In Her Dreams

In her dreams her skin was smooth as cream and her eyes clear and blue. She wore her hair like other ladies in 1945, a time when woman always wore dresses made by hand and dreamed of nylon stockings that were all but impossible to get during the war. In her dream her man was off in a strange land fighting for his country, she was so proud of him yet worried like the others he may never come home. On days a letter reached her, she sat down preparing for his words that flowed across the paper like a gentle moving stream. “My dearest” it would begin, her tears already flowing down her face, telling her war was hell but soon he would return to her as he longed to hold her in his arms and dance again. In her dreams he did return, and they married soon after. Children came and a house was built, a place shed call home for decades to come. The war ended and in her dreams their daughter wed and had a child with two more to follow. Then as in life, her dreams found her old and in poor health. He stayed by her side day and night holding her fragile hand in his whispering to her how happy shed made him way back then. She smiled one last smile as she went to sleep dreaming of dancing with her soldier so very long ago when her skin was smooth and her eyes clear and blue. The last tear that fell was for him, the love of her life who died fighting for his country and only got to dance in her dreams.

Mike