Alfred Jones a boy not long past eighteen when he enlisted in the army, he was waiting for the bus that would take him off to war when he noticed a small cafe nearby.

He walked over to the cafe and walked inside looking around and spotted an empty booth near the back where he could sit down and wait for his bus, he looked up at a guy with a bow in his hair and gave him his order.

"Sup, I'd like a hamburger and a coke please"

Arthur Kirkland was the waiter at the small cafe and the person who was serving the young soon to be soldier Alfred Jones; he noticed that the soldier seemed nervous so he gave him a smile as he took the other's order.

"Um...would you mind sittin' down for a while with me? I'm feeling a little low" The American soldier asked the waiter.

"How about I go get you your order and we can go after, I finish in an hour and I know where we can go" The British waiter replies as he walks off smiling.

After Arthur, had finished he took Alfred down to the place he said he knew of, Arthur walked them down to the pier and they sat down talking to each other.

"So I bet you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend but I don't care. I've got no one to send a letter to, do you mind if I send one back here to you?" Alfred asks the Brit as he looked out from the pier.

"Um...yeah sure, I mean that's ok with me if you wanted to do that" Arthur says looking at the American blushing slightly.

Arthur ran to his room crying, he couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it, dropped onto his bed and began sobbing into his pillow that he held tightly to his chest.

There will never be other who could ever replace the one he had loved so dearly.

Earlier that day at work Francis was talking with him and said. "Mon cher, you're too young to be waitin' for t'e love of a travellin' soldier"

He smiles and looks to his friend replying. "Our love for each other will never end. I'll be waiting for him to come back again then I'll never more be alone when the letter says that he's coming home"

Arthur sat at the dining table reading the letters that Alfred had sent him; the first letters came from the army camp in California, the next one came from his current station in Vietnam.

He wore a smile as he read them picturing Alfred's voice saying those words to him and could feel the emotions Alfred had put into the letters that came from his heart.

"Dearest Arthur,

I know we haven't known each other for very long but I think this might be love; sending and receiving letters from you make my day every time they arrive.

It's kinda scary at times here, in the dark you hear all sorts of sounds and it gets to the point where you can't really be sure if they're real or not, the sounds of guns and bombs make my heart jump against my chest in fear that this could be the moment that I don't make it back.

But in those types of moments and when it starts to get rough I just think back to that day when we were sitting down at the pier and I close my eyes and I see your pretty smile, please don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while.

-Alfred F. Jones"

Arthur ran to his room crying, he couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it, dropped onto his bed and began sobbing into his pillow that he held tightly to his chest.

There will never be other who could ever replace the one he had loved so dearly.

Francis came over to talk with him and said. "Oh...mon cher, you're too young to be waitin' for t'e love of a travellin' soldier"

He looks over to his friend saying softly. "Our love for each other will never end. I'll be waiting for him to come back again then I'll never more be alone when the letter says that he's coming home"

Arthur went to the local football game that's always held on a Friday night, he stands as the Lord's Prayer is said and the Anthem sang through the speakers.

A man walked out to the middle of the field with a microphone and said once the Anthem was stopped. "Would you all bow your heads for a list of local Vietnam dead"

He began slowly reading out the names of the dead and crying all alone under the stands was a piccolo player in the marching band, one name they read but nobody really cared except for a local waiter with a bow in his hair.

Arthur ran to his room crying, he couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it, dropped onto his bed and began sobbing into his pillow that he held tightly to his chest.

There will never be other who could ever replace the one he had loved so dearly.

Francis came over to talk with him and as he hugged him he said. "Mon cher, you're far too young to be waitin' for t'e love of a travellin' soldier"

He looks over to his friend saying softly. "Our love for each other will never end. I'll be waiting for him to come back again then I'll never more be alone when the letter says that he's coming"

Arthur ran to his home crying, he couldn't believe it, he wouldn't believe it, there will never be other who could ever replace the one he had loved so dearly.

He sees an envelope sitting on the ground in front of the mail slot inside his house, he bends down and opens it and slowly reads the letter that was inside.

Francis comes over to visit him, he sighs seeing him sitting at the table with the letters and said. "Mon cher, you're far too young to be waitin' for t'e love of a travellin' soldier t'at will never return..."

He looks over to his friend smiling softly as a few tears fall from his eyes and he holds up a letter to his friend saying. "Our love for each other will never end. I'll be waiting for him to come back again then I'll never more be alone when the letter saying that he's coming home"

The End.

Please listen to Travelin' Soldier by the Dixi chicks when reading this story as it will probably make more sense