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(Summer/Fall,1942)- It was a warm, humid day on a Navajo Reservation somewhere along the desert plains of Arizona.
Karla Deer-runner knew that it would rain soon, for she could smell it on the wind, gently blowing through the rusted door screen of the makeshift shack. She sat down on the slightly worn armchair in the living room, faintly smiling as she remembered when her fiancé had showed her their soon-to-be home. That fiancé was now her newlywed husband, and that husband was getting ready to head off to war. The smile faded as that thought dawned on her for the umpteenth time that morning. Now frowning, she rose and started purposely ascending the creaky staircase leading to their bedroom. Karla stopped and leaned against the open doorway, silently looking on as her husband attempted to wrestle with the straps of his U.S. Military duffel bag.
"Gah!… Goddamn straps won't… Stay!", Arden muttered angrily as he punched the bag. Hitting something hard, he inhaled sharply and quickly wrapped his injured fist with his other hand; Letting it out slowly when he turned on his heel to find his wife staring at him, with a mix of surprise and suppressed laughter on her face. Relaxing his face, he tried to smile, causing Karla to start laughing out loud. When she calmed down enough to breathe, she said shakily, "Here, let me help you with that thing."
And before he knew what was happening, she had the bag looking neat and nicely strapped in together, almost like a Christmas present.
Admiring her handiwork, she sighed, "There! That should be good to go!…", then she quickly added, "Oh! That reminds me- breakfast is ready whenever you want it. So when you're done… Packing… Just come down, all right?" Then she straightened up and started walking toward the door. He started to say her name, then he stopped. She turned around and looked at him with those big brown eyes, quietly questioning him, he then assured her by simply saying, "I'll be down shortly, Kay-Kay. I just want to wash up really quick." She Nodded somewhat serenely and descended the stairs.
After he had made sure that Karla left, Arden stealthily approached the dresser in the corner of the room. He silently opened his top sock drawer, and picked up a oddly lumped pair of socks, unrolling the thing reverently to reveal an old matchbox. Quickly, he fixed the contents of the drawer just as the way he found it, and headed for the doorway. Right before he took the first step down the stairs, Arden opened the box and looked down. Satisfied, he closed the lid and put it in his pocket. Thinking with every squeaky step down the stairs: she's going to love it…I hope.
Stifling silence was the conversation during breakfast. Both wanting to say something, but not sure of what to say; neither one really touching their food. After a while, Karla rose and took her plate over to the kitchen sink and started cleaning dishes. She tried to hum a tune, but no sound came out…Noticing this, Arden picked up his dish and approached Karla and started to help her. When Arden turned to talk to her, she quickly turned her face away; struggling to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. Stopping what he was doing, he pulled her away gently from the kitchen into the living room. They both sat on the loveseat for what seemed to be an eternity, letting her tears dry up. Finally he stated softly,
"Please don't cry, Sweetheart. I'll be comin' back to you. Please don't cry."
Karla sadly whispered, "It's not just about that…"
Not hearing her, Arden stood up and reached into his pocket to retrieve the matchbox, saying,
"I have something for you, would you care to see it?"
He took out the item that was in the box. Karla's teary eyes widened as he tenderly placed it into her palm. It was a gold ring!
"It's beautiful!", she gasped.
"Call it a late wedding gift.", Arden said with a wry smile, then added, "Sorry it took so long for you to get a ring-"
Karla cut him off, " Oh don't be silly! I wouldn't have cared if you didn't give me anything at all…I only wish that I had gotten you one, too…"
Arden then interjected, "But you made me one out of glass beads, and that will always be more special to me than any other kind of ring!"
After a few moments of admiring his gift, Karla suddenly jumped up and started to briskly walk towards the stairs. Arden got up to follow her, but Karla said,
"Don't move. I'll be right back!"; so he stayed.
A couple of minutes later, she came back down to where he was at. She had something in her hand that was rolled up in a cloth. Arden was about to inquire about it, but she beat him to it by saying,
"I made these as soon as I found out…"
"Found out? About wha-?", he stopped in mid sentence after she unwrapped the bundle. In her hand was a pair of moccasins, small enough for…
"A baby?", Arden said as the fact finally dawned on him.
Karla's response was a blush.
Out of nowhere, Arden pulled her into his arms and started to spin around the room; laughing as he kissed her senselessly. He stopped spinning as his gaze bore into hers. He then asked, "Do you know that I love you?"
Before she was able to answer, they both heard a vehicle pull up accompanied with a honk of a horn; breaking the spell. All laughter died in Arden's eyes, knowing that now was the time to leave. To leave Karla. To leave the baby. It was next to impossible to imagine anything harder for him to do, but he knew it was his duty to protect this country and family. He reluctantly let her go and went to grab his things.
Not too long afterwards, Arden was numbly walking towards the army truck. Right as he was climbing in, he felt a delicate hand on his lowered forearm. Knowingly, he turned around towards Karla. She took his empty hand and placed the moccasins in his palm, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek. The look in her eyes told him all he needed to know: come right back. Arden knew that there was a possibility that he wouldn't be able to come back, but he shoved that thought to the back of his mind. I will be coming back, he thought to himself.
The merciless blast of the horn brought him back to reality, so he gave Karla one last meaningful hug and climbed into the vast wagon-like truck bed. The truck then sputtered and launched off to move away from the house. Waiting until after the truck was gone, she turned to sullenly march up the steps to the porch. Right as Karla closed the screen door, it began to rain.
The End
*the ending is very abrupt, but doesn;t make you curious?*
 Sevant Anatra · Wed Nov 22, 2006 @ 10:21pm · 2 Comments |
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