You Got Me Through the War

Charlotte was washing the dishes rather lazily as she daydreamed out the window. She saw the winds blowing through the tall grass and could hear her two younger brothers playing. How glad she was that they were too young to be taken into the army when the War broke out. They were just children, barely ten and eleven years of age. Of course, many of her dear friends had been lost to the War and they could be no older than 21. The creak of the gate at the front of the house and footsteps on the gravel path broke Charlotte's concentration. She turned and absentmindedly began speaking to her father whom she thought was entering the house from the barn.
"Father, would you like me to collect..." said she before meeting the gaze of the man who entered the house.
She gasped and dropped the plate she was holding. It shattered on the floor.
"My dear Charlie Horse. Dropping plates? How very unlike you," chuckled Thomas.
She had grown into quite the beauty since he had last seen her. She was taller and had a more elegant, womanly figure than the gangly girl he had left behind. It wasn't until he met her gaze as she finished picking up the pieces of the shattered plate that he realized the true impact of his sudden reappearance.
"Thomas, what are you doing here?" she questioned coldly.
"Well, I came to see my friend but she seems to have been replaced by a grown up. Do you know where I could find Charlie?" he probed trying to use her childhood nickname as bait to open her up.
"It's Charlotte. My name is Charlotte."
Taken aback by the hostility in her voice, Thomas decided to say the things he had rehearsed one too many times in the trenches.
"I'm alive. Charlie, I am alive and I came home to you."
"Why?"
Her hands moved furiously through the dirty dishes in the sink trying to process the reappearance of the neighbor boy. He walked up behind her like he used to when they were children and he would tease her about her chores. She could feel him behind her and could smell his intoxicating scent. It was as if he had been walking through a pine forest and to Charlotte, it was heavenly. She began to lean into him when he said something that made her eyes fly open and flung her out of her fantasy.
"I came back because I love you."
She froze, unsure of how to respond.
"No you don't love me. You couldn't possibly. You don't know me anymore. The War changed me. The War changed everyone."
He backed away, angered and hurt by her words.
"You can't tell me that I don't love you," he countered. "You don't know how many times I laid in those trenches paralyzed by fear and thoughts of you would bring me back to life."
He strolled across the room putting a great distance between them. Charlotte turned to face him and suddenly saw a different man in from of her. He was no longer the scrawny boy from next door. He was taller and stronger than ever before. Yet, a certain sadness existed in his eyes. It was as if he had seen the pits of Hell but had never been able to tell anyone what they looked like. She saw his mouth begin to move before her mind registered that he was talking to her.
"I will repeat myself Charlotte. I love you. In the way a king loves a queen, or as a hero loves a heroine, and even as a man could love his wife."
She stood silently trying to formulate a reply to Thomas's sudden admission.
"Charlotte, my dearest, please say something or bid me farewell as a fool."
Finally, Charlotte gathered her courage and her thoughts enough to speak.
"Thomas, you went of to war and I heard nothing of you for four years. Four years of silence and now you come home to admit a secret admiration?!"
Tears flowed freely down her face as she continued to speak, her tone ranging from anguish to anger. As she crossed the room towards him, she lowered her voice and said, "Surely you must understand how hard this is for me. Not once did I receive a letter or even a carrier pigeon. I thought you had died. I mourned and made peace with that fact that you were never coming home and then you arrive here today claiming that I am your true love."
Thomas took her face in his hands, attempting to comfort her while brushing away her tears.
"Shhhh. I'm sorry, my love. I did not mean to cause this much grief in your life. If you wish it, I will leave now and not come back."
He held her to his chest as the sobs racked her body. Then, silence. She had heard his offer and silently she nodded into his chest. Thomas let her go and began to walk towards the door. He turned around to catch one final glimpse at his beloved Charlie Horse when she called after him.
"Thomas! You may be able to return one day but I simply need time to heal."
He nodded and tipped his hat to her before exiting the property. She couldn't see it but a small smile tugged at his lips. Thomas was going to win back Charlotte if it was the last thing he could do.