Darling

This a short story that I wrote for my writing class this spring. The assignment was that we had to write a story that takes place within 20 seconds. Let me warn you: it's a really sappy love story ;o) My writing teacher liked it and thought that I should expand it... include more of their story. I have some ideas. Well, let me know what you think!

It had been over two years. Had it been three? Four? I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I had last seen my darling Robert. It had been far too long. The years that he had been overseas had dragged on and on—especially the seasons where no one had heard from him. Then again, receiving a letter from him only made me miss him more, but at least I knew he was alive and well then. And now, finally, he was coming home! His ship was in view, and I could see the many soldiers crowded on the deck, all eager to catch a glimpse of their loved ones that they hoped were waiting for them on the platform.
I took a deep breath, taking in the smell of the chilly Atlantic salt water. Immediately my mind flew back seven years, when I was fifteen years old. The year was 1938. I remembered running beside the ocean with Robert. There was hardly anyone else in sight—it was just the two of us, miles of sandy beaches, and the magnificent ocean. We were kicking water at each other, laughing. Suddenly he grabbed both of my hands and held me still, facing him.
“Mary Ellen,” he said, catching his breath, smiling a handsome smile at me, “You’re the most beautiful girl that I ever did see.” With that, he ran off, turning around to see me skipping after him, my face lit up with the biggest grin it had ever known.
I brought myself back to reality and again focused my eyes on the nearing boat. The soldiers were waving and shouting. I scanned the boat, looking carefully for the man to whom my heart belonged. Would he be on deck looking for me? Would he recognize me? I wasn’t the seventeen-year-old girl whom he’d proposed to, anymore… again, my mind flew to the past, this time reminiscing that night that he had asked me to marry him.
It was a chilly autumn evening in 1940. Robert had taken me to a movie, and now we were going to a little café for coffee and ice cream. Nights like that were some of the best I’d known, but this one would be different.
A minute or two after our ice cream had been served, Robert, who was sitting across from me, fixed his eyes on mine and took my hand. He looked so solemn, which was very rare for Robert.
“Mary Ellen,” he’d said to me in a serious tone. He closed his yes, then opened them. I studied his expression, concerned.
“Yes, Robert?”
“Mary Ellen, I’m going to enlist in the war.”
“Oh, Robert!” I cried, tears coming into my eyes.
“It’s been the hardest choice that I’ve made in my life. But I really feel called to do this. I have spent hours upon hours thinking and praying about this decision, and I know that God wants me to enlist.”
I nodded, gazing into his eyes, tears beginning to steam down my face. He got up from his seat at the booth we were sitting at and sat down on my bench, putting his arm around me, pulling me close to him.
“Mary Ellen, you’re the first person that I’ve told about my decision. You deserve to know before anyone else. The hardest part of being off at war won’t be there battles, the conditions, the pain… it’ll be that you won’t be there beside me.”
He got up again, this time kneeling down on one knee, facing me.
“Darling, I will never love anyone or anything more than I love you.” He pulled a small box out of his pocket, flipping it open to reveal a ring. “Mary Ellen Harper, would you marry me?”
I accepted, of course. My heart would love none other than Robert Graden—that I was sure of. We had considered having our wedding before he went off to war, but he had to leave so suddenly that we were unable to.
And now he was coming home! My mind replayed all these events in a matter of seconds. As I continued searching through the faces on the boat, I began to have doubts. What if he wasn’t on this ship? What if there was a misunderstanding? What if he would never come home?
As these thoughts rushed through my head, I barely heard a man on the boat singing over the shouting a verse of “Oh Susanna”. I recognized the voice. It was the same that had sung out love songs to me from below my bedroom window. My eyes searched for the singer in the crowd.
“And when I find Susanna, I’ll fall upon the ground…”
The moment Robert’s and my eyes met, my heart felt the most thrilling burst of joy that I’d ever felt. An overwhelming sensation of relief, love, and happiness swept over me—my darling Robert was home for good.