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+--- Thread: Almost Home (/showthread.php?tid=2457)
Almost Home - Moon68 - 11-05-2024
Almost Home
"Hey buddy"
Damn, life is good. Nathan can feel the sun, hot on his eyelids, drying the last of the water on his skin. A gentle breeze, as light as Gods whisper raising goosebumps on his bare flesh.
"HEY BUDDY!"
He hears water splashing as Maggie makes her way out of the pond. With the field work done for the day, they had decided to take a quick dip in the cool water of the spring fed pool in the back forty. Nathan can picture his wife coming out of the water, naked as the day she was born. Sunbeams striking the droplets on her firm, tanned skin, dazzling as diamonds free for the taking.
"HEY, C'MON BUDDY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
They had known each other their whole lives, living on neighboring farms and knew they were in love since the age of five. There was never a question of if they'd get married, just when it would be. Maggie was the most beautiful woman in the small community and Nathan knew he was the luckiest man in the world. Until the day the draft notice came.
"JOE, GIMME A HAND HERE"
He was being sent to war immediately. Such was Nathan's love that he told her to find another man to marry and raise a family with, he couldn't ask her to wait. With lightning flashing in her eyes Maggie slapped him across the face hard. Grabbing either side of his head she looked deep into Nathan's soul and said, "I love you Nathan Phillips. You will come home to me. We will be wed. You will give me a houseful of babies. Got it?"
"It's too late for that old man, Jimmy. I'll call it in"
She was true to her word, writing him every day for two years. Two years of Hell for Nathan, the things he'd seen, the things he'd been forced to do. The atrocities of war had broken him, left him an empty shell with one goal left, he would find a cheap motel, drink himself into stupor and end his miserable existence. As Nathan walked thru the post front gate there stood Maggie, tears streaming down her cheeks as she saw what had become of her man. She stepped forward, arms spread wide like the wings of an angel and hugged Nathan hard, wrapping him in love and forgiveness.
"IT'S WEAK BUT HE'S GOT GODDAMN PULSE! HELP ME GET HIM UP!"
By the time the bus reached home many hours later Nathan was healing, not healed but getting there thanks to Maggie. She had, single handedly, brought him back from the brink of despair and saved his soul from eternal damnation. He was, forevermore, hers. The whole town attended the wedding and it was still a small affair but it felt as extravagant as if they'd have been in Buckingham Palace. That was a few weeks ago and life had been perfect ever since for the young newlywed couple. It was time to get dressed and go work on the babies he'd promised her. Maggie was Nathan's home.
"HEY PAL! OPEN YOUR EYES! WHAT'S YOUR NAME? DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE?"
Nathan slowly lifts his lids, rheumy eyes staring blankly out at the fat, heavy snowflakes blanketing the cities filthy streets in a blanket of pure white.
The officers lift the old bum from the newspapers and start to escort him to the nearest shelter.
Nathan mumbles, "I was almost home".
RE: Almost Home - FlickerOfLight - 11-05-2024
That hit home.
Great story. Very sad.
Whats Even more sad is that, I can relate.
Thanks for sharing this.
RE: Almost Home - Moon68 - 11-05-2024
(11-05-2024, 05:30 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: That hit home.
Great story. Very sad.
Whats Even more sad is that, I can relate.
Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you very much for the kind words.
RE: Almost Home - Ninurta - 11-05-2024
(11-05-2024, 05:30 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: That hit home.
Great story. Very sad.
Whats Even more sad is that, I can relate.
Thanks for sharing this.
That relatability to Everyman is one of the elements that makes it a great story. I can relate to elements of it as well - I was thoroughly broken, and had to go through 4 wives before I found the one that was "home" and healing.
Actually, I can relate to more than that even - during that time of searching, I lived in a car for a year (until I graduated to "couch surfing" at friends houses), and at other times was so broke down that I had no car even, and had to dig cardboard out of dumpsters in order to lay it in the snow behind the dumpsters so I had a surface to sleep on that wouldn't soak through my clothes and freeze me solid.
I think most folks, if they dig deep enough, can find points of relatability in it.
Yeah, the story has some relatability in it, and that makes it a good one.
It's also fully told with broad, short strokes so that the tale is told without wearing out or overburdening the reader. Not everyone can write like that - me, for instance. I can't do it.
.
