Yes... a short chapter to end it! Hope you aren't too disappointed with the ending but I liked it! I am still waiting for your next brilliant brainstorm FYH!!!

Love Ya'll

Chapter 9

Hanson watched as the local VFW removed the flag from the elegant wooden casket and folded it. He struggled as the three honor guardsmen fired seven shots a piece to honor the fallen hero. He stood behind a young girl about thirteen years old. She was tall and had ringlet curls falling grandly down her back. She wore a black over coat and sucked in a deep breath as the grey haired man in the white dress shirt approached her. He wore a black cover on his head which proudly displayed the yellow letters VFW, Korea and Vietnam. His sunken eyes and weathered face showed the signs of age on them as he reverently approached carrying the flag of a proud country. He bent at the waist and placed it in the tender child's hands. SHe raised her head showing her tear streaked face making eye contact with the older man. She took a deep breath as her chest began to fall and she started to sink into her seat.

"Miss Sullivan… Please except this flag…" his voice cracked as he finished. "…on behalf of a grateful… nation." He then shouted a command and the small group of men raised their hands in a salute to the beautiful young girl. Then the bugles began to play the notes of "Taps" the tune that truly made the tears begin to prick at his eyes and spill over onto his cheeks.

Hanson watched as a tear streaked down the commander's face. He sadly watched the young girl lean heavily onto her mothers shoulder and weep for her fallen father. She was too young to be fatherless. She was much too young.

"This concludes the services for Roger Sullivan…" the owner of the funeral parlor stepped forward as the representative of the family.

The crowd began to mill past the casket saying their final farewells to the Military man. Hanson walked away from the group and stood by the tree as the teachers and students greeted the family and each other. As the group began to clear out Hanson watched as the little girl held the flag firmly in her hands and stood up to walk away. Tom saw this as a chance to say goodbye to his friend.

He approached the cherry wood box and placed his hand on the top. He looked down at the green carpeting under the canvas cover. He looked around to see that most people had walked away. He then spoke up in a quiet voice.

"I… I uh never got to thank you. You saved Dennis's life and Doug's. Hell… you probably saved mine too. All I know is that all three of us would have died if it wasn't for you." Tom ran his fingers through his hair as he looked down at the green carpet again. He licked his lips as he looked up at the canvas again. He could feel the tears as they ran hot down his cheeks. "I never got to tell you how sorry I was for treating you like I did. But I think you knew that… it was all because I… uh… I had a job to do." Tom sniffled as he wiped the tears nervously from his face. "I lost my dad when I was seventeen and I… never got to say goodbye. I never got to tell him how much he meant to me. I… just miss him so much Roger… I miss my dad. But I promise that your daughter will know that you died saving my life and two others. I promise she'll know…"

Tom felt a hand on his back which made him nearly jump out of his skin. He turned around to see who was there. His blood shot eyes met a set of blue blood shot eyes and dark curls. She was clutching a flag in her left hand as she looked up at Tom.

"My dad… he saved you?" She asked softly. "I mean I didn't mean to hear you but I wanted to say goodbye and I walked up and heard you. He saved you and two others?"

Tom felt his jaw quiver as he sucked in a shaky breath. He reached out his right hand and offered it to the young girl. She placed her long boney hand into his much bigger one. He shook it lightly as he made eye contact with the young child.

"Y-Yeah… my name is Officer Tom Hanson and your father saved my life and the life of Officer Doug Penhall and Officer Dennis Booker. They wanted to be here but their still in the hospital recovering from injuries from that day."

"You look young." She smiled her blue eyes showing his intense emotions. "My name's Callie"

"Yeah…" Hanson smiled as he looked down and then back at the girl. "I was working in the school that day and he stepped in front of… he…"

"…bullet. Mom told me he was shot." She looked at the wooden casket again as she moved closer to Tom. She let her hand wonder over the smooth surface of her father's wooden casket. She looked down and pulled something out of her hip pocket.

"I want to have this." The little girl handed Tom a set of metal dog tags and a bullet casing. She looked up at Tom Hanson as a single tear slid down her cheek. Your daddy and my daddy are looking down at us and I think they are both proud." She offered a warm smile through her gut wrenching tears.

Tom looked down at the young girl and was blown away at her words. His mouth hung agape as he pondered her thoughtful words. She was right. How could a thirteen year old girl be right about something so huge? All he could ever think about was how his father had died, how they never found the killer, how he had lost so much when he was seventeen. But she had the answer summed up so easily. His mother had told him this so many times but it had taken a little girl to make him believe it.

"You're right Callie… their proud of both of us."

The End

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