Jeffery
Story by Shayna H.

One hot spring day in Tucson Arizona a cool breeze rolled through for the first time in a long time. Mary insisted her husband should take a walk because he had just gotten over a terrible flu and had been in the house for about two weeks. Mary who had some gardening to catch up on decided to skip out on the walk. Mary handed Tim a shopping list and told him to go grab these few items at the store that was a little bit away.

“Why can’t I just use the car? It quicker and then I could come back an help you garden.” Tim whined

“Two reasons, first the fresh air will do you good after being sick, and second you can’t garden if you life depended on it. Mary sassed back.

After Mary verbally shoved Tim out of the house she went and grabbed her new seeds and gloves and headed for the back yard. She tied her short frizzled, gray hair back in a ponytail, put on her new green planting gloves and went to work.

Tim made his way down the walk way with a few huffs and a couple of angry grumbles.  Tim walked the first block mumbling words of anger to himself. He finally got over the fact that he was forced to take a walk and started to try to enjoy the day and the cool breeze.

Tim was trying to ignore his wounded knee as he walked but sometimes it hurt too much. Tim had hurt his knee when he was in his thirties and now he is in his seventies. Tim had hurt his knee in the war.

It was near the end of the war and this was Tim’s first year commanding other troops. In the midst of a battle the Germans were over-coming the Americans troops so Tim commanded his troops to flee like most of the other soldiers did. Everyone was running for their lives and when Tim looked back he saw one of his men left behind who had been shot. This was a very young man.   Tim picked him up and helped him run. They darted. As they ran for their lives Tim had gotten shot in the knee. When Tim was sent home on disability, the young man thanked him for his life and told him that he would never forget him. Tim would never forget what the young man looked like. He had a great big scar on the side of his cheek.

How Tim had saved that young man’s life was something he would remember for the rest of his life in every step he took. As he kept feeling the pain in every stride so he was very grateful to get to the market. Tim just thought back to that moment as he pulled out the shopping list When he walked in to the nice cool store he pulled out his shopping list thinking of what else Mary would like because she would always forget to write down one thing or another.

As Tim was heading for the market and was shopping all that she needed, Mary worked on the garden like she said she would. Mary had sunflower seeds, roses, lilies and every flower that would brighten up the charming back yard garden. Somewhere in between planting the roses and watering the sunflowers, the doorbell chimed. Mary dropped her tools, took the grimy green gloved of and answered the door. 

When she swung the green front door open a man was standing on her old front porch. The man was dressed up nice in a clean cut blue military uniform with his hat tucked under his left arm as if for respect.

“Ma’am, I think there’s something wrong with your husband, Tim.” The Young man said with great posture. 

“No young man, you must be wrong Tim just went for a short walk. There could be nothing wrong with him, you must have the wrong person.” Mary said puzzled and confused.

“No your husband is at the corner of Elm and main, he has had heat exhaustion and has passed out on a bench.

With no further questions asked, Mary hopped into her new, white, Plymouth Fury and asked the man to show her where her poor Tim was. On the way they did not talk Mary was too terrified of what my have happened to her dear Tim.

When they finally got to the corner of Elm and Main where the old market was, Mary and the young man found Tim. Mary was so scared for Tim she felt she was going to lose he only love the one she had grown old with. Mary was just not ready for this. Mary pulled herself together, for Tim’s sake.  Mary and the young man carried Tim in to the back of the car as others watched with a confused look. Mary hopped in the car as well as the young man, driving home as swiftly as she could. Mary knew that the hospital was closed and the next closes one is hours away. Mary too busy worrying about Tim, forgotten to grab the groceries Tim had just bought for her.

Again on the way back from the Market the car was silent, all that could be heard was Mary worried, heavy breathing. They felt like they had been in the car for hours on the way home. The two carried Tim once more, but this time in to the air-conditioned house. After they hauled Tim who was as hot as an oven, on to the couch. Mary asked if the young man could get some water and a cold towel as she tried to whip Tim’s face dry. There was no response when she asked. When Mary turned around the well dressed, young man was gone. The young man was nowhere to be found. 

Mary was very curious to where the young man had gone but she had Tim to worry about. Tim was fine after he had some tender loving care from his worried wife. The rest of that afternoon, Mary searched everywhere for the young man in uniform. She asked neighbors, and everywhere she knew. Mary wanted the man to know that she was grateful. That night she went to bed wondering who was this young man and where had he come from.

As Mary slept peacefully next to her exhausted husband, she was so worried about the young man and just hoped he was not hurt or lost. That night all she could think about was what had happened that day. That night’s prayer was unlike that others that she had spoke every other night.

“Dear god, Thank you for my husband and his life. Thank you for my life. I would also like to thank you for the young man who helped my poor husband. I would really like to know if he is all right. I want to know where the man is or at least that he is all right. Thank for everything god. Thank you. Amen.” Mary spoke in a very sad, quiet voice.

Mary had finally fallen asleep when she had an amazing dream. In this dream the young, man that she had seen that day was almost invisible. He was transparent, like magic. When she saw him she saw what had happened that day: Mary saw the Young, man come to her door, she saw him tell she that her husband was sick. She saw when the young man had helped care for Tim. When he had helped her carry her husband into the house and then him helping her lay Tim down on the couch. She saw herself call for the young man. After this in Mary’s dream she saw the young man on her porch next to her wind chimes and the young man put on his hat. Then he looked up at the sky and just stared with a little smile. When a cool breeze rolled by the chimes let out a little chime. There was a magic spark that you only see in storybook. The young man had golden wings. Before he was to fly of Mary saw his face, it had a great big scar on his face that was not there before.

Mary just suddenly woke after he had flown away. Mary remembered Tim talking about the scar of the young man he had saved. Thinking of this Mary raced to the to her craft room and yanked out a box of old pictures from the shelf. Mary sat on the floor and shuffled through pictures. There were pictures of family, of vacations, of pets but they were not the one she was looking for. Mary was getting irritated as she did not see the picture and then finally at the end of the stack there it was. The picture was of the men Tim was in charge of some forty years ago. There in the faded worn out old picture was the young man in the corner, with the scar.

Mary looked on the back of the picture; there was his name with every other soldier in the picture: Jeffery Manner. Mary kept repeating it in her head.

Mary heard her wind chimes the next day while working in the garden, finishing what she had started yesterday. Being a spiritual woman that she is when she heard that chime she knew that the young man was an angel who had just earned his well-deserved wings. Mary would never forget the man that saved he husband’s life.

Mary asked the Army to find where Jeffery had been buried so she could thank him. Mary went to Jeffery’s grave, when they finally found it. She went as often as possible. She talked to Jeffery, she told him everything and she always thanked him. When Mary finally told Tim what had happened and about her dream, he believed her.

“He had always said he would make it up to me someday, somehow.”