The Unknown Soldier

A/N: I wrote this a while ago... cheers anyway.

           It was a small mercy, sitting here, alone. It was an answer to a quiet prayer whispered in the dark amongst her tear-choked cries, runny nose, and listening to the sound of her own heart breaking in the silent void of the hours past midnight. It was a small mercy, but it was a mercy all the same. She would take what she could get right now and not scorn the gracious Hand that gave it. He had brought her this far, and He would not abandon her now. So she would muffle her sobs in her pillow at night, afraid to wake her sister or brother-in-law, and deal with the crushing loss that threatened to drown her in the unending grief. Yes, sitting alone was a small mercy. The sun still shone, the sky was still blue, grass was still green. She was still breathing, her heart still beating, and somehow, her life would still be worth living.

            However, she was not alone. Arlington was a place filled with hundreds and thousands of men and women. Their memories honored with white tombstones placed in precise rows, a picturesque scene of military tribute, compassion, courage, and bravery. And at the top of the hill, a lone figure, guarding the memory of those who were not so lucky as to return to this soil, to rest under the protection of the silent guard. Ashes to ashes; dust to dust.

            If she closed her swollen eyes, she could almost hear their voices whispering on the wind. It was insane, of course, but she could question her mental stability at a time when her heart was on more solid ground. Right now, shifting sand was not her ally, and she placed her hands palm down on the concrete steps to reassure herself she was still sitting upright. The rough, gritty texture felt like sandpaper on her fingertips. Somehow, it grounded her in reality. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head up toward the sun, feeling the warmth contrast the ice within her soul.

            She sat on the vacant steps before the metal chains directly in front of the lone figure. It was the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and next to it was its guard. The man moved every twenty-one seconds, taking twenty-one steps, pausing twenty-one seconds, and then continuing on. The rhythm became a song within her broken soul.

            It was getting late in the afternoon, and she was surprised she was still the only one waiting on the steps at the tomb. A small mercy, still. She childishly wiped her nose on her sleeve and dried her eyes with her fingers.

            “I-I know you’re not supposed to say anything. I know you’re very disciplined and stuff. But I hope you don’t mind if I talk aloud for a lil bit. See, within the past forty-eight hours, my life has kinda been turned upside down. I was getting married in a couple months. My fiancé was in the Marine Corps. He uh, well, he... um, was KIA... and I can’t even have a burial for him since they can’t even find him.” She stood from her seat on the stairs and stuck her hands in her jeans pockets.

“This’ll be his tomb now, too, huh? Another name to inscribe upon the unseen list of those never coming home again. Only to live on in the hearts of the family he was a part of and the soul of the Nation he died for.” She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve again. It wasn’t like the man actually heard her. He continued to move every twenty-one seconds. “Is it wrong to not want to accept the flag they’ll be giving me? I don’t know if I can. I'd rather have him back. A flag for a life hardly seems right... and those yellow ribbons hanging about my home will never be tugged down by Daniel’s hand. I’ll never get to say 'I do' to the love of my life.”

She collapsed on the stairs, muting her tears in the crook of her elbow. She inhaled a long, slow breath a few minutes later. She collected herself and watched as the soldier went through another one of his patterns and waited until he was facing her.  Then the broken woman said directly to him, “Thank you. For protecting his memory. He’ll rest here with the others.”

And then she took off her engagement ring from her left hand ring finger, kissed it in direct sight of the Guard, and bent down to place it on the ground on just the other side of the chain barrier. As the soldier began to move again through another pattern, she got up, stared at the tomb and said with tears in her voice, “I love you. Good bye, Daniel.”

As the young woman turned away and left The Tomb of the Unknowns, a single tear traced its path down the left side of the Guardian’s face.