Old Wounds

Old Wounds

The midday sun shined brightly on the American flags that adorned all the homes in town and down main street. As preparations were being made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of V-E Day. The day that World War Two ended in Europe and so many of the veterans, city officials and volunteers were busy setting up for a large parade and festival to commemorate the soldiers who fought and died for the country. You would be hard pressed to not find anyone feeling a sense of patriotism this time of year. Except for some of the younger generation that seemed more focused on having a good time than getting involved with something that felt like ancient history to them.

One such individual could be found who didn’t see that much importance to the holiday and so favored spending time with his friends. Jonathon Walker or Jon to his friends was sitting back on the seat of the back seat with his other friends as they rode in a silver 1955 Buick skylark convertible. His friend James had the top down so they could cram more people into the car and enjoy the spring air going through their hair. Elvis Presley played over the car radio, nearly drowned out the rushing air.

“We’re here” Cried out James as he parked the car at the local diner for lunch. All of the teens piled out of the car and into the establishment and found their favorite spot in one of the booths in the corner. They liked it the most since it could fit them all and allowed them to socialize more easily as they talked about their day and mis adventures from the previous week. A brief time later as the waitress dropped off their food, James nudged Jon in the shoulder.

“Hey, its old man Hunter” Jon and the others attention was brought to a lone man sitting at the counter with two drinks in front of him, but he only drank the one.

“He looks sad’ said one of the girls hanging out with them and once she made the observation it was clear to the others that she was correct and that anyone could tell he was feeling something, and it was weighing him down. But almost at the very moment as if his ears were burning looked at the group with sorrow-filled eyes and then looked directly at Jon. For a moment it was like Hunter was looking into his soul, it unnerved him at first, but he could feel a since of something he couldn’t quite figure out. Like how a father would look at a son he loved but could not hold.

The look on Hunters face was different then usual, he had known him for years but today was different. And while many of his friends paid no attention to Old man Hunter, but he had always been a mentor to Jon, teaching him things that he would need to know in life from driving a car to using a gun safely. He even taught him how to fish but he never once smiled in all the years he’d known him and now this look was something beyond sorrow, something much deeper.

Jon shook off the feeling once Hunter looked away and looked at his friends who seemed to go back to jeering and laughing with each other like nothing had happened. In the back of his mind, he knew something was off but didn’t know what and so later that day after James gave him a ride back home so he could attend the festival with his mother as he had promised her. Despite his reservations about going, he made a promise to her to go with her and didn’t want to break it.

As he was getting ready for the festival he spotted a photo album on the coffee table, he hadn’t seen this album since last year when his mother was going through it one night while drinking a glass of wine. He didn’t quite understand its significance but as he looked at the worn leather of the binding, he made out some text on a card tucked into a pocket with clear plastic protecting it while acting as a window for what was written on the card. 1940’s was what it read and so he picked it up and sat down on the sofa and began to look through the album driven by his curiosity. Many of the early photos were of him as a baby with his parents.

They looked so happy in the photographs, visages of the past looking back at him through the passage of time now distant and far away. Times long gone but frozen in place through these photographs. He tried to imagine what it was like then, before the war, before he lost his father. A tear began to slide down his face as he looked at photo after photo till, he came across one that shocked him. It was a picture of old man Hunter with his father, they both seemed to be in high spirits as they posed for the photo.

“That was taken before you dad and his friend Ralpha shipped out to Europe” the voice startled Jon who nearly tossed the album out of his hands as his heart felt like it stopped for a moment.

Sorry dear, I didn’t mean to scare you” his mother said in a soft tone as she looked over his shoulder at the photograph of his father and Ralph.

“Dad and old man Hunter were friends?” he asked to which she simply nodded as she moved around to take a seat in the chair to his left. “They were thick as thieves growing up, all to often they would get into trouble by trying to use an umbrella to fly off the roof when they kid to the time they raced their cars down main street only to be caught by the police” she said with a chuckle at the fond memories.

“What happened to Hunter? He looks so happy here but these days he’s one of the saddest people in town” His mother leaned back to make herself comfortable as she knew this would take some time.

“It happened when your father died in the war, they were in the same company when they were ordered to secure a bridge to as part of their supply routes and everything was going well until the Germans launched a counterattack to retake the bridge”

She paused a moment in telling the story as she choked up little as she recalled the story that was told to her by Ralph when he made it home and her husband didn’t. After taking a moment to regather her composure she continued the story.

“They were outnumbered at the start and before reinforcements arrived, well…” she paused again. “Your father pushed Hunter out of the way before he could be shot and instead took the shot himself. He saved Ralph Hunter that day in France and vowed to look after you in honor of his friend who saved his life.”

She sniffled as she recalled the story and looked over at Jon. “Your father was a hero that day and paid the ultimate price to save another life.” Jon could feel his heart sink as he heard the truth of what happened and felt himself sink into the chair as he processed what he had just heard. His thoughts turned to the look Hunter gave him back at the diner and it suddenly made sense to him and so then he stood up.

“Mom, I’ll meet you at the festival, there is just one thing I must do before I go.” With that he left the house and ran past the Ford deluxe in the driveway since where he had to go wasn’t far. Every year he saw Hunter at a certain spot at the festival and never moved. This year was no different as he found Ralph where he expected him to be and walked up to him steadily.

Ralph soon noticed Jon walking up to him and acknowledged his presence. “Jonathon, good to see you son” he said with a bit of gruffness to his voice.

“Sir” he said as he addressed him properly as he owed him that much. “I just wanted to say I know what happened, my mother told me and well I know why you did what you did for all those years.”

Tears began to well up and threatened to fall down his face as he thought back to that day in France. Using the back of his hand he wiped them way and smiled at Jon, which caught him off guard as much as it did when he saw the photograph for the first time.

“Your father saved my life that day and I owed him in a way I could never repay and so I did the next best thing, to be there for you when you were growing up so you wouldn’t go through life without a father figure.” He said as his voice cracked a few times from all the build up emotions that were rushing through him now. Looking over the boy in front of him who had grown up so much that he almost looked like his father at that age.

“You know something Jon… you’re practically a splitting image of Albert, I can even hear him speak in you, your voice sometimes sounds like him and I feel like he’s back for a fleeting moment and I have my friend back” he sniffed as tears welled up again this time now falling down his face. Overcome with emotion Jon just embraced him in a hug and held firmly, Ralph slowly hugged him back and so they shared that moment for a while before letting go.

“It’s good that you finally know what happened and I think I could breathe a little easier” he said as he took a step back. Just then patriotic music began to play over the loudspeakers signaling the start of the festivities.

“Oh, I’m sorry but I told my mother I’d meet up with her for the festival” As Ralph nodded as a gesture to excuse him, he started to run off but stopped a few feet away and turned around.

“Is it okay if I stop by sometime and you tell me stories about my dad?”

“I’d love that very much, now you go on and have fun boy” With that Jon ran off to find his mother so the two of them can enjoy the celebration and reminisce about his father and thank the veterans there for the courage and sacrifice. And from now on Jon would have a new perspective of the war and its impact on America, and above all his family.