a candle and a love letter

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    This is a (rough) story I wrote in school, because we are learning Rhetoric, and I was supposed to write a story trying to make my readers feel sorrow. The background is WWII. Hope you enjoy it! (Well, I mean, kind of...)

     Heather stood on the balcony, staring out toward the sea, longingly. She was holding a letter which was wrinkled and spotted wet with freshly shed tears. The letter was signed at the bottom, “With Love, Edmund James Knightly”. Her true love was gone at sea, fighting in the war. But yet, in the letter’s contents Edmund promised her he’d come home soon.  She knew he loved her, and missed her, and wanted to come home, but he was drafted into the war against his will. As Heather was pondering these things, she heard a horn blow in the distance, and a faraway ship caught her eye. She felt a smile form on her lips–something she hadn’t felt in a long time.  She hurried down the stairs, letting go of the letter, which drifted slowly to the ground. She took off down the cobblestone street, wet from the rain of an oncoming storm. She came to the dock when, after waiting for a long while, saw many men in soldier uniform come off the ship and hug their loved ones. But she couldn’t see him. He wasn’t there. She walked around, calling his name, but there was no answer. She stopped, her heart skipping a beat. Where is he? She saw other men in uniforms who clearly were authorities begin to come up to women with babies on their hips and say something inaudible, then the women would scream or cry in absolute anguish. She couldn’t believe it. Tears began to run down, stinging her cheeks because of the cold sea breeze. She turned around to run when she almost ran into someone. It was him. 

     “Edmund!” she cried. He dropped a camouflage bag and embraced her, squeezing her until she could hardly breathe.
       Edmund wiped away her tears with his calloused thumbs, then whispered, “It’s been so many years since I’ve seen you, and I love you more than ever. I know we planned our wedding to be after the war, but I don’t want to wait that long. I want you to be mine forever.”
       She smiled then quietly said, “My heart has always belonged to you.”
       So Heather and Edmund were married after being engaged for four years. They had a happy two days together, until Edmund Knightly had to go back. She watched as the boat sailed away, and went back home. Every midnight since he had left, she left a candle burning in the window, so he could always find his way home.
       Many weeks passed. She was walking in her nightgown when suddenly she heard a loud knock at her door late one night. She opened the door to see a man holding out a letter to her. She bid him goodnight, then opened it quickly. Before she had read the whole thing, her eyes brimmed with tears, and the words blurred on the slip of paper. Life was hardly worth living. Her heart hurt overwhelmingly and, rubbing her temples, she went to bed. That night was a night to remember. As she drifted off to sleep, she gazed at the flickering candle on the windowsill, the candle which never brought him home.

      So, I'll end this post with this song: