“Wait, Matthew, what are you doing? Where are you going?” Asked Silvia.

“You’ve always been so impatient, haven’t you? Just, don’t move so much,” said Matthew in a fatherly tone, “Did you even look at the moon yet? A full moon like tonight’s has always been to captivating to me. See the way the light glistens off of the gentle ripples of the water that comes towards these rocks that we’re sitting on; amazing, isn’t it? Last time I saw something that bright and beautiful, I looked into your eyes,” whispered Matthew into Silvia’s ear as he lifted Silvia’s hair to put the necklace on. It was his favorite. His grandfather had given it to him when he was a child at the naval harbor as he departed for the war. About twice the size of a half dollar, it was an encircled sun and moon with a celtic style tree being their divisor.

“That wasn’t so bad now, was it? It’s yours now. You’ll always have something to remember me by.”

“But, why do you have to go? What am I going to do? What am I to you Matt? Who will I be without you; do I mean nothing to you?” Exclaimed Silvia as she sniffled from crying.

“I told you this day was going to come. I just didn’t think it would of came so soon.”

“You just want to get away from me, don’t you?” Silvia whimpered as the trail of tears from her eyes gleamed down her cheeks from the moonlight. Matthew comforted her by wrapping his arms around her like a bandage on an open wound.

“You always have to be so silly, huh? You know very well that I could start fires with what I feel for you, so don’t be thinking I want to leave. You’ll have to change your thinking if you continue like that. Silvia pressed her forehead onto his shirt. Soon her tear seemed to unite in the form of a butterfly on Matthew’s shirt.
“Why don’t you want to see me anymore?”

“Not see you anymore? Are you kidding Silvia? If this wasn’t about the war going on and it was just a vacation I was going on, I would do my best to take you with me. But this is about me fighting out there to keep you safe and happy here. You have all you need here. Your parents own however many acres of land in the county that they have their agricultural business here. Did you forget you’re also attending the best school in the state?”

“Bu….” Silvia was silenced by Matthew’s finger pressing against her lips.

“No Silvia. I don’t want to hear any ‘buts’.”

Silvia gazed into Matthew’s eyes. All noise was silenced and all movement halted. Time itself had seemed to have been suspended. Silvia interlaced her fingers with his, pushed him back onto the ground, and kissed him with a deep and rooted passion; her lips were the pen, his were the paper, and together wrote the most enchanting memoir.

They stood up from the lakefront they met at. Matthew held both Silvia’s hands as he explained to her, “Now listen here. You know that everyone knows everyone in this little town of ours. There was just a small problem that got out of hand and the country needs my help. Please understand that me going to help is the best way for me to be sure that everyone at home is safe and stays safe. Silvia, you know how much I love to write. You have even showed me that little box with the lock you keep under your bed of all the notes, letters, and poems have written to you since I met you.”

“I don’t care. Your letters you send back aren’t going to take care of me. Your notes aren’t going to console me when I’m down. Your poems aren’t going to be by my side when I need you. Matthew, I need you, not your writing. Just forget this stupid war. We had nothing to do with it in the first place. C’mon, let's get out of this town before the local militia comes to your farm to escort you. You know that I have my uncle that lives a few miles away from here. We’ll stay with him until we figure out where to go to. I can’t lose another man that I love. First my father, I’m not letting you be next. No Matthew. I can never let that happen. All because of this stupid war.”

“I promise you that we’ll be together in the end”, Matthew stated as he caressed Silvia. “When have I ever broken a promise I made to you? You understand that I need to go. When I come back, I’ll write you my best poetry, on your skin, with my lips.”

“I love you Matthew.” Said Silvia as she rested her head onto Matthew’s shoulder.

The next day came around. As Silvia had said, the local militia came to escort Matthew. Days became weeks, weeks turned into months, then eventually Matthew had been promoted to First Lieutenant after his honorable two years of excruciating service in the battles across seas all over Europe. What Matthew was unaware of was that when we left for the cause, Silvia couldn’t suppress her love and desire enough for him so she went to the closest enlistment center and applied as a paramedic in the war in hopes of reuniting with Matthew.

She was denied working on the front lines due to her lack of experience and high casualty rate. Silvia was able to work in the medical tents that were behind the lines and at times in the hospitals along the way. As the months progressed and Silvia went through more rigorous training she became head of the medical unit.
In 1944, the Battle of Normandy was proving itself to be on big headache with having more than 50,000 casualties in about a month. Quarters were getting tight as all the allied forces rushed at Germany. On that last and final push in normandy, Lieutenant Matthew had been hit in the shoulder with shrapnel from an exploding mortar round. The mortar round left Lieutenant Matthew half blind and half deaf on the right side where he was about to lose his shoulder. Rushed into the ambulance, no one was able to identify who he was as there was blood covering his face and name tag. The paramedic that was in charge of him cleaned off his face and was able to read the name tag. As soon as Matthew was identified, the paramedic gasped in great disbelief grabbing everyone's attention in the ambulance. Matthew in the hopper looked at the paramedic and saw it was Silvia. He smiled and told her, “You always gotta be so silly, huh? I told you we would be together in the end”. After Silvia came down to her senses looked at Matthew’s vitals and saw they were drastically decreasing. Crying like a hungry baby, she began screaming as she attended his wounds, “No! No! No! I will not lose you. No! Not again! Stay with me Matt. We’ll get through this together. Someone call HQ and tell them to send over a chopper on the double.” The man in charge of radio transmissions had told Silvia that the radio was not working as it was shot by the opposition. Silvia seemed to go into a delirious episode as she did all she could to save Matthew.

On the road back to headquarters, the driver of the ambulance noticed a cluster of bodies moving towards them in the distance. Faintly able to distinguish the distinct camouflage clothing the persons had on. “Our troops are heading towards us!” Proclaimed the driver inside the ambulance.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Drive towards them so we can use their radio!” Exclaimed Silvia as she was changing the blood-drenched gauze from Matthew’s shoulder wound.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Replied the driver to Silvia’s remark.

Everyone was swayed towards the back of the ambulance as the vehicle accelerated. Anyone with a view of the road began to notice how the soldiers seems to be trying to grab their attention and redirecting them the opposite way. Before they were able to reach the soldiers, allied planes were spotted flying towards them. “Why you look at that. As is by a miracle help was sent to us.” Remarked the radio operator with a sound of relief in his voice. “You hear that Matt? We’re going to get you the help that you need. We’ll be back together just like old times. Just you and me. Forget this stupid war.” Silvia told Matthew as she placed one oh her hands by the side of his jaw, wiped the tears off his cheeks, and gently caressed him as she gazed into his eyes.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

The allied plane was scheduled to bomb the area of the war zone where Silvia’s ambulance was coming from. Due to the impaired communication of the radio, the message was not received.