It's summer vacation, so I'm totally BORED OUT OF MY MIND. So… just support my new obsession with song-fics :sigh:
Okay!
Oh, yeah, this song is in the mother's point of view, but Mrs. Bolton in the movie had like... two lines. So it's in someone else's point of view. What I'm saying is, the words are sort of going to be different from the story.
Okay!
She walked to the mailbox
On that bright summers day
Found a letter from her son
In a war far away
Sharpay nervously bit down on her right thumbnail. Her left hand fingers nervously drummed on the wood of the round kitchen table. The edges patterned with red, white and blue, an envelope stared back at Sharpay, begging to be ripped open. It was adressed to her from Troy.
She thought back to that very day. When he left. Almost tearing her heart right out of her chest, stomping on it, and stuffing it into a blender. But it was all for the best... right?
:Flashback:
Troy threw his one duffle bag into the trunk of his beat up Accord. "Remember," he came back to the front door, "I'm coming back." he wrapped around Sharpay and they unconsiously rocked back and forth.
Sharpay nodded into Troy's chest, fighting tears, remembering Troy's advice of always staying strong.
"This is a calling." Troy ran his hand across his wife's back soothingly. "I'm being called to do this." he assured Sharpay.
"I love you." Sharpay whispered as Troy pulled away, letting Troy outside to the Accord.
He rolled down the window and she bent over, placing one last soft kiss on his lips. Before he pulled out of the driveway. She waved to him all the way down the block, until he was just the morning mist.
:End Flashback:
That was months ago. Their one-year marriage had been spread from the United States all the way to Iraq, where Troy was, fighting for all of us. Innocent people.
Sharpay picked up the envelope. Addressed to her. From Troy. She knew that there could be nothing bad or heart-breaking in this letter, but still something stopping herself from ripping through the paper and reading its contents...
Maybe because it was the first letter. Sharpay sighed and finally broke the seal. Where her husband poured out his heart on a dirtied piece of paper:
My Dearest Sharpay,
The temperatures here are searing hot. Hold on, maybe that's not the correct way to open a letter to your wife who is literally thousands of miles away, but it was the first thing that came to mind. The weather.
He spoke of the weather
And good friends that he'd made
Sharpay, the US Army is the best thing that has happened to me. Besides you, I mean. I met a guy here. Right around my age. Brian. And he says he's going to have my back out here. He's just the thing I need.
Being in Iraq, being so close to people who had the same yearing as me, fighting for you, is awesome, Sharpay. I want a better life for us. I'm fighting for us. I'm fighting for you.
Said I'd been thinking 'bout dad
And the life that he had
Thats why I'm here today
And then in the end he said
You are what I'm fighting for
And even though I'm on the other side of the planet, remember that I'm always right there next to beside you. Because that's how much I love you.
True, true love,
Troy
It was the first of the letters from war
Sharpay quickly folded up the piece of paper and squeezed her eyes shut. She pressed the fold against her chest, against her heart. Because this was the closest she was going to be to Troy for a while.
She grabbed the closest pen and paper, starting her own heart-pouring letter:
My Even Dear-er Troy,
It's searing hot in Albuquerque too. But forget the weather. It's almost as if those fighting for us have something extra-special about them... like they were suddenly overcome by this feeling. And you're one of those good people, Troy.
She started writing
You're good and you're brave
Not only good, Troy, but brave. You've been there for a while, but there's never been a letter. So this is the first time I'm telling you... to please come home. Because that's how much I love you.
What a father that you'll be someday
make it home
make it safe
And writing to her fighting husband became a daily thing.
She wrote every night as she prayed
Sharpay leaned against the chilled window, looking out at the soft falling snow. She looked down to the patterned envelope in her hand. It was for her. But not from Troy.
Now this... this was different. The contents of this envelope could be heart-breaking. Saying things that no Army wife wants to hear.
But it had to be opened:
Late in December
A day she'll not forget
Oh her tears stained the paper
With every word that she read
Mrs. Bolton,
Writing this letter to you is more than difficult.
