Read Online Back to Yesterday by Pamela Sparkman - Free Book Online Page A

asked again. “What were you gonna say?”
    “I – I’m afraid.”
    “Of what?”
    “Of getting my heart broken.”
    “I would never–”
    “You can’t say that. You don’t know. You could die, Charlie. When you go back to war, you could die. And that would break my h-heart.”
    I wrapped my arms around her, held her to me as tightly as I could. “I’ll come back. You’ve given me a reason to come back.”
    We stood like that for what seemed like hours. She trembled in my arms and I held her closer. I made promises to her that night I had no business making. I made it all sound so easy. But there was nothing easy about our situation. Because the truth was, she was right. I didn’t know if I would come back. However, you don’t tell the girl you’ve given your heart to that these moments might be all we have. Besides, I still had some time before the inevitable happened and I was living for today. I needed her to live for today too.
    The porch light flickered, a gentle reminder it was time for me to go. I kissed her cherry lips and whispered, “Good night, sweetheart.”
    “Goodnight, Charlie.” I was halfway back to Tank’s truck when Sophie said, “Charlie?”
    I turned around. “Yes?”
    “Thank you…for today. I’ll remember it always.”
    It sounded like a goodbye. I didn’t say anything. I smiled and waved at her father, who was watching from the living room window.
    I think he knew his daughter had become the center of my whole world.
    And what I wanted more than anything was to be the center of hers.

 

     
    “W here are they?” Levi asked, panicked.
    “They’re not here yet,” Maikel said. “They’re coming up the road.”
    Levi and I peeked outside the barn doors. A vehicle was fast approaching, kicking up thick plumes of dust in its wake.
    “Charles, I need you to shovel the hot coals out of the pit and put them inside the ash bucket. Get that fire snuffed out.”
    “What are you gonna do?”
    “I’m going to do what I have to.”
    “Which is?”
    “Charlie, take care of the fire.” With that, he and Maikel were sliding the door closed, leaving me alone inside.
    Beads of sweat trickled down my face and I wondered if this was how it was going to end for me. Captured by Nazi Germans.
    I reached for Sophie’s letter, the one I always kept with me. I wasn’t supposed to have it when I flew missions. We’re stripped of all personal belongings, with the exception of our dog tags, in case we’re ever captured by the enemy. Items like letters could be used against us. However, I had broken this rule because holding the letter was the closest thing to holding her.
    Knowing that I could be a prisoner of war any minute, I did what I had to do. I took the letter and held it to the fire. The flames lapped at the corners first, and then spread, eating away her words, erasing everything she had said until I was forced to let it go.
    I felt sick. Ashes were all that remained of the one thing that brought me peace in a world of chaos. And now it was gone.
    “Levi!” someone shouted.
    Running out of time, I did as Levi instructed and shoveled out the burning coals. Then I hid behind a stack of hay bales.
    The barn was old. Dust motes danced and floated around in the soft beams of sunlight that seeped between the cracks in the walls. Sitting on the dirt floor, the air was stifling and the burning smell from the fire pit lingered.
    “Hans,” Levi said. “What brings you out this way?” Peeking through one of the cracks, I saw the two men shake hands.
    A second man approached, holding his hand out to Levi, which Levi accepted. “Karl, it’s been a while. Come back for more vegetables?”
    In thick German accents, the two men spoke English. “We got word from Area Command that two of our fighter ME 109s shot down an American Spitfire in the area,” the one named Karl said.
    “You know how those Luftwaffe pilots are – they want every kill confirmed,” the other man said. “We