The Woman and Her Solider

A short story written for my best friend about what I wish for her life.

    A crowded town square, children laughing and smiling.
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Lights blinking and vendors calling pedestrians to their booths.
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Adults talking and milling about the carnival.
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       A girl stands in the center of the chaos, a professional camera up to her eye. She lowers the camera and critically examines the picture she just took. She smiles and lift the camera back up to her eye. The girl takes several more photos of the flurry of activity around her. The girl's friends drag her over to the Ferris wheel and she only agrees because she can imagine the images her camera would hold after the ride is over. Her friends seat themselves in a car, but the attendant will not let the girl board because there is no more room. A next car comes and the girl sits. She turns to her right and snaps pictures of a little boy with a red stained mouth giving a gap-toothed smile. The girl faces forward when the car begins to rise into the air and stops. She turns and nearly drops her camera. A young man is seated next to her, he grins and she blushes. Pushing a lock of curly mahogany hair behind her ear, the girl shyly focuses on her camera. The young man chuckles and the girl's hazel eyes dart upward. The young man has a buzz cut of blonde hair, kind eyes, and he is dressed in a army uniform. The girl looks down and snaps a picture of a escaping balloon. It floats away and the girl smiles. The young man asks her her name and when she answers, he smiles, saying that it is the most beautiful name in the world. The girl blushes and notices how the light seems to be caught in his eyes. The two talk and all too soon the ride is over. The girl's friends drag her to another booth and the nice solider disappears into the crowd.
       Years later, the girl, now a woman, is back at the annual carnival, but this time she has a booth of her photographs. Black and white stills, fast moving blurs of color, portraits, the woman displays her pictures for all to see. At the front of her booth, she hears laughter. Turning, she sees a group of young men her age. They laugh and point at her favorite picture, a black and white image of the kind solider just before the crowd swallowed him so many years ago. The woman opens her mouth to scold the men, but they part, calling to their buddy. His hair has grown out, he wears a t-shirt and jeans, but his eyes are still kind. He smiles and the woman's world brightens. He asks her to show him the rest of her art and she complies.
       The next year, the woman and solider visit the carnival once more, together. At the Ferris wheel, the solider asks the woman for her heart and hand in marriage. In the same seat where they met years before, the woman answers him, putting her whole heart in her acceptance of his proposal.
       Summertime comes and the woman wears a solid white gown with her father at her side. They walk between their friends and family and he kisses his daughter's cheek when they reach the end of their path. He places her hand in the soldier's and tells him not to hurt his baby girl. The woman blushes and the solider nods solemnly. The couple face a grandfatherly minister and he speaks to everyone in the audience before turning to the two young people before him. The couple exchange words, words they swear to keep forever. The solider kisses his wife and the audience claps, showering them in rose petals.
       Years pass and the couple remain faithful to each other. The woman blesses the solider with many children which they love unconditionally.The woman smiles at her solider as they walk hand in hand down the street, their children laughing at the clowns that entertain the children at the carnival.
       The children grow up and leave. The woman still smiles at her solider and he still professes his love everyday. The woman has new subjects for her photography, her grandchildren. The grandchildren beg for the story of how the woman met her solider and soon each one of them know it by heart.
       Seasons pass and the woman visits a wide field with fake flowers decorating every plot. Behind her she hears laughter and bells coming from the carnival. The woman, now elderly, kneels and wipes away old leaves from the plaque set in the ground. Her solider passed away in his sleep and she still holds the folded flag she was given as he was lowered in to the welcoming earth. A hand presses down on her shoulder and the woman stands. She takes her soldier's hand and they walk up the path to heaven, together forever more.
     The next day, the local paper tells of a woman who lived a full life and about how she left behind six children, fourteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. 'She was loved and is greatly missed.'
     The grandchildren tell their children the story of how a girl with a camera met her love on a Ferris wheel. They point to the pictures that decorate every family member's wall. The woman and her solider dressed in their best on that summer day, the woman and her solider holding their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and the woman and her solider silver haired and celebrating fifty years. But the one picture that they always point to is the black and white image of the solider just before he was swallowed by the crowd.