Stepping out of the taxi cab, onto the grass of his front lawn; it feels soft and luscious, compared to the rough sandy terrain he's grown to adapt too. He's finally home. The American flag, he just got done fighting for, sways freely back and forth on the front of his blue-decked porch. Glancing across the street he could see his childhood best friend, Ivan, sitting upon the hovering tree; sawing off the hazardous limbs and branches that scraped his windows.
"God, it's been so long. The bricks have faded" He said to himself as he began walking up the cracked cement pathway that led to the steps. The buzzing of the bees tickles his ear as they circle around the dandelions, but instead of swatting at them, he just smiles at the pesky little things this time.
As the door slams shut in a rush of time, he looks up again to only see her in her blue polka-dotted dress, flowing behind her as she began to rush to the car. Purse in one hand, keys in the other. Completely oblivious.
"Hey there, pretty lady." He says with a smirk.
Stopping mid-step, she questions her mind. She knows that voice, but is her mind playing tricks on her again? Is it really him? With a small swift turn of her head she looks directly his way with her deep brown, fawn-like eyes. She can't believe who she sees. With chills creeping down her back, she drops everything and dashes into his arms.
"What're you doing here? I thought you weren't coming home for another month?" She asks through her sniffles and cries of joy.
"We got back early. I came home straight from the airport."
For a moment all they could do was stand there and caress each other. He catches a whiff of her long blonde hair. Strawberries. He always loved the smell of strawberries on her.
"Do you want to meet her?" She whispers through a smile.
"Where is she?!" he replies with pure excitement.
She takes his scarred hand and leads him into the house, upstairs to the nursery; bypassing the nanny doing dishes.
He lifts her little body up from her crib and with tears slipping from the corners of his eyes; he holds his baby girl for the first time.
Leaning in to give his beautiful, smiling wife a kiss; a sudden surge of reality awakens him. The sounds of artillery goes off all around and his fellow men yells at him to get up; he grabs the picture of his family, puts his boots on, and reaches for his gun.