I'm about halfway through season 6. Got lots of ideas floating around, but I'm welcomed to write about your ideas.

Operation Smile, combined with Fallen Angela

Jeremy enlists in his local ROTC the moment he is of age. He knows he doesn't have much going for him since he was what the other well off kids call "trailer trash." His parents barely make enough to pay for food on the table, but he wants a life out of Paradise Park. The army is a way to make that happen, and if they provide for a college education, well, he'd be heads above any member of his family in that aspect.

As the bus traveling out to boot camp leaves town, he was fondly sent off by a surprising amount of well-wishers. First, his parents. They may not have provided him with the most state of the art electronics or the trendiest clothes, but they were always there for him when he needed them most.

Albert Turner grudgingly hands him an envelope of money. "It's a portion from all those times you collected newspapers and cans for me. I figured you might need it one day." The man always had a heart of gold.

The last person to say goodbye to is the hardest.

Twelve year old Emily is like a gangly colt, growing like a weed with every passing day. She's come a long way from the shy five year old with a cleft palette. They'd been neighbors ever since she and her mother moved to the park and never been apart for a day. He thinks his love of reading came from sharing books with her all those years ago.

It would be difficult to leave her. Who would he speak to of his insecurities, and who would chase away the bullies who dared to abuse her? He would have to leave that up to God and the angels who drove in red convertibles.

"I promise to write you every day," Emily swears, her dark eyes filled with tears. Jeremy towers over her, but he bends down to hold her in a heartfelt hug.

"I'll be back before you know it," and with that said, Jeremy boards the bus with a smile. He holds Emily's eyes with his own until he can't see her anymore.

TBAATBAATBAATBAATBAA

True to her word, they write religiously trading anecdotes on their day to day lives. Jeremy's is mostly boring with basic training, but his college coursework proves interesting. He wants to be a counselor at a hospital or even a volunteer at Operation Smile in a few years. He thinks of other mothers like Ginger, who even though they love their children, were too naïve or ashamed to seek help for their children. Emily had never seen a sun rise during her first five years of existence. He wants to put the smile he remembered seeing on her face onto other needy kids.

Emily's mom was getting better though. Angela Evans, a US Senator's wife personally invited Ginger to her outreach program though the two women were miles apart. Designed to help women escape their pimps and other unwanted professions, Ginger quit stripping at the Temple of Venus and was studying for her two-year associate degree. She managed to outscore Emily, much to the young girl's chagrin.

Jeremy finishes basic training while he completes his courses for college. After his college graduation (two words he thought would never apply to himself), he spends four years in service to the Army. All and all the army wasn't any different than his life before. Small living quarters and lots of yelling, but the boys around him prove to be good friends.

Well, when they weren't meddling in his personal life.

Emily sends Jeremy her prom picture, and he keeps it tucked into his wallet.

"Who's that?" his roommates ask as they clamor around the photo.

His best friend's grown to become a beautiful young woman. She's not her mother's daughter without getting some of her beauty. All legs and with a winsome face, her only flaw is a small scar on her upper lip.

"I got it from a hot air balloon ride," she often jokes to the other kids.

She changes boyfriends every year or so, but doesn't make the same mistakes her mother did. Ginger had sat Emily down and explained her whole sordid past to her little angel - the drugs, the booze, and the boys.

Jeremy gives the same glare to his bunkmates that he gives to other boys who ogle Emily.

"She's my best friend," he starts to say.

One of his roommates interrupts. "Best friend? From the way you talk about her, she sounds like your girlfriend."

All of the other boys nod agreeing with the speaker.

Jeremy wants to explain the same reasons why Emily isn't his girlfriend for the umpteenth time – the six year age gap, their long-time friendship, her inability to stay in a relationship, but he just closes his mouth instead. The words seem strangely hollow after all of these years. Maybe it was just his heart.

Emily writes to him saying she broke up with another boyfriend again. None of them understand her, not like Jeremy does.

The young man takes pen to paper and writing in a stream of consciousness, he details what he would do if he were her boyfriend. Jeremy would hold open every door for her, share his bowl of precious ice cream, and most importantly encourage her to try despite the odds. After all, he writes, he knows she's brave enough to face any challenge. For heaven's sake, she trusted him enough to jump into the back of a moving truck and a hot air balloon at five years old!

He doesn't think about her response because the next few days are filled with the flurry of packing for the trip home. Jeremy has a job lined up already. He's grateful that he's staying in his hometown.

"Hey Jeremy! Mail call!" a supervisor shouts.

The man catches the thin envelope one handed, not bothering to open the contents of the letter until he's on the bus home.

His hands are shaking after he reads the single sentence written down.

Then be my boyfriend.

Thoughts tumble and stutter in his mind, but Jeremy takes hold of the kernel of hope with both hands. Emily and him? He dated a few girls briefly, but with the school coursework and his duties, it's hard to find the time. Emily is his one constant, and the age old concerns he continuously voiced evaporate like morning dew. If he could see that same beautiful smile she gave the day she saw the sun rise for the first time directed at him, he'd truly be a happy man.

The bus rumbles to a stop and a crowd bigger than when he left greets his eyes. Jeremy sees his parents, Emily's mother, and the girl herself waiting to welcome him home. Emily's 20 years old now, confident and lovely, but her eyes are bashful as they meet his when he steps off the bus.

He holds up her letter and mouths, "Yes," and she's off like a shot.

Catching her in mid-air, the girl wraps her legs around his waist and loops her arms around his neck.

She smiles at him, accentuating the slight scar, and plants a firm kiss on his surprised mouth.

His roommates roll their eyes as they see the sight, "Just friends… right."

I had trouble using the right verb tense in this oneshot. For some reason it felt natural to write in the present tense than past.

Thoughts and ideas?

Grignard