4TH OF JULY STORY

Melchy

Rating: G

These characters do not belong to me but do let me take them out once in a while and then put them back. They belong to 20th Century Fox.

Eight-year-old Daniel Gregg came running into the house tracking sand and general boy-related dirt all over his mother's freshly scrubbed floor.

"Mam!" he shouted, his freckled face one big grin. "Mam! Guess what? They are going to have a parade tomorrow and a . . . a picnic in . . . um . . ." He took a moment to catch his breath. ". . . In Schooner Bay for the Fourth of July. Can we go please? May we, please?"

Cassiday Gregg looked at her only son and couldn't help but smile. Ever since her husband, Joseph had been badly injured in a fishing accident, six months ago, she had had little time for thinking of frivolous things. Daniel had been good about helping her around the house, rarely complaining, although she knew he would rather be out playing ball with his friends, or walking along the beach playing pirate and sea Captain.

"I suppose we could fit it into our plans," her thick Irish brogue coming out, "Might be just the thing we need to cheer us up. Run upstairs to your Papa and see if he thinks he might manage it."

"Honest?" His blue eyes yelled with excitement.

"Honest – now scoot, I've got to clean this floor again."

The small town of Schooner Bay was all decked out for the occasion of the country's independence. Hawkers had tables of lemonade and candy apples on practically every corner, and there were announcements of trick riding, a magic show, and a picnic lunch, followed by a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence and then the evening ending in fireworks.

"Daniel!" Andrew Feeny's brown cowlick was visible before the rest of him showed up. "Daniel, come on! I thought you would never get here! They have mule rides for a penny and a contest to see who can throw the furthest and there is a man here that has a real live alligator!" His friend pulled on his shirt tail.

"May I go please?" his earnest face looked up into this parents'.

"Of course you may." Joseph smiled at his son, reaching into his pocket and pulling out some coins. "Just don't spend all of those in one place, lad."

"No sir!" The boy saluted his father, gave his mother a quick kiss and headed out with Andrew.

It was a full day, and the boy played hard. He rode the mule twice and tried to touch the alligator, which showed him a mouthful of teeth. Both he and Andrew joined the contests, Daniel winning them all, including a smile from Phoebe Martin, the prettiest girl in town.

Meeting his parents back in the town square for the picnic, he showed off his ribbons and was proud of the fact that he still had most of the money his father had given him.

"May I have your attention please?" Cyrus Coolidge stood up on a platform built especially for the day. "Oliver Peavy, a veteran from the War for Independence is now going to recite the Declaration for us. Please be respectful."

Daniel watched as his father removed his hat, as did the other men gathered there. Mr. Peavy was well past seventy and the boy wondered how he would be able to stand, let alone speak so everyone could hear him.

But as the man began to recite, it seemed his voice grew stronger. Daniel listened with every fiber of his being, feeling a thrill go through him when the old solider came to the word 'that all men are created equal and have been endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'

As the elderly man finished to resounding applause, young Daniel Gregg couldn't help but think those were the sweetest words he had ever heard. Freedom! It was the only thing worth living and dying for!

Sure he had heard Mr. Peavey's stories of hiding from the 'redcoats' and Paul Revere's marvelous ride and living in the snow with no shoes, and surviving on nothing more than weeds and whatever else they could catch, but it had all been a story before. Now it was real, almost so solid, he could reach out and touch it.

'We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor' Mr. Jefferson had written and now, he Daniel Alexander Gregg knew why it was important. They were more than just words you learned at school. They were real. No, he couldn't explain why, but suddenly it was. It was a thought he would carry with him always.

*****************

"Carolyn honey, if you don't hurry, we will miss the parade." Emily Williams pointed out to her eight-year-old. "Go on and put your dress on darling."

She shook her head, her still sleep-tangled hair spilling about her shoulders. "I don't want to go to the parade," she said sincerely.

"Of course you do, darling, don't be a silly girl! You love parades. You look forward to it every year."

"Not this year," the little girl declared hotly. "This year is different." She looked up at her mother, tears building in her green eyes. "Daddy's not here."

"Oh sweetie." Emily picked up her daughter, holding her close for a moment before sitting down on the chair, adjusting the girl on her lap.

"Honey, you know Daddy can't be here. He'll be home soon."

"When?" She looked up hopefully. Maybe Mom knew something she didn't.

"I don't know Carolyn. I wish I could tell you, but I don't know." Now she felt like crying.

"Why did he have to go fight the Japs anyway?"

"Japanese, Carolyn. Call them Japanese. It's more polite. We have to remember that they are people too."

"Right." She nodded, not sure if she agreed with her mother on that point. She didn't really know too much about the war except they weren't allowed to drive the car much, had a book full of stamps that limited what they could buy and that her father had left on a train and now was far away where strange people might kill him or blow him up or something. She just didn't see how anyone could go to a Fourth of July Parade under such circumstances. It had been different last year. He had been here, in Philadelphia. But now . . .
"Now will you go upstairs and get dressed? We don't want to keep Grandpa waiting, do we?"

"Mamma, I don't understand," she finally said, turning her face so they were almost touching noses. "Why did Daddy have to go away?"

Emily sighed, not sure how to explain it any more than they already had. "Well, darling, it's like this. Daddy went over the ocean to help fight for our country."

"The Japanese want our country?"

"No . . . yes . . . well . . . no baby. They don't really want our country, they just want, well they want to control us, they want to be able to tell us what to do."

"And Daddy can stop them?" She looked a little awed at the thought.

