“Wooooooo! Yay!” the crowd cheered as the bluish-grey army planes were positioning themselves for drop off. Lisa had waited six years for Jimmy to come home from Vietnam, and he finally was. The joy and excitement in her heart was worth it when the movable stairs rolled over to the plane and hooked on. The crowd shouted even louder when the men fighting for the US started walking out.

But then, Lisa started thinking of not all the people in the crowd, but the people not in the crowd. All the mourners who were lamenting their lost husbands and fathers. The ones that were so affected they would just mutter to themselves about the heavy news that was tormenting them. Some of the bad news gone out could even be detrimental the people’s health, which just caused Lisa to commiserate
those people even more.

“Woooooooo!” they still sang, cooping up Lisa. She even heard some people bawling! The men started walking out onto the staircase platform, in their dark green uniforms. Their combat boots looked faded and overworked. They wore dark green cotton hats, with the United States flag on it. And then there were their faces. Some looked glad and pleased to finally be home, while others seemed to have trouble coping with the things they have seen in the past years. Just the thought of anything happening to John was hard to think of without evens shedding a tear. But then there he was. Jimmy. Finally. Real and alive as ever.

Lisa was breath taken the second she saw him. After only writing letters and staring at the pictures they took together, just the mere sight of him sent her heart jumping. It was like someone had just woken her from an ethereal dream that John was not in.

“Lisa!” shouted an all too familiar voice.

“John!” she shouted back.

They ran to each other, arms spread wide apart, ready for the long awaited touch of love that they had been deprived of for six years.

“Oh my gosh! Jimmy! I can’t believe it’s you!” Lisa said over the roars of the crowd. She wished she could savor this moment forever.

“Lisa. I really thought that sometimes that I would never see you again. But thinking of this moment and more like them got me through it, and now I realize that it was all worth it.” Jimmy replied, in the poetic voice Lisa had fallen in love with.

“Oh John…” Lisa responded. “I could not be happier right now!” she sang.

“Mommy? Who is that?” the young girl standing next to Lisa asked.

“That, Jenny, is daddy.” She replied, almost to tears.

“That’s my daddy?” Lisa giggled.

“Yes. That’s him.” And that was when Lisa broke into tears. No, not the ones about sadness and despair, but true and utter happiness that could not be imitated.

Lisa picked up Jennifer and handed her to John.

“Daddy!” Jenny laughed and put her arms around him.

“ I’m so sorry I was never here, sweetie pie. But I will always be here now. I promise this.” He said, also in tears.

“I’ve got so many things to show you daddy! I have my dollies and pictures and drawings and—” Jenny was cut off from her list by John.

“Well I’m gonna come look at them when I come home, pumpkin. Ok?” John asked.

“Ok!” Jenny answered sweetly.

“Now c’mon! Lets go home as a family!” John announced.


“They’re here!” Grandma Julia whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. “Hurry everyone! Get in your places!” she hurriedly said.

“Let’s go! I can see them getting out of the car!” warned David, John’s nephew. “Hurry! This is gonna be groovy!”



“Here we are! Good old forty-three Orange Road. I bet you missed it John!” Lisa exclaimed.

“You guys have no idea how many times I have thought about coming back to this house.” John confessed. And he really did mean it. Every night before he went to bed, John would imagine him walking up to the old, two-story house, with the paint white paint peeling off. The beige stoned sidewalk leading up to the dark green door with the spotted brass handle. “And wow! You guys put a new coat of paint up on the sides of it!”

“Well, your brother did it for us. Out with the old, bland white, and in with the new light ocean azure!” She said excitedly.

“Yup. So let’s go inside!” He laughed, remembering the good memories of him and Lisa, running into the house 10 years ago. Them painting the walls, and then chasing each other around the old house. “So

“ Maybe we should go around the back…?” Lisa offered.

“Ok…sure we’ll go around to the backyard now!” he hesitantly agreed.

“Let’s go!” Lisa pushed with a slight giggle. “Hurry!”

“Alright, alright…” John replied with a childish suspicion. And then what John saw in the next few seconds brought him back to all his old memories and experiences that had happened to him in that house. He pushed open the old, dark wood gate to reveal what almost seemed like a dream.

All his family members were there, even the ones he did not have a great relationship with. All there to celebrate his Homecoming!

“John!” The whole family shouted all at once.

