A carriage pulled up in front of her house. It was nearly dusk when it arrived, just enough light to see that that someone had jumped out of the carriage. He was tall, dressed in an army suit, the suit just bought yesterday. A light came bobbing from the house; it came closer and closer until the form of a young girl could be seen. “Five minutes!” yelled the conductor, and he lit a cigar, anxious to get there before morning.
She hung her lantern upon a nearby branch, and came before the boy, not meeting his eyes. She straightened his tie, her fingers white against the blackness of his suit. She reached into the belt of her dress, and pulled out a scarf, painfully embroidered to resemble letters. He stretched out the scarf to read the writing, it said Elizabeth. He tied her emblem around his neck, and took her hand. “Don’t worry babe,” He said, she still didn’t meet his eyes. He lifted her chin, her eyes finally looking at him. “Wait for me, I’ll be home, I will be home for you.”
“Oh, Joseph, must you go?” Her eyes filled with tears, wishing he wouldn’t go. “Beth, Just look up like we used to, and you’ll see me, looking down on you. I’ll be home for you, only wait.” He hugged her before he jumped back into the carriage, looking down on his girl. “Joseph, I’ll be here for you too. I love you.”
The conductor looked behind him at the couple, yelled “One more minute!” then lit another cigar. Their destination could wait for a little while longer.
He hugged her before he jumped back into the carriage, looking down on his girl. “Joseph, I’ll be here for you too. I love you.”
The boy jumped back out of the carriage, and took up his girl once more in his arms, and whispered “I love you too, Elizabeth.” he took her chin, and they kissed. “Good-bye” she whispered. He wend over to the carriage, the horses ready to go, and took hold of the handle one foot on the step, and waved good-bye to his lover, until he could no longer see her lantern, it was swallowed up in the night.
She waved until she could no longer hear the horses bridle, then collapsed upon the grass, the cool dew of the night comforting her. “He will be back,” she whispered.
For days on end she stood next to the great oak where she had seen him last, waiting for his return. Years passed, the war was over. No sign of him was ever found, one night, when she was waiting, her father came up behind her. He paused for a moment watching his daughter. He had received the news in town that Joseph never came home. He may have for the most part, have died. They may never find out. He wanted to tell Elizabeth, but he knew it would break her heart. He decided to leave, letting his daughter wait for him. Maybe he actually is alive, and she is still there.
The years went by and she grew older, she never married and waited for him coming home. Every night she looked to the stars, as if he would be there.
One summer evening, the stars were brightly shining and the moon was just starting to wane, a carriage came by the house. The horses looked tired, the conductor smoking a cigar, it’s end glowing red. Someone from inside the carriage yelled, “STOP!”
The carriage stopped. The door opened, and a man stepped out painfully, he only had one leg. He reached behind him to the bench beside him and pulled out a crutch. He shifted his weight onto the crutch and hobbled toward the girl. He stopped a few feet from her. They stood there for a long minute, studying the other. He whispered “Beth?” She laughed and ran to him, he dropped his crutch and waited for her, laughing also. She knocked him down and they rolled through the dewy grass, laughing like children, laughing away the years she waited, the war he went to fight, the years they spent apart. When they stopped rolling, he was on top of her, her skirts tied up around their legs, he said, “Beth, we waited this long, will you marry me?” She laughed, the said “Yes!” He leaned down and kissed her.
Within the year they were married, her father was there, and he was glad that he had not told his daughter what he had heard. He would never have been in this spot, at his only daughters wedding. He looked up at the sky, and imagined his wife to be up there, also smiling down upon the happy couple.
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