Arthur hung his head in despair and his hands trembled as he held a faded piece of paper. The military officer bid him goodnight with the solemn phrase, "My condolences. I'm sorry for your loss," and left him. He slowly unfolded the piece of paper and took a seat on a chair before reading. As he read, tears began to fall and hit the final words of his lost lover.
Dearest Arthur,
I'll be coming home soon! Isn't that great? I've been missing you so much, I can barely stand it. Your happy eyes and your laugh… that's what keeps me going, you are worth it all. I'm sorry, I know this past year has been hard for you and I hate causing you sorrow… I'm looking at your picture. Ha ha I can't stop looking at it! You're so distracting, but in a good way. I miss running my fingers threw that blonde hair of yours… I hate that you aren't here with me… It's kind of lonesome without you but I'll be coming home soon in a couple weeks so it'll be worth it, right? The war is basically over too so I won't have to come back to this hell hole. Thank God, I'm not strong enough to stay here any longer without you. Once I get back I'm going to hold you and I'm never letting go. I'm serious. On my way back, I'm buying gorilla glue ha ha! All jokes aside, be ready for a three hour long hug. I'm sorry about the short letter but I have to go soon. We have one more scouting mission with the guys to make sure a village is secure before we leave.
I love you, Arthur, and I never feel whole without you here so wait for me.
With all my love,
Alfred
And with that last sentence, Arthur broke down, unable to keep in the pain and sorrow he felt for his lost love. He fell to the floor whispering his name as Francis ran to him from the other room, holding him, telling him everything would be okay. But he didn't understand his sorrow, he didn't understand that his whole world… has gone dark; never to return to the light.