“Oh my gosh John we missed you so much!”

“John you’ve gotta tell me stories of you in Vietnam!”

“John! Good to have ya back!”

John was being bombarded by questions from each family member.

“Alright! Alright!” Lisa finally announced. “Everyone! John can answer all your questions later! Let’s all begin our dinner now!”

Murmurs and still some excited voices escaped from the retreating crowd.

“Ohhh John! We missed you so much!” his mom blubbered, “We’re so glad that you’re okay!”

“You’ve made me proud son. I’m sure you did a good job with those Vietnamese!” his father said.

“Aw… thanks guys.” John said, tears patiently forming in his eyes. “It really means a lot to me that my whole family and friends showed up at this party.”

“Anytime John!” his old friend, Josh promised.

“Hahaha!” John went as he went to sit down with everyone to tell stories.


“Goodbye mom and dad! Drive safe!” John shouted as his parents, their last guests drove away.

“Whew! What a party!” Lisa huffed.

“But it was really fun, and I bet everyone had a great time!” John cheered.

“Yup! And all because you came back…” Lisa said ethereally.

“I know… It was so lonely in Vietnam, but now that I’m here with you and Jenny, and everyone else, I really feel home again.” John replied.

“Daddy? Can you read me a bedtime story?” Jennifer, who seemed to come out of nowhere, asked. John and Lisa exchanged an overall happy, loving smile with each other.

“Sure sweetie. Go pick out a book in your room.” John told her warmly.

“Ok daddy!” Jennifer answered, then ran off to her room.

“I really missed you guys. And not to mention the house too! With the dark wood floors and beige walls, this house is more like a home for us.” He added.

“Yeah. I bet it missed you too!” Lisa joked.

They both gave to a small laugh.

After a couple seconds of silence in their ‘home’, Lisa suggested “You better go read to Jenny now. She goes crazy when anyone reading a book to her is late.”

“Ok, I’ll go now. Also, can you set the alarm clock for six-thirty tomorrow morning? One of my friends from the war told me about his father’s dynastic newspaper business, and asked me if I want a job there. It’s in New York City.” John told Lisa.

“I’ll set the alarm clock,” Lisa replied “And it’s in a perfect location too. If you forgot, New York city is only about a twenty-five minute drive from here.”

“Alright. Thank you. Goodnight if you go to bed before me.” John responded.

“Ok, goodnight to you too.” Lisa said before giving him a kiss goodnight on the cheek.

John started walking over to Jennifer’s room to find what book he would be reading.

“Hey sweetie pie!” John exclaimed as her saw Jennifer in bed. “So what story do you want me to read?” he asked as he sat down on her bed.

“I want you to tell me a story about what you were doing while you were away!” Jennifer responded, surprising her father.

“Me? You don’t wanna know my stories…” John trailed off.

“I do! I do!” Jennifer kept urging.

“Okay, alright,” John submitted, “I’ll tell you one story, but that’s it, okay?” he asked Jennifer.

“Okay!” Jennifer agreed.

“Well, where my friends and I were staying, there was a big lake.” He started
“And there were some trees over the lake. One of the trees had a tire swing on it.”

“Cool!” went Jennifer.

“I know! So, one of my friends… ummm… named Bob, decided to go on the tire swing.” John continued.

“Really? Can I ride a tire swing?” she asked

“Sure. You can ride on one once I build one in the backyard, okay?” he assured her.

“Okay daddy. Now tell more of the story!” she pleaded.

“Alright. Now, Bob was about jump off the swing, when he sees this huge catfish in the water. This startles him half-to-death, so he decides to not jump and stay on the swing. The swing swings back, and he hits the tree!” John finished.

“ Wow that’s so funny! He really hit the tree?” Jennifer asked.

“Yup. That’s in-your-face funny!” John answered.

Jennifer yawns a long, tiring yawn.

“Well, you better get to bed now. You sound tired.” John noticed.

“Alright daddy. Goodnight!” she said, slowly drifting off to sleep.

“Goodnight sweetie!” he said to his daughter, whom he missed so very much while in Vietnam.

John turned the light off in his daughter’s room, and then closed the door behind him. He continued to walk down the dimly lit hallway, until he reached his and Lisa’s room. From there, he slowly opened the door.

