PEN PALS- CHAPTER 10
Disclaimer- Of course I don't own Radar, Klinger or any of the other M*A*S*H characters. Nancy, her pets, Dr. Richardson and his nephew, Charlie are my creations.
Mid-January 1952
Radar and Klinger were standing over Radar's desk looking over the things they had swiped, filched, and begged to make a Valentine card for Nancy.
Klinger took the cigar he held clinched between his teeth out of his mouth. "Let's see. We got aluminum foil, a roll of gauze, red nail polish, some glue and a piece of cardboard."
Radar looked over the card making supplies. "Uh, I got a question for you Klinger? Where did that red nail polish come from? Please tell me you didn't swipe it from Major Houlihan's tent. I'm too young to die. If she finds out I have it, she'll kill me!" The pitch of Radar's voice got higher and squeakier with every word he said.
Klinger chuckled. "Don't worry kid; I got it from Nurse Able. When I told her why we wanted the nail polish, she was only too glad to contribute to the cause."
"Shew. I sure am glad to hear that!" Radar sighed. "Now can you draw a heart?"
"I dunno. Let me give it a try. Hand me a pencil."
Radar reached up and pulled the pencil he kept tucked behind his ear and handed it to Klinger. Then he stood over the Lebanese corporal's shoulder and watched him draw a heart.
"Say Klinger, you're good at that."
Klinger smiled and pointed at the heart. "Behold, the work of a true artiste. What's next?"
Radar put a sheet of premium letterhead stationary in front of Klinger. "O.K., now draw a really nice one on that."
The Lebanese corporal looked up at Radar. "I'll do my best. Here goes nothin'" He carefully drew a large heart on the paper. Klinger grinned. "What do you think Radar?"
"Perfect! Now I'll write "Happy Valentine's Day "on the inside of the heart. Klinger you can draw great, but no offense intended, your handwriting is awful."
"Yeah Radar, you're right. My handwriting looks like chicken scratches."
Radar wrote the words "Happy Valentine's Day" and then went back over the letters very carefully with the red nail polish. He stood back and looked their handiwork. "O.K., so good, so far. Hand me the scissors." He cut out the heart, carefully going around the red outline of the heart.
Klinger said, "Scissors" and held out his hand like one of the surgeons at the 4077th during surgery. Radar grinned and repeated "scissors" like a nurse would do when she handed a surgical instrument to one of the doctors.
Klinger carefully cut out the heart and laid it on the desk. Then he ordered "cardboard". Radar handed him the cardboard. Next, Klinger asked for the aluminum foil. He wrapped the foil around the piece of cardboard.
Holding his hand out, he then said "glue". Radar said him the glue. He carefully glued the paper heart to the foil covered cardboard." Now hand me the needle, thread and the gauze."
"What are you going to do with that?" Radar asked him.
"Watch and learn," Klinger told Radar as he threaded the needle. Then he took a length of gauze and ran the needle and thread down the middle of it. Once he had completed that task, he clipped the thread from the needle with the scissors and tied a knot on the end. He pulled on one end of the thread carefully gathering it in to a ruffle.
"See, all the time I spend sewing on my section 8 dresses has paid off," he said as he handed the ruffled gauze to Radar. "You can put the ruffle around the heart, like they do on those fancy boxes of Valentine candy."
Radar carefully glued the ruffle around the heart. He held the finished Valentine's Day card up for Klinger to see. "Thanks for all your help Max; I hope she'll like it."
Klinger smiled. "What's not to like? It's a Klinger/ O'Reilly original. Not every girl will get one of these for Valentine's Day!"
On her second day of work at Dr. Richardson's office, Nancy rearranged the desk and put her photo of Radar front and center where she could see it. It was like he was there with her at work. She knew he would like the fact that she was working for a veterinarian since he loved animals, too.
"Hey Nancy, whose the young soldier in the picture?" Dr. Richardson had come up to Nancy's desk to hand her a patient file. "Is that your boyfriend?"
"No sir, he's not my boyfriend. We've never actually met. He's my pen pal. He works at MASH unit in Korea. His name is Corporal Walter O'Reilly, but he says everyone calls him Radar because he knows when things are going to happen before everyone else. I hope I'll get to meet him some day. He seems like a really nice guy."
The veterinarian smiled. "Who knows Nancy? Maybe you will." He changed the subject and asked her, "Do you have plans for Valentine's Day?"
"No sir, I don't."
"My wife and I are hosting a party that night. Would you like to come? My nephew, Charlie, who's in the Air Force, has just been stationed at Hunter Army Air Field."
She grinned and said, "Dr. Richardson, are you trying to fix me up with a date for Valentine's Day?"
He hesitated, then smiled and answered, "Yes, I am. Charlie is really a fine young man. I think you would enjoy his company. What do you say? You can't be with Corporal O'Reilly on Valentine's Day, but you could be with Airman Charles Richardson."
Nancy really didn't want to have a date on Valentine's Day, but her boss was such a nice man that she hated to disappoint him. "O.K., I'd love to come to your party and meet Charlie."
Valentine's Day 1952
Dr. Richardson closed his veterinary clinic early that afternoon, so he could go home and help his wife get ready for the party. He also wanted to give Nancy extra time to get ready for the party.
She was glad for the extra time because she had no idea what she was going to wear that evening. Nancy just couldn't get excited about going to the party. She didn't know why she felt that way, but she did. However, the mail that day did bring something she got excited about. It was the Valentine's Day card from Radar. By some miracle, it came right on the day it was meant for.
She saw Corporal Walter O'Reilly, MASH 4077TH, Korea on the return address. Nancy laughed and said out loud, although no one could hear her, "Wow! Thank you Cupid or St. Valentine or whoever!"
Nancy rushed inside the house and sat down in the chair by the front door. Of course, her furry welcome home committee was right there with her in all their usual places. Brutus had his head on her lap, Buster and Clyde sat in her lap and Romeo and Juliet were at her feet. She ripped open the envelope and pulled out Radar and Klinger's creation.
She looked at it for several minutes and then ran her fingers over the heart and the gauze ruffle. Then something unexpected happened. Her eyes watered and tears rolled down her cheeks. Why the handmade card made her cry, she couldn't understand. It may have been covered with aluminum foil, but to her it was pure gold.
A note was included with the card.
Dear Nancy,
I hope you don't mind getting a handmade Valentine's Day card. Corporal Max Klinger helped me with it.
Happy Valentine's Day (even if you don't get this until St. Patrick's Day)
All the best,
Radar (and Max)
She showed the card to her pets, as if she wanted their approval. Brutus and Buster gave it a sniff. Clyde batted at the gauze ruffle with his paw. As usual Romeo and Juliet treated the card with their usual indifference. Nancy laughed again. "Well I'll have to tell Radar and…Max that three out of the five of you guys gave the card a "paws up".
Now that she had received the card from Radar, going to the party didn't seem so bad after all. Still, she wished it was Radar instead of Charlie Richardson she was going to meet.
Dear Readers, I am sorry it took me so long to post this chapter.
Aren't you glad that Nancy liked the Valentine card that Radar sent to her?
Thanks so much for reading and supporting this story. I will try hard not to wait so long to post the next chapter!