The Last Letters

This is the first story that I actually got published. Enjoy! Please comment.

After an exhausting day, Sgt. Jack Nolan of the 28th Infantry Division, now positioned at the quiet front near the Ardennes forest, sat down to write a letter home to his wife, Katie Nolan. Taking out pen and paper he started:

My Dearest Kate,
The days since I last wrote you were long, hard, and miserable. After we lost so many men at Huertgen Forest it was decided that we be moved to this area to rest. You know, of course, why I can’t tell you our exact location, but I can tell you it is peaceful here. I wish it was like this all the time. From here I can see Nazis hanging up their laundry. How is little Joseph getting along? I don’t have to remind you that it had been three years since I’ve seen our baby. I wonder if he can remember me. I can’t tell you how I’ve longed to hold him in my arms, you too for that matter. Sometimes, I lie awake at night thinking about you, dear. Hopefully this war will soon be over and I’ll be able to come home. Well, I’ll have to end here for now. Until my next letter, darling, I love you.
Your devoted husband,
Jack

Jack slowly folded the letter and placed it into an envelope that he had already addressed. Putting on his helmet, Jack walked over to the company headquarters.
“Hi, Tim,” he said to the clerk on duty. “Will you be sure that this letter is in the mail tomorrow?”
“Sure thing, Jack,” replied the clerk. “You’d better go get some sleep.”
“I’ll do that,” said Sgt. Jack Nolan as he saluted and returned to his tent.

Then next morning, Sgt. Nolan’s letter was loaded into a jeep, along with all the other mail from the troops. From that jeep it was transported to a cargo truck headed to Normandy to pick up supplies. At Normandy, it was put aboard a boat heading for England. Once there it hopped another ship this time to the US.
Once it reached the US it took three days to reach Mrs. Nolan. Tearing open the letter, she read it breathless. Smiling, she pressed it to her heart.

Two weeks later, Mrs. Nolan received another letter. This one said:

Dear Mrs. Nolan,
I am sorry to inform you that your husband, Sgt. John L. Nolan, died when a German artillery shell entered his tent during a large German offensive…

© JPW – June 4, 2006

Painful Wages

Here is a story that I wrote that tells a truth and holds some wisdom, unlike msot stories today.

I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to comment.

There was a boy who was very much of a troublemaker. He had trouble staying out of trouble. He could not stay on the straight and narrow. He was determined to get into trouble. He could never avoid any occasion to sin.
One day his father took him aside and told him this story:

My son, there was a man who was taught for an early age that drink was an evil. One day, the man left home to make it out on his own. He was traveling for miles and miles. He was very thirsty and was despairing of every receiving relief. However, a tavern soon appeared by the side of the road.
The man made his way to the door and entered it. He made his way the bar, where he asked for a cup of water. The bartender asked him if he would want a cold beer instead. The man remembering his education and answered no. The bartender shrugged his shoulders and left the bottle of beer on the bar anyway.
As he waited for the water, the man glanced at the beer. Again he remembered.
Finally, the bartender returned with the water which the man gulped down. Suddenly, he took another look at the beer and grabbed it. He drained it in two gulps. It was the man’s first drink.
After leaving the tavern and many times after that, the man tried alcoholic beverages. Slowly, but surely, what had begun as an experiment in the tavern grew into an addictions. One drink would to two. The drink brought a good feeling, but it also had a bad effect.
Finally, one day the man was killed in an auto accident. It was determined that the man was drunk since empty alcohol bottles filled the car.
Now, son, remember that one must avoid a bad habit when one is young. If you lead a virtuous life you will never have any need to regret it. But as soon as you fall into bad habits, get out my son or it will be you demise. Remember what the Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

The son heeded his father for many years, but one day a woman caught his eye. It was the beginning of the end. At first it was innocent dates, but soon it devolved into something worse. Finally it bloomed into full lust. The son broke up with this woman because of her husband. As time went on, he had more women and more affairs. He became more of a monster as he fell further and further into sin. Soon he was a predator. One day he was arrest on the charges of rape and murder. The case went to court and the verdict was guilty, the sentence was death.
As the son heard the sentence read by the judge, he heard his father’s words in his head; If you lead a virtuous life you will never have any need to regret it. But as soon as you fall into bad habits, get out my son or it will be you demise. The son put his face in his hands and cried.

© JPW - June 4, 2006