Dad

My dad was far away. He was a doctor and he was in the war but not fighting. I wrote him a letter.

“Dad

I miss you, I wish I could see you again soon.

Your loving son Daniel”

I was a short letter but for a 10 year old it said everything. Daniel was the only son of Charles, a soldier doctor. His mother looked after him as best she could. Dan got a stamp from his mother’s purse and he stuck it in the top right hand corner if the envelope which contain his letter to “Dad”

Daniel watched each day for the arrival of the mail man. His initial enthusiasm was curtailed and his sad face said it all as the took a bundle of letters, mostly advertisements to his mother. They were never for him.

A couple of weeks passed and there it was a letter addressed to him from his Dad. His name was written carefully and his cursive lettering clearly said “Daniel” and the address was clearly written like his father had thought about it and had written it clearly. Dan did not want to damage the envelope on his dad’s letter as he knew he was going to save it for repeated reading.

“Dear Daniel,

I am living in a tent, but I can’t say more than that so that if the letter were to fall into enemy hands there would be no hint as to where I am with my unit. My fellow soldiers and a good bunch of people and we get on well together. We all work as a team to get wounded men back to health. I love you however and I miss you as well.”

The letter was brief but it was written by his father’s hand like he was just in the next room. It was good to hear from hm even if he did not say what he was doing and where it was being done. Daniel read his father’s letter again and again and, after each reading he would carefully fold the letter and put it back in the envelope that brought it. He put the letter down as he thought where he could save it so that he could go back to it and read it again. Daniel felt he was remembered as being important enough to receive letters.

He sat down immediately and on some paper on the dining table he wrote back to his father.

“Got your letter Dad, and it was good to read your words. I’ve been playing with my friends at school and we divide ourselves into two armies and fight with sticks and bin lids. When out battle is over and no one has been hurt, we get together to show our enemies how alive we still are and we are friends again.

Your loving son Daniel”

He knew if he had the patience to wait long enough for his father to reply, that he would hear again for the man so far away. He came to expect a new letter each week. His mother got letters from him most days and they sat together and he listened to his mother reading them to him. There was a pick up in his manner when a letter to him would arrive from his Dad. He read his letters to his mother and she returned by reading Dad’s letters to him.

Then one week there was no letter for him and mum only got the ones that had already been on their way. He asked his mother if she had heard from him, where there any new letters to read? Instead of reading letters his mother and he talked about why there were no letters. His mother was expecting the worst and Daniel was not far away from sad thought like that. The mood in their house dropped and no one had much to do. Daniel went to his room to re-read Dad’s letters to him. He would arrange the letters in order and slowly he would extract a letter and read it again.

Then one day a letter arrived addressed to his Mum and to him. The important people to receive Dad’s letters. The letter, of course, was from his Dad. Recognizing the writing on the outside he ran with the letter to his mum and waved it at her. We was too excited to say anything. The two of them sat down to read the letter. His Mum whose hands were shaking with excitement carefully opened the envelope and using a letter opener, the envelope was extracted. There were three letters inside, one addressed to Daniel, one addressed to his mother and one addressed to both. When the letter addressed to both was opened Daniel snuggled up to his mum.

She read “Dearest ones “, they both settled down while the rest of the letter was read. It was like having his mother read to him from his first books.

“I’m sorry I haven’t written to you both recently. I was shot, not badly, and the other doctors and nurses insisted on immobilizing me as much as they could. Until I was well enough to sit up and write legibly. So here I am able to write without a shake in my hand. I hope you can read this letter as my hand is not quite steady again.”

Mother paused enjoying as she took in the good news that he was getting better. She hugged her son again so they could savor the moment.

“I won’t tell you where I am so that I don’t give away secrets to the enemy. The shot I got was in my shoulder. I was like red hot poker had been thrust into me. It was the arm which I use to write to you so anything I tried was just not legible. This was not bad enough to get me sent home but at least I can write this letter to you.

I look forward to when the war is over and I can come home again and be with the ones I love”

There were two other letters, one labelled “my wife” and the other labelled “my son”. Silence descended on the room as each read their letters quietly to themselves.

Letters passed forward and back for and from the son and for and from the mother. This continued for five years. Daniel grew up and the letter from Dan’s father was always welcome. The five years had been a long time. He was glad his father was a doctor and was not shooting other people and that few other people were not shooting at him. The enemy soldiers that the father saw were usually lying flat and having something sewed up to add to their battle scars. Both the other doctors and their patients were glad that they were being taken care of, without their uniforms showing who they were fighting for. Blood was blood, whoever it came from.