Time Anthology

Promise

Promise: A World War Two Story

by trekkiehood

It was a normal day. Just a normal Saturday. July 15, 1944. The doorbell rang. Nothing new, we had callers all the time. I open the door and let out a faint cry. "Ella?" My mother asks, coming around the corner. She sees them too, gasping slightly. I clutch her arm, trying not to fall. The two men in uniform have a facade of calm, something I'm not quite able to manage.

"No," I whisper, "no, please no. He promised." I say quietly.

"Ms. Ella Clark," one of the gentlemen says.

"No, please no," I whisper back.

"I regret to inform you that Jack Griffen was killed in active duty." He might have said more after that. I don't remember. I don't remember much else from that evening. My worst fear had been realized. I sagged into my mother's arms. She holds me as she did when I was a small child. In my haze, I hear her thank them, for what I'm not really sure. Jack was dead. Jack was dead after he promised. Jack never broke a promise. Never. He promised to marry me. He promised to come home. Jack never breaks a promise. Mother leads me upstairs. My legs move mechanically. He promised. I sit on my bed at Mothers prompting.

"He promised," I whisper.

"I know dear," she responds quietly.

"How could he do this to me? How? He promised!" My voice becomes louder. "He, he prom-promised." My sobs begin to interrupt my words.

"I know," she whispers. We sit there for a long time. She lets me cry on her shoulder.

"He promised, he promised." I keep muttering. "He promised." She strokes my back. "He promised."