The Unimaginable

Whit sat comfortably in his favorite easy chair in the living room quietly reading The Terminus Factor, a new and quite popular book that he had recently purchased. It was around 3:30 in the afternoon and Jason and Jana were due to be home from school soon.

Jenny was in the kitchen breading chicken breasts for the Chicken Parmesan she was making for dinner that evening. She was thankful for these common and even mundane tasks as staying busy helped her to keep her mind off of Jerry. The eldest Whittaker child had been away serving in Vietnam for exactly five months. Since the day he left the entire Whittaker family had been missing him terribly and were constantly worried about his safety. Every day they were reminded that an important part of their family was gone. They missed the way he was always willing to help someone with whatever they needed, his joyful and loving spirit, and how he was the best big brother to Jana and Jason as he was always encouraging them, helping them with their schoolwork, comforting them whenever they were going through a difficult time, serving as a wonderful role model to look up to, and teaching them new and exciting things.

But life had to go on and so they all carried on as best they could and took comfort in the fact that Jerry felt God's calling to go to Vietnam to serve his country. They also prayed every day for Jerry's protection as well as for strength to endure this difficult time and excitedly looked forward to the day when he would, at last, come home.

There was then a knock at the door. Jenny looked up from her work but before she could start making her way to the door Whit called out, "Don't worry Honey, I'll get it!"

"Thanks, Dear" Jenny replied.

Whit wondered what he could use to mark his place in the book he was reading. He then spotted Jerry's postcard on the side table beside his chair, which had arrived a little bit earlier that day. Perfect. It'll also remind me to show it to Jana and Jason when they get home, Whit thought. He reached for the postcard, placed it on the page he was on, closed the book, and set it on the side table.

Whit then stood up, walked to the front door, and opened it. There in front of him stood two men in class A uniform, a blank expression on each of their faces. Whit began to feel an impending sense of doom as he knew there was only one reason for this type of visit. A grave expression appeared on his face.

"Are you John Avery Whittaker?" Sergeant First Class Williamson asked.

"Yes, I'm John Avery Whittaker," Whit replied solemnly.

"I'm Sergeant First Class Williamson and this is Chaplain Hardwick. May we enter your home?"

"Of course." He held open the door, allowing the two men to enter the residence. After they had stepped inside Whit closed the door and walked to where Chaplain Hardwick and Sergeant Williamson now stood in the living room.

"Is your wife Jenny here?" Sergeant Williamson asked.

"Yes, she is."

"It would be best if she was here with you," Sergeant Williamson said.

"Certainly," Whit replied as calmly as he could.

Whit walked out of the living room and into the kitchen where Jenny had just finished breading the chicken and was washing her hands at the sink.

"So who was at the door?" she asked, her gaze directed out the window located above the sink through which you could view the backyard.

"Jenny," Whit said in a serious tone, causing her to turn around and look directly at him. As soon as she saw the somber look on his face she knew something was seriously wrong.

"John, what's wrong?" she asked, deep concern in her voice.

"Two men from the state department are here. They want to see us in the living room."