Oh Suzannah, Don't You Cry For Me

Chapter One: The Letter

I'm back with a rewrite. I had too many ideas after publishing this story the first time, so I decided to go back and rewrite it. After reading a wonderful story, We Were Soldiers by The Urban Spaceman (on FFN), I found a lot of motivation to work on this WW2 story. This story will be longer, better, and more developed than the original, but it will still follow the same storyline as the previous version.

This will also NOT have a happy ending. We all know how Bucky's story ends.

If you want a more interactive reading (with links, pictures, videos, etc.) feel free to check out my AO3 version (same username and story title). I can't get links and pictures to work on FFN, but AO3 (and Wattpad, if you prefer that one) do, so I've added some extra content that I think enhances the story.

Without further ado, enjoy! :)

CONTENT WARNING: Swearing

Chapter One: The Letter

The bustle of New York City—crying kids, angry drivers, overwhelmed mothers, and that one newspaper boy who always stood at street corners yelling the latest headlines—no longer sounded the same to Suzannah "Suzie" Lily Barnes. Born and raised as a Brooklyn kid, she had known New York all her life, but this time, it felt different, quieter, suffocating.

Maybe the collective anxiety about the war dampened everyday life like a thick, woolly blanket. Everyone listened to the newspaper boys to hear about the frontlines, hoping that their son, brother, or husband would not appear in the weekly obituaries.

Sometimes, people found out about a loved one's death in the newspapers before a letter arrived.

Unfortunately, the obituaries did not cover presumed deaths, only confirmed. Telegraphs or letters informed families of presumed deaths or soldiers missing in action. And somehow, it felt worse.

The letter had come in early October 1943, on a day when the weather almost made everyone forget about the war. The sun shone through the perfectly clean windows that Suzie's mother always kept crystal clear. The air had felt crisp yet pleasant as Suzie walked home from the post office after a long day at the harbor.

Mail duty fell on Suzie since the harbor was the closest to the post office, which she did not mind. She liked the chance to be alone before she arrived at the lively Barnes house.

Winnie Barnes, since she was the mother, always checked the mail after Suzie brought it home. Standing at the stove, Winnie would sort through the bills and junk mail, usually ignoring it until after supper.

However, when Suzie had handed her mother the mail on that fateful day in October, Mrs. Barnes froze after looking through the letters, her hand still on the wooden spoon she was using to stir the gravy.

The cheerful feeling in the Barnes household immediately evaporated once Winnie shared the news of Bucky's capture and presumed death. Travis, Suzie's older brother by a year, went out and got drunk that night. Becca, Suzie's younger sister by three years, had stood there confused for the longest time before running to Bucky's room and crying herself to sleep on his bed. Suzie had left her mother at the kitchen table, the gravy burning, to lock herself in her room and stare at a framed picture of the family all night.

The reality of war had finally hit.

Still numb, Suzie currently counted the supplies before loading them into crates, ignoring her coworkers. Her job had become mundane and pointless, knowing that Bucky was out there, in the hands of the enemy.

The letter had completely destroyed Winnie Barnes. After a parachuting training accident that led to the death of Suzie's father, George Barnes, Winnie had refused to let any of the kids near anything remotely similar to the military. Naturally, when Bucky enlisted, she felt devastated but not nearly as distraught as she was now. Mrs. Barnes had even looked at a few gravestone designs for Bucky to be 'spiritually' buried next to George.