-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1941-1943
Life for Grace without Jonathon was hard and she worked most of her days at the cafe and even when she was done stayed behind and did extra bits and odd jobs just so she didn’t have to go home. She knew if she returned home it would remind her to much of her love Jonathon. Then one day when Grace finally returned home late one night on the front doorstep was a letter with her name on it. It had a big red stamp on it which meant it couldn’t be from the village and she didn’t know anyone else outside the village accept for Jonathon. Grace rushes inside even forgetting to close the front door. She rips open the envelope and inside is a handwritten letter.
My darling Grace,
How I wish I had more time with you before I left. How I wish I could just spend that last night with you again and to feel your touch in mine. So much has happened that I don’t even know where to start but I'm fine and I have settled in well at the training camp. It won’t be long before we are sent off fighting. I can’t wait to make the world a better place for us to live in. I will write you a letter everyday when I can even if it just a few words. Sorry this letter is so short we don’t have much free time but remember my darling:
I love you and our love will never fade.
Jonathon
Grace must have sat at that table reading the letter over and over before she hears the front door bang. She gets up and realises it’s still open and closes and latches it up.
Grace didn’t stay late anymore after the cafe had closed and instead rushed home to see if there was a letter. Most days nothing but then on others three or four would arrive at once but she would read them in order they were stamped and put the others away so she had something to read as each day passed. Sometimes he spoke about his training and sometimes he simply wrote one sentence which was at the end of every other letter he wrote and that sentence was I Love You And Our Love Will Never Fade.
Grace hadn’t heard from Jonathon in a while and was at work and the rain was pouring so it was rather quite as people didn’t come out in the village that much and would rather stay indoors. Grace was wiping a few tables when the door of the cafe flies open and a young woman who often comes in the cafe runs inside soaking wet. “HEY” she shouts and runs in leaving wet muddy footprints where she treads. “The...” she takes a few breaths in “Some of the soldiers are back” Grace pushes past the young lady and out into the pouring rain and looks left and right but can’t see anything she turns back into the cafe to see the young girl coming to the door “They are at the church” the young lady holds onto the side of the door frame for support and sees Grace run towards the church. Grace runs as fast as she can to the church. She takes a back alley and is there in no time. Her heart is pounding in her chest and then she sees the army truck similar to the one that brought them all in. No one is in the lorry but one of the church doors is open. As Grace runs over to the steps and up into the church. She walks into the hall and is then confronted with a room full of soldiers but they are not as they left. Most have a body covered in bandages and more than a few have body parts missing and everyone one of them is sleeping. A nurse is stood over one of the patients and Grace walks up to her and asks,
“Excuse me” the nurse turns around “How do we find out if we have loved ones here” The nurse points at the wall of the church where bits of paper are on the wall. Grace walks over and scans the pages, they don’t seem to be in any order so Grace double checks each one and isn’t sure how to feel when she can’t find Jonathon’s name. Grace checks with the nurse that no one’s name has been missed off and goes to walk out of the church when a hand grabs her leg. Grace lets out a little scream and looks down and sees a solider with no legs.
“Grace” he coughs out, Grace bends down and looks at him and realises that it was one of the Fishermans boys. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a stack of letters. “John... gave me these for you... post aren’t getting out” Grace takes the letters in her hand and sees Jonathon’s handwriting all over them. Grace goes to give the young man a hug but realises he’s fallen asleep, so she takes a chair from the corner and sits with him. When he stirs he looks at Grace confused “Why... are you still here?” He coughs loudly and a few people next to him stir.
“I wanted to say thank you and wait with you until your father arrives. At that point Grace sees his father coming in and gives him a smile and stands up “Thank you so much again” Grace walks out but doesn’t look his father in the eye she can’t. Once outside luckily the rain has stopped and Grace walks slowly back to the cafe. When grace gets there it’s empty so Grace walks in and shuts the door behind her and switches the sign to closed. She sits down and opens and reads all of Jonathon’s letters.
After that bunch of letters Grace didn’t receive a letter for a year. No one received any letters in the whole village no one seemed to be able to get any contact out on how well their boys were doing. Even Jonathon’s father couldn’t pay for information. Grace did spend a few evening round theirs for dinner. This evening was 13th June 1943 and Grace was on her way home from Jonathon’s parents she sees a gentleman stood outside her front door who appears to be wearing an officer’s uniform. As the driver pulls up he doesn’t have time to let Grace out because she has jumped out herself and is running to the front door. “Jonathon is that you?” The man stands up from the bench outside the house. “Jonathon.....Jonathon” Grace shouts as she runs across the grass. As she reaches the front door the solider greets her and it is Jonathon but not how he left her. Half his face is scared from burns, Grace puts her hand to her mouth and gasps. “Jonathon...” he forces a smile and her and she can’t hold it in anymore and grabs hold of him. At first he doesn’t hug her back and it is just Grace but then she feels his arms come round her and hold her close like he used to. Grace lifts her head and looks up into his eyes “what happened to you?” she goes to put up her hand and touch his face but he puts his hand up and shakes his head.
It turns out Jonathon was walking with his other men and a bomb went off just ahead of him and the blast was big enough to burn his skin yet didn’t kill him. He was then put into hospital where he was lucky to live and because everything was burnt off him they had no clear way of working out who he was to send word back to contact family and loved ones. Grace didn’t care that his face was scared it didn’t make much difference to Grace she still knew her Jonathon was inside and she was just happy to have him back.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Thank you for reading Part Five of Lonely Girl and keeping with the stories. Also a massive thank you because we have now gone way over the 1,000 views on this website so thank you so much for that. Keeo your eyes peeled for the next part of the series. Also don't forget you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment