Mommy said we had to go home when it started getting
dark. I wanted to stay and play, but
she made me go. Mommy smiled when I
said goodbye to the boys when we left.
They were really nice to me!
Mommy says we are going to see Mr. Sid tomorrow. He's always nice to me, but he always looks
sick. Mommy frowns when I saw
that. Maybe he'll give me a present
like he did last time. I love that soft
bear!
Claire
--------------------
Aki's Letter:
Dear Gray:
As promised, I took Claire to Monterey this morning. She was so excited to go—it was her first
time in months. She really enjoyed
playing with two boys she met on the beach.
Claire was always so proud of the sand castles she made. I wish you could have seen her smile.
I brought sandwiches and juice for lunch today, but when
Claire discovered it was cranberry she tried to give it to one of the
boys. She protested but I made her
drink it.
There were more gulls today than there was the last time we
were here. Life is finally starting to
return to this ravaged world. I stayed
to watch the sunset—the red and gold bands of light danced across the azure
clouds. The sea glittered for hours…it
brought tears to my eyes…I haven't seen such beauty since my childhood.
But we had to go when it started to get dark. Claire fussed about having to leave, but she
said goodbye to those boys.
Tomorrow I'm going to take Claire to visit Dr. Sid. He's seen better days. The doctors are doing what they can for him,
but he's going to need several more surgeries to fix his Arthritis. But at least he's feeling confident so he
does a lot of smiling. Claire seems to
like him, although I wonder if it is because of all the gifts he gives her.
Speaking of which, it's starting to get late and I need to
put Claire to bed.
Love you,
Aki
Sid may seem a bit different in my story—I tried to
portray a human side than the sterile philosopher that was shown in the movie.
The title of this work was borrowed from a song performed
by Chanticleer.
Day Two – The Angel Cried Out
Today was a Wednesday.
The sky was fair, but the sun still shone defiantly out of the
clouds. Birds squawked amongst
themselves between the pine trees littered throughout the font yard. It was a good day to read, and on weekdays
like these visitors were not likely to intrude upon his leisure activities.
Dr Sid was lounging in his favorite chair when he heard the
rover pull up. Stretching his arms and
legs; he lazily creaked out of his chair and shuffled his way towards the
window. Peeking out, he smiled warmly
when he saw Aki and her little daughter Claire climb out of their vehicle. Claire was bigger than he remembered. He
always wondered how she kept growing so fast.
Sid made his way towards the door and undid the locks then
stepped out into the soft afternoon light. Claire squealed and raced across the
stone tiles to clutch her old friend.
Sid laughed as he hugged her back.
"So how have you been? I haven't
seen you in ages!"
"I've been doing great!" she gushed. "Mommy took me to the beach yesterday!" Sid beamed at Aki, who returned a smile.
"Yes, we went to Monterey yesterday morning. I'd been promising her for weeks." Sid grinned broadly. "Ah I hear that people
say there are seagulls back on the beaches again."
"Indeed, I'd say there were several dozen out there
yesterday." "Wonderful!" he laughed.
"And what did you do, young Claire?" Sid inquired.
"I got to build sand castles and make friends!" she said.
"Excellent. Did your castles reach the sky?" Sid asked.
"Well we tried, but each time we built them too high they
fell over."
"Keep trying, you'll make it one day."
"C'mon inside, I'll get us something to drink." Sid ushered Aki and Claire into the house
and closed the front door.
"How are things going with you?" Aki asked
"Been doing good, but my joints are
getting pretty sore these days. The
doctors already graphed some inserts onto my bones so I can move a little bit
better, but they want me to come back again soon."
"How many more operations will you have to go through?"
He frowned
and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't
know…the doctors just said that they'll keep working on me until I 'get
better.'" His frown deepened to a
grimace.
Aki feigned a smile.
"We'll be watching you. Hope you
get better in time for Christmas."
Sid's smile
returned. "As do I."