RE: Almost Home - Moon68 - 11-05-2024
(11-05-2024, 06:39 PM)Ninurta Wrote:(11-05-2024, 05:30 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: That hit home.
Great story. Very sad.
Whats Even more sad is that, I can relate.
Thanks for sharing this.
That relatability to Everyman is one of the elements that makes it a great story. I can relate to elements of it as well - I was thoroughly broken, and had to go through 4 wives before I found the one that was "home" and healing.
Actually, I can relate to more than that even - during that time of searching, I lived in a car for a year (until I graduated to "couch surfing" at friends houses), and at other times was so broke down that I no car, and had to dig cardboard out of dumpsters in order to lay it in the snow behind the dumpsters so I had a surface to sleep on that wouldn't soak through my clothes and freeze me solid.
I think most folks, if they dig deep enough, can find points of relatability in it.
Yeah, the story has some relatability in it, and that makes it a good one.
.
Thank you so much for reading and offering your insights, it is highly appreciated. I'm happy that the story was able to connect with you personally and on an emotional level. It's nice to feel that, however remotely, one might touch another's life in a meaningful way.
RE: Almost Home - FlickerOfLight - 11-05-2024
(11-05-2024, 06:48 PM)Moon68 Wrote:For me, it was that feeling of waking up from a dream that was like finding exactly what it is you seek, be it peace, or the love of someone, or a success in your journey, or even escaping a hell, and these dreams can be so real, and feel so comforting, that as soon as you wake up you realize it was all a dream, and once you've realized it all you want to do is go back into that dream, and live it out, forever.(11-05-2024, 06:39 PM)Ninurta Wrote:(11-05-2024, 05:30 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: That hit home.
Great story. Very sad.
Whats Even more sad is that, I can relate.
Thanks for sharing this.
That relatability to Everyman is one of the elements that makes it a great story. I can relate to elements of it as well - I was thoroughly broken, and had to go through 4 wives before I found the one that was "home" and healing.
Actually, I can relate to more than that even - during that time of searching, I lived in a car for a year (until I graduated to "couch surfing" at friends houses), and at other times was so broke down that I no car, and had to dig cardboard out of dumpsters in order to lay it in the snow behind the dumpsters so I had a surface to sleep on that wouldn't soak through my clothes and freeze me solid.
I think most folks, if they dig deep enough, can find points of relatability in it.
Yeah, the story has some relatability in it, and that makes it a good one.
.
Thank you so much for reading and offering your insights, it is highly appreciated. I'm happy that the story was able to connect with you personally and on an emotional level. It's nice to feel that, however remotely, one might touch another's life in a meaningful way.
Only you're forced to live out whatever hell of a reality you're actually living in, just like the man having the dream.
Dreams are a great escape, sometimes.
Powerful story. Elegantly written.
I had always wished I could write like that, myself. The freedom of expression through words is an enticing gift to those who wished they could put their thoughts into words, as you have here.
Reading a good story is like watching a beautiful painting being painted before your eyes. Watching it all come together in the balance color and vibrance of it all, is almost as pleasant and peaceful as these dreams you've displayed in this story.
I enjoyed the twist of it all. I'm assuming the man had tried to commit suicide, (it's not outright mentioned, but mentioned casually),andthat was the dream he had while dying; only to be pulled back (revived) to his "reality."
That gives another level of depth to it. It's not just waking up from a dream. It was if the man had seen heaven for a brief moment, so close it was like he was standin at very the gates of paradise.....only to be pulled back to "hell."
Thats how I saw it. I've never known an earthly love like that, though.
Cheers
RE: Almost Home - Ninurta - 11-05-2024
In a way, he WAS committing suicide. Just a very, very slow one.
.
RE: Almost Home - Moon68 - 11-06-2024
(11-05-2024, 11:21 PM)Ninurta Wrote: In a way, he WAS committing suicide. Just a very, very slow one.
.
Indeed. He had it all, lost it all, got everything back and more thru love, then lost that. With nothing left to fight for, and lost in the best of memories, he was looking for contentment one last time.
RE: Almost Home - F2d5thCav - 11-06-2024
At Moon--
We all go home in the end.
Nice short story.
Cheers--
RE: Almost Home - Moon68 - 11-07-2024
(11-06-2024, 07:41 PM)F2d5thCav Wrote: At Moon--
We all go home in the end.
Nice short story.
Cheers--
Yes we do.
Thank you for reading.