"Please, I can’t lose you. Not with the baby on the way. Please don’t go to war," I begged him.
The look he gave me told me it was too late
"No! Please, Leo! Don’t leave me!" I said in a higher tone than I had planned.
"I’m sorry, Lynden. I have to make sure that our baby is born in a world free from tyranny," he told me in that soft voice of his.
"Why not let someone else do it?" I begged him as the tears rapidly spilled down my face.
"Because I need to do it," he whispered in my ear.
"Please don’t go," I whimpered as he stood up.
In that instant I saw my father the day he left for war. I now knew how my mother felt and realized I was asking him the same thing she had all those years ago.
I dried my tears and looked at him as the pride and love filled my heart.
"Just come home safe. Please," I whispered as I looked into his loving eyes.
I saw that smile creep onto his face and I couldn’t help but laugh. That night he was deployed for training. The next two months I received letters from him, and it was like I was right there with him. Then the letters stopped coming at the time he was deployed for war.
I could feel the fear grip me, but I constantly told myself he just didn’t have the time to write now that he was fighting. A month later I went into labor and delivered a full term baby girl I decided to name Sophia, after Leo’s mother. As I was holding my baby after everything was done I received a letter delivered by one of the Army’s messengers.
My heart began to pound as I opened it. I let out a heart breaking cry and held Sophia close as I read the words that had forever changed my life for the worse.
"To Mrs. Corporal Leo D’Boi,
I am deeply sorry, but on December 23, 2008 Corporal Leo D’Boi and his squad were surprised by an ambush. Corporal Leo D’Boi fought hard and survived the initial attack. He died two days later on December 25, 2008 of an infection caused by the toxins that were dropped on the squad. I am very sorry for your loss. Corporal Leo D’Boi will be awarded the medal of honor for sacrificing his life to save his squad, and the lives of the prisoner’s taken hostage by the enemy. I am pleased to say that all squad members and former prisoner’s of war are alive and are currently recovering. Again, I am deeply sorry for your loss.
Regards,
General William Stark"
That night after putting Sophia down to sleep I made my way to the hospital church.
"I asked that you not let harm befall Leo. I don’t mean to sound spiteful, but why would you do this to Sophia? Never give her chance to know her father? Never give Leo the chance to know his daughter?" I prayed and spent the whole night crying in the front pew.
I look over to see the woman silently crying beside Steven’s tombstone.
"I’m so sorry," she whispers to me as she take me into a comforting hug.
At first, I am surprised but then I relax and cry into her shoulder. I pull back after a few moments and give her a smile.
"I guess it’s true when they say history has a way of repeating itself." I whisper as my almost six year old daughter comes toddling up to me with a smile on her face and snowflakes in her hair.
"Mama? Can I talk to daddy now?" she asks me. I laugh and nod.
"Sure, baby. Take your time," I say as the woman and myself walk back to watch her sit down and talk to Leo.
The whole time her smile never falters. "Everything’s going to be alright, I just know it," I whisper to Leo.
The wind dances with my hair as if Leo was playing with it the way he used to. I instantly knew he was telling me that life would get better; and I can’t help but believe that.