"Not by himself," Emily said, hoping she just hadn't ruined her daughter's perception of her father, "But with maybe with the other soldiers he can."

"Why?"

"Why what sweetie?"

"Why do we fight? Janie's grandfather was in a war, he said it was the war to end all wars, so why are we fighting?"

"Because we want to be free. Americans have always wanted to be free and do things for ourselves. That's why we fought the revolution."

"You mean, Bunker Hill and everything?" Emily nodded, glad her daughter had actually started paying attention in history class. "Because we wanted to pursue happiness?" her face brightening.

"Yes," her mother smiled. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, just like the Declaration of Independence said. You remember when you had to learn that last year?"

She nodded her blonde head, a look of recognition building in her eyes.

"That means Daddy has to go fight because those men along time ago did and we can't let them down?"

"That's a very good way to put it." Her mother hugged her close.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I think we should go the parade. After all, Daddy will want to know we had a good time today."

"You are right." She kissed her, before scooting the girl off her lap. "Now go get dressed."

"Yes Ma'am," she smiled. Heading upstairs, Emily heard her daughter loudly reciting "'We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

Maybe that was what freedom was all about.

************************

Carolyn went through the picnic basket once more time, making sure they had everything they needed. Hearing the clock chime, she held her breath hoping it would stop at eleven. If it was already twelve, then they were an hour late, if only eleven then they would be about fifteen minutes late. Ralph got so uptight when she was late!

"Candy, Jonathan!" she called up the stairs of the tiny apartment. "Are you ready?"

"Candy says she's not coming." Jonathan came running into the kitchen. "Can I have her dessert?"

"No, you may not." Carolyn pulled the bill of his baseball cap down playfully. "But what you can do, is call Grandma and Grandpa Muir and tell them we will be late. Will you do that for me?"

"Sure Mom." He headed over to the phone.

Carolyn took the steps two at a time, finding Candy gazing out the window that overlooked the fire escape. She hated living here, but hopefully it wouldn't be for too much longer. If she could just get a little more money together, they would be living in Maine this time next year, or in a month or two if she could sell one more story, and if she could ever get a hold of Gregg Real Estate.

"Candy?"

Her daughter turned her blue-green eyes in her direction and smiled.

"Mom, I don't want to go to the picnic. Could I go to Jessica's or something?"

"And miss the family picnic? I don't know if we could do it that way." She kept her voice light. "What's the matter, sweetness?"

"This will be our last Fourth of July in Philadelphia," she said, matter-of-factly. "I can't help but think that if I don't go, then it won't happen and we won't move."

"Candy, you do understand why we have to move don't you?" She sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Because you want to do things the way you want to do them." The little girl turned around to face her.

"That's one way of putting it," Carolyn smiled. "But you do know it's more than that, don't you?"

"I guess," she shrugged. "Philadelphia is my home, Mommy. The man on the tour bus, said it was the greatest city in the world."

"It's an important city, that's for sure."

"When I was a little girl, I thought the Fourth of July was invented here." She shook her head at her own silliness.

"So, did I," Carolyn confessed.

"Really?"

"Really. You know Candy, I know this might not help now, but we will still have holidays and picnics and family times in Maine."

"I guess we will, won't we? It will only be me and you and Jonathan, but it will be us, our family."

"Indeed it will." Carolyn hugged her.

As they drove to the Muirs, Jonathan and Candy began to play a game, seeing who could say the Declaration of Independence the furthest.

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Candy said triumphantly when Jonathan couldn't think of it.

"Hey Mom!" she called over the seat. "We can do that anywhere, just not Philadelphia" and she looked satisfied with her thought.

And her mother couldn't argue with that.

*********************
"The speaker at the Fourth of July Rally is going to be James Post." Carolyn read from the paper. "He's going to be speaking about some of his experiences in Vietnam." Her brow wrinkled slightly. "I guess we should be better informed of what's going on over there."

"I believe we hear entirely too much about it now." The Captain disagreed. "I, for one, am tired of hearing about it every night."

"You are?" She looked up surprised, but not as surprised as Jonathan was.

"But you fought in the Mexican War Captain!" The boy sat down beside him at the table. "You knew it was important to fight for our freedom."

"I did indeed lad, but this – war, it has nothing to do with us, this is their affair, let them handle it. I have been in Vietnam. I can't say I ever thought much of it."

"I think it has a lot to do with us." Jonathan had to say how he felt. "When we fought for our independence one of the reasons we cited was that every man had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How can we fight for this ourselves and not help others do the same thing?"

Daniel Gregg looked over at the boy, who was not really a boy any more and nodded. "I see your point lad but . . ."

"If you think about it Captain, it makes sense," Jonathan told him. "Well, I better go help Candy with the yard work." He wrinkled his nose. "We are going to the Fourth of July celebration, aren't we Mom?"

"We haven't missed one yet, have we? I don' t see why we wouldn't go this year!"

"Cool!" He walked out of the kitchen, leaving them alone.

Three days later, the town of Schooner Bay was busy celebrating the country's independence. Captain Gregg walked through the town, watching the contests and the parade and thinking of how much things had changed since his boyhood.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, could I have your attention please!" Jonah Applewhite, stood on the platform, constructed just for the occasion. "In a moment, James Post will be coming to tell us of some of his exploits in the jungles of Vietnam, but first Thomas Wikins, a veteran of the Korean Conflict will read the Declaration of Independence. Will everyone please show the proper respect?"

And as the words started to fill the air, Daniel Gregg felt a thrill going through him.


End