Stars beginning to fade,
And I lead the parade
Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer,
Oh, Lord, let me tell you
That the feeling's getting stronger.
"Not like this," He thinks. Then the plane lurches violently and he forgets to think, forgets everything but the chaos and the noise and the tears ands the sheer terror clawing its way up his throat.
He thinks of home and of Loraine and he wonders what his family will do. He wonders what his children will be.
He thinks of home, and of Radar and Hawk and of Margaret's soft lips. There's a photograph of a man in a pink evening gown in his pocket and Henry Blake is dying. The cloth of his sharp new suit feels crisp and clean against his skin and he is dying. His white hat is gone and Henry Blake knows his end is come. He wonders if it will hurt.
The air screams by so fast it tears the metal shell of the plane and brings tears to his eyes. He prays to God, and he hopes for the best.
He accepts the fact that the best will only be a swift end.
He wishes he could see his wife just once more. He remembers her and how he had never seen anything more beautiful than Loraine on Easter Morning, her hair curled and her sky-blue dress blowing round her knees. They had made a child that day, a girl, and named her Agnes.
He wishes he had done more. He wishes for more time. He wishes and he wishes even though he knows none of it will stop the plane from falling. None of it will put them back in the sky and make the wind stop screaming.
Radar's keychain feels heavy in his pocket. Henry wonders how Radar will do. He wonders how they all will do, but decides not to worry. His men will do well. They always have. And they will continue to do so, no matter what.
The wind is screaming by and the water is close.
Henry Blake closes his eyes and thinks of home.
Be kind. Review. Title, summary, and lyrics come from Tom Wait's Ol 55