***
Sid carried a wrapped yellow box with a large chrome blue
ribbon as he came into the living room.
As he began to sit on the couch, Aki closed her eyes and tried very hard
not to sigh. Not again.
"Claire, I have something for you" he called.
Claire
brightened. She was still in the
kitchen drinking some tea. Much to
Aki's disapproval, he left the sugar cup right out on the counter. Claire had wasted no time pouring in as much
as she could before her mother find out. "Is it a present?" she asked.
"Yes." Sid winked at
Aki. "You do know you spoil her rotten" Aki remarked as she rolled her
eyes. "Ah, but childhood is never too
sweet to be completely spoiled. You
must cherish it because you'll never have it again." Aki grinned and shook her head.
Claire instantly forgot about the tea and tore around the
corner to find Sid and her gift-to-be.
"Hey, what did I tell you about running in the house?" Aki warned. "Sorry mommy!" Sid laughed softly to himself.
"This is for you" as he bent down to give Claire the sealed
box. "Open it."
Claire was close to ecstatic as she
tore the ribbons off and peered inside. She frowned and asked, "What is it?"
"It's a holosim. It
plays all kinds of interactive games."
Aki cocked an eyebrow.
"What kind of games?"
Sid chuckled. "Oh
just what the usual kids want these days—something with enough action and story
to keep them glued to the emitters."
She groaned and gave him a displeased look. He laughed and
chortled, "Hey, you don't have to play it."
Claire was pushing buttons and fiddling around with the odd
device when it suddenly sprang to life.
She whooped when she saw the purple dinosaur jump out of the toy and do
a mid-air dance.
As the dinosaur started its routine, Sid stood up and turned
towards Aki. His cheerful expression
vanished, only to be replaced with sadness.
Sid tried to smile. "But Aki…"
he took her hand "…I need to show you something." Claire didn't hear them…the dinosaur had already gained her
complete attention.
***
Sid led Aki up the stairs.
The old man wheezed with each step, but never once stopped to catch his
breath. Aki frowned and wondered how
long he'd been like this. "It's not the
stairs," he croaked. Aki could tell he
was close to tears. Something must
really be bothering him.
Even though he didn't hear it, he knew what she was
thinking. "My arms, my legs, my
shoulders—everything—they hurt. They
hurt bad." He shuddered. Aki opened her mouth to speak, but he waved
his arm and shook his head to silence her.
"I…I need to sit on the bed and rest for a minute." "Okay, but—"
"Please!" He had nearly
shouted. Worried that Claire might have
heard, but more interested in keeping the old man silent, she helped him into
his room.
Once he was on his bed, he rasped as he sucked deep breaths
in and out of his lungs. Aki shut the
door. "Good God Sid, I had no idea you
were in such sorry shape! Have you told
your doctors about this?"
"Yes…yes I have" he managed, still
struggling between breaths. "I had
surgery for my shoulders last month."
He coughed, but was finally starting to calm down.
"Why didn't you tell us? We could have visited you." She looked hurt.
Sid shook his head "No…no—I…I didn't want you to worry about
me." He winced again; the pain in his
knees was incredible.
"Well its pretty obvious you need
to go back, " she retorted.
"I know. I
know. The doctors said I'd need more
surgery to replace my withered cartilage.
I'm supposed to go in next week."
"Do you
want me to take you in? What time is
your appointment?"
Sid started to decline, but Aki interjected: "The hell you can't! If it's the least I could do is to take you
in to get proper help." She saw in his
eyes that he had been defeated. He
blinked a few times and she smiled back at him.
"But this is not what I brought you up her to see" he
wheezed. "What is it?" Worry started to
set in again. "In the closet, on the second shelf…" Aki got up and opened the
wardrobe door. Memories jolted as she
saw his old lab coat. It had faded over
the years—even had a few small holes, perhaps torn by hangers or eaten by
moths. But she hadn't seen that
since…since… "There on the right—the envelope.
