The Way I Loved You

She met him in a bakery. He was there to buy a loaf of bread for his Sunday dinner and she was there to pick up some cakes for her sister’s birthday. There were a million and one ways in which the encounter might never have happened. He could have decided he wanted beef for dinner rather than stew. She could have sent her younger cousin to pick up the cakes but, such is life, her cousin had come down with a fever that morning. So she had gone. And so had he.

And here they were.

Falling in love with him was almost instantaneous, it scared her a little with how quickly it happened. He had green eyes that sparkled when they caught the light and a laugh that seemed to float around any room. For him, he was the dimples on her cheeks that showed when she smiled and the quiet confidence with which she walked. He didn’t think he’d met anyone like her before and he knew he never would. This was something the poets wrote about. Stars aligning, paths merging. It was a story that was meant to be told.

Of course, it didn’t come without obstacles. Her parents had always wanted her to marry the young boy across the street, despite her many attempts to tell them she didn’t love him and never would. He had never been more nervous than when he came to her house for the first time and shook her father’s hand. However, within twenty minutes they were laughing and joking. Her heart had never felt so full. She was almost certain that there was nothing the world could throw at them that they couldn’t conquer.

And then came the biggest obstacle of them all.

She remember exactly where she was when the announcement was made. She was in the town square buying silk for a new dress. Just recently married, the couple had some savings pulled together and this was a gift for her. The cars pulled into the square and a soldier jumped out, announcing that Britain was at war. Thus, it began. The town erupted into chaos but all she could do was stand in shock.

She arrived home that evening to their quaint cottage that sat just on the outskirts of the village and found him sitting at the kitchen table. He didn’t need to say a word, she already knew in her heart what was happening.

“You enlisted?”

“I did.” He nodded.

She gave him a melancholy smile, knowing that what he was doing was for the good of everyone. Still, her chest ached at the thought of how much she would miss him. When her face fell, he stood up and crossed over to her, taking her hands in his. He smiled.

“We’ll be alright. I’ll come back to you.”

“Do you promise?”

The silence hung in the air. They both knew that was a promise no one could keep.

Their remaining time together was brief but she savoured every moment. Before long, he was leaving on the truck. As he was saying goodbye to her, she pressed a coin into his hand. It had been a token on her grandfather’s that had been passed down to her. Now, she gave it to him. “Keep this with you always. It’ll protect you.”

The time came for him to let go of her hand and depart. She stayed on the pavement until they disappeared into the distance, feeling every square inch in her heart. But there was barely time to remain cold. There was work to be done.

She made her living as a nurse and now she was needed more than ever. Over the next few months, countless soldiers came into her hospital with injuries from the battlefield. She worked tirelessly to help each of them. Some of them told her horror stories about life in the trenches, others remained silent, reliving the nightmare in their heads. Every day she prayed she wouldn’t see him come through the door, battered and bloodied.

He wrote to her every week, relaying to her everything that was going on. One of his friends had been killed in an explosion, another caught in a gas attack. He was just getting by but he yearned to see her face again. She kept the letters close to her, them being the only part of him she had to hold on to.

One day, a soldier came into her charge, crying out in pain. His leg had been severely damaged. She worked hard to patch him up and held his hand, smiling at him in reassurance. He told her that an angel had saved his life.

“Not an angel. Just a girl.” She told him. He shook his head.

“You misunderstand, miss. Before the explosion, I found this on the ground.” He patted the pocket of his uniform, nodding to her. She tentatively reached in and pulled out a cold, shiny object.

A coin.

Something died in her that day.

The telegram arrived a week later. Killed in action. She wasn’t sure how someone could feel so empty but here she was. Millions of lives had been lost to this war but his was the one that hurt her beyond comprehension. She felt she would never be whole again.

When the announcement came that the war was over, many people rejoiced. She attended a ceremony to remember him. Plenty of people were there for the same reason as her, grieving widows who wept for their lost loves. They had gone over and above for their country.

When it was over, she took a walk by herself. She found herself crossing the street and standing outside the bakery. When she looked through the window, she could almost see the ghosts of the two of them, meeting for the first time. He looked so young and she looked so innocent.

Theirs was a love that would last lifetimes