First Goodbye
Note: What if Allie and Noah met right before Noah was sent off to war? Story is based on the movie The Notebook up until that point in the movie. Characters are not mine. Reviews, ok, be kind
Looking out across the river, it was hard to imagine that there was a great war going on. Pretty soon, Noah Calhoun would be in the middle of it. He didn't know which side of the globe he would be, either fighting cold winters in Europe or hot humid days in the Asian Pacific. He was just starting his new life in Atlanta with his best friend Finn. They found a job working in construction when the news of war broke out. Like so many men their age, Noah just recently turned 19. He and Finn were back in Seabrook to spend time with their families before shipping out to boot camp and then from there, who knows.
At the end of the week, Noah stood at the platform of the bus depot and said goodbye to his father. Both Noah and Finn were quiet on the bus ride to the camp. Several weeks of boot camp and basic training were now before them. Noah spent these last precious hours before that reflecting on all that had happened. Like most men, he was terrified at the prospect of being shot and killed, but at the same time, the idea of going off to some distant foreign land intrigued and excited him. He left Seabrook only a few months ago to start a new life and now was the best opportunity as ever to live it. He missed his father and hoped he wouldn't worry about him too much. But being back in Seabrook reminded him of one of the reasons why he left there in the first place, Allie, his girlfriend from last summer.
When he arrived back home, he half hoped that his father would tell him that a letter from Allie had finally arrived. But as always, none came. After she left, he spent everyday writing to her, telling her how much he loved her, missed her and how sorry he was. The letters dwindles to once a day to every other day to once a week to once a month until he the last letter he mailed out before heading to Atlanta. Noah had dated girls before, but none of them were ever as serious as it was with Allie. It was the first time he had fall in love and the first time his heart got broken. She couldn't even send one letter to him, a postcard, anything, he thought. Anything would have been better than the silence he faced. She could've written anything, "I hate you, I moved on and never want to see or hear from you." At least then he would actually have something definite. Instead, he was left to dwell and ponder why she never contacted him back. The silence was deafening at times.
He and Finn arrived at Boot camp. The long tired days helped Noah forget about Allie. Weeks passed and he and Finn were heading to New York City to ship off to Europe. Their orders were to meet in London, where it would be a launch pad to the rest of Europe. Noah was out in the streets of New York. From the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone. He almost ignored it and then turned around to get a better look and couldn't believe who he saw.
Author's Note: This story came about the scene where Noah jumps off the bus to see Allie with Lon. I thought what if they ran into each other and I thought it would be fun to change the time and setting. I was surprised how quickly I wrote this, hopefully to write the rest of the story would also be as quick. Even when I reread and edited this story, I didn't have to change much.