Sharpay's heart stopped at the first line. She knew. She knew it was all over.
Troy Bolton has become my one and only hero. This soldier... is someone amazing.
It said "I was up on a hill
I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out
And bombs were exploding
And I couldn't believe it. I don't mean to be graphic, Mrs. Bolton, but I was there. Dying right there on the battlefield. And then... he was right there.
Sobs caught in Sharpay's throat. Oh, she knew who he was.
And thats when I saw him
He came back for me
And though he was captured
A man set me free
This letter was incredible. Grey puddles formed on the page from Sharpay's tears and the black ink.
Troy Bolton saved my life, carrying me on his shoulder to safety. I could have died. And I owe that man everything I have. I assumed he was going to ask for just that. But then, he asked me to do the most peculiar thing. Write to you.
And that man was your son
He asked me to write to you
I told himI would, oh I swore"
It was the least I could do. You may not be on the battlefield, but losing someone so close to you is a war all on its own. And I wish you the best of luck.
Sincerely,
Brian Bradley
But Sharpay didn't know that that letter was going to be the last of the letters for a long, long time.
It was the last of the letters from war
Keeping faith that Troy was still alive was becoming a hard thing to do.
And she prayed he was living
Kept on believing
But she still wrote.
And wrote every night just to say
You are good
And you're brave
what a father that you'll be someday
Make it home
Make it safe
Still she kept writing each day
Sharpay reached up and plucked the first leaf of the autumn. The stem in her hand reminded her of a delicateflower in her hand instead. Which of course reminded her of Troy.
:Flashback:
"Troy... what are you doing?" Sharpay sleepily rubbed her eyes and leaned against the doorframe. "It's midnight."
"I know." Troy invited himself into Sharpay's cottage, pacing the floor. He held something in his hands. "But this... this couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't sleep without asking."
"What?" Sharpay shut the front door and turned to see Troy. On one knee.
Nothing needed to be said. Troy took his girlfriend's hand, revealing the box he had hidden, and slipped the silver band onto her finger. And before she knew it, Sharpay was on both knees, hugging Troy.
Knowing everything was going to be perfect.
:End Flashback:
Sharpay sighed and clutched the red-orange leaf in her hand, making her way back into her home. Once she reached the doorframe, wild honking came from the road in front of the house.
Then two years later
Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway
She turned. To see the beat-up Accord.
Sharpay's knees weakened at the sight of that old but familiar car in the driveway. She stepped back onto the lawn just to make sure that this wasn't a dream.
Someone waved from the window.
Sharpay fell to her knees, weeping into her hands.
Her soldier had come home.
And she fell to the ground
And out stepped a captain
Where her boy used to stand
Troy stepped out of the Accord, clad completely in camoflage. He gazed at his wife sitting in the foliage, crying tears of joy. Sharpay looked up, short of breath. "What are you... how did..." she let out another sob from across the lawn.
"I'm following orders." he smiled. "I'm following your orders... captain." he grinned.
He said "Mom I'm following orders
From all of your letters
And I've come home again."
The one duffel bag on Troy's shoulder dropped to the pavement with a thud. Troy charged towards his fallen Sharpay, pulling her into his arms right there on the lawn.
He ran into hold her
And dropped all his bags on the floor
And in the autumn, on the autumn, he showed her every single letter that she had sent to him. Every letter sent to and from war.
Holding all of her letters from war
One after another, fireworks lit up the Fourth of July night sky. They were children's at-home fireworks, but it was still a celebration.
Once the last firework shot through the sky, Troy and Sharpay re-entered their home again.
But made sure to leave their front porch lights on. Telling soldiers all over the world to be safe. And make it home.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home
Well, there it is! Please read and review! Oh, and The Army really is asking families to leave their front porch lights on on July Fourth as a reminder to all of the soldiers fighting for us. I hope this made you as grateful as it made me!