Let me see it."
Aki wasn't even paying attention as she handed him the
crinkly yellow letter. As he grabbed
it, it made a clinking sound. If she
wasn't daydreaming, she might have wondered if he was going to pull out some
coins. People had been finding North
American currency throughout the former wastelands—although not extremely rare,
coins were still quite valuable. But it
didn't matter, for what she saw next, she would never forget.
Sid undid the seal and wrapped a USMF Purple Heart around
his fingers. She knew it—right then and
there that it was his. Her his—Claire's
his. Since the days of the old
United States, the Purple Heart was awarded to those who were wounded, killed
or would die from their injuries during their tour of duty. It was too much, too many memories. She desperately had to look away—she covered
her mouth to choke the sob and clenched here eyes tight. It was all she could do, but deep down she
knew it was inevitable that she was going to burst into tears.
Sid waited a few moments before whispering, "I'm sorry."
Claire turned off the game and listened when she first heard
Mr. Sid shout. She had snuck up the
stairs, doing her absolute best to keep quiet.
She put her ear against the door, trying to make sense of what was going
on. To make matters worse, now she
heard her mother sobbing. Frightened,
she thrust open the door to figure out what was wrong.
Claire saw Sid cradling her mother. She was clutching a brilliant gold heart
strung around a velvet purple ribbon, eyes completely glossed over; tears were
streaming down her cheeks. Aki took one
look at her daughter and began to weep.
Claire was at a complete loss of words; all she could do is
stand and stare. To see her mother in
such a state was utterly harrowing.
"Please go Claire…your mother's had a rough day. It'll be alright." Sid didn't quite know who he said it to—himself or Aki's
bewildered daughter. Claire ran out of
the room and slammed the door.
***
Sid walked the two back to the rover. Aki still had very red eyes and Claire
wasn't saying much. He felt bad. I
should have waited for a better time, he told himself.
"Is next week still alright" he squeaked. Aki had tightly shut her eyes once she got
into the driver's seat, taking long cool breaths to calm her emotions. "Yes, I promised remember?"
Sid started to say something, but thought better of it. "See you next week" he finally managed to
say. "Goodbye Claire." Sid wasn't sure
she heard, but at least she turned back around one last time to give him a
smile.
He waved as he watched the rover pull out of the driveway
and continue down the street. Sid only
shook his head and started back towards the house.
Aki took Claire to see Gray's burial grounds at The
Memorial.
Remembrance
Aki's Letter:
Dear Gray:
I said hello to you again today. I cried again too. I
tried to hold it back, but the pressure was too great. God, you don't know the sorrow I felt when I
lost you. I wept for weeks. Each time I
visit The Memorial I see you in your Honor Guard uniform. Forever preserved, forever silent, forever
at peace.
But I am not alone: there were many others who stand before
me and shed their tears for their fallen loved ones. Friends, family, fellow soldiers…they all shared the same sad
story.
Claire never does understand why everyone here is filled
with such grief. She always asks when
you'll come home. I always tell her
"Soon…soon enough." It hurts when I
have to say it, but sooner or later she's going to figure it out—your
gone—forever—and no amount of tears will bring you back. But you will not be forgotten.
Aki
--------------------
Claire's Letter:
To Daddy:
Hello again daddy.
Mommy took me to see you again.
She always cries when she sees you.
Everybody cries here. The halls
are always so cold. I hope your warm
daddy. But when will you come out? There are so many things I want to tell you
about!
Mommy took me home after we saw you. We talked on the way back, but mommy had red
eyes the whole time. She doesn't say
it, but I know she misses you.
Mr. Sid was nice to me yesterday. He gave me a holo game.
Mommy didn't like it much, but I love it. Mommy says we'll try to visit him again after the doctors see
him.
Mommy just called and she wants me to help her with
something. Gotta run again dad, bye!
Claire