“Are you awake?” John asked to darkness. He took complete silence as an answer, so he carefully crept into the bed, and fell asleep.


John found himself in a dark space. Just drowned by complete darkness. He wondered where he was. If he really was in a strange place right now, then his normal senses would have just told him to panic and look for help, but he seemed relaxed now, which is how John knew it was a dream. He wandered around, inside his own mental thoughts when he heard a loud popping noise that he immediately recognized. The sound of a gunshot. The sound of the guns kept growing louder and louder, and soon John could hear the scream of men, valiantly fighting for their country. He tried to run, but whichever way he went, the shots followed him. And then John could not take it. He screamed.


“Ahhhhhhh!” John screamed. He looked over at his clock, which read two-thirty, then around the room, checking for intruders or anything else that might harm him or his family.

“John? What happened? Is everyone alright?” panicked his wife.

“Everyone’s alright. Don’t worry. I just had a nightmare.” He admitted.

“Are you okay?” Lisa asked.

“I’m alright now. Let’s just go back to bed. I have an interview in the morning.

“Alright. Good night.” whispered Lisa.

“Good night.” He whispered back.


BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP blared the alarm clock, trying to wake up the whole house. John leaped right out of bed, and shot straight up from the floor, expecting a drill sergeant to be yelling in his face.

Then he remembered where he was. In his own home again. Not in some two-by-four little bunk in a chilly, concrete bunker, with gunshots waking him up in the night. John hastily ran over to the alarm clock, trying to stop its macho, noisy rampage and save his family from the imminent fate of waking up too early. He then went over to his closet, picked out the new clothes his friends and family had gotten him as gifts (a man changes sizes in six years) and then leaned over Lisa, giving her a peck on the forehead before he left the room.

Then, as he walked past the counter, he wrote her a letter:

Dear Lisa,
I’ll b back at around 10 from the job interview. Let’s hope it goes well! Wish me luck!
Love,
John


John got into the new, pristine AMC Pacer Lisa had bought while he was away, and drove it out of the driveway.

It took about twenty-five minutes to get to the large warehouse where John’s friend Ralph from war was working.

As he opened the door of the car, the size of the factory seemed to magnify. He was staring at a three-story brick warehouse, surrounded on all sides by pavement. The words ‘Smith & Co.’ were attached to about the second floor. Three levels of teal, tinted windows were on the building.

“Ayyyyyy! John! You really came!” Ralph yelled even before John was out of the car.

“C’mere brother!” he said as John approached him. “Oh man I missed you so much man! I would much rather hang out with you here than on the battlefield!”

“I know! Me too!” John agreed “So where is the boss to this factory?” John asked him.

“Well, my dad is in the office on the second floor. I’ll show you.” Ralph said as he led John to the boss.
Make sure to give homage to my dad. He decides your fate in this business.” Ralph warned, “And even though he may seem like a groovy, far out guy, he is a business genius.”

“So I should just extol him?” Asked John.

“Yup. But his guy is monolithic. Girding should help in this situation.” Advised Ralph. “Also, don’t agitate him with stupid questions. Remember; he has the transcendence for now. Invigorate him! Show him what you got!” Ralph encouraged.

“Ok. I can do this. I just have to speak eloquently and use everything I’ve got! John told himself.



“Come in- IN-IN!” sang a voice from the office.

John walked in to find a dancing hippie. He had a long brown beard, and he just looked like an average 1970s hippie. Behind him on the shelves, John could see all kinds of weird trinkets and other things.

“Groovy! Wicked boyeeeeeee! So I guess you are… John? Looking for a job here ate Smith co.? “ The hippie still slightly sang.

“Yup. I am, sir.” John answered.

“Alright. Well the pay here is pittance, for a newspaper company that’s considered high.” Explained the hippie. “Oh where are my manners? My name is Henry Smith.”

“I am John.” John introduced.

“Good, good… well you look like a fine man and one that won’t dawdle. And since you were in the Vietnam War and all, I respect you for that.” He cast a glance over at John. “And also because you and my son seem to be cronies.”

“Oh… Thank you sir, that means a lot. So…when can I start?”

“Well, you could start right here and now!” Henry said.

John was flabbergasted! “Really? I can start now? Yes! Oh thank you Mr. Smith! I won’t let you down!” he vowed.

“I’m sure you won’t. Now go see Kyle. He knows where to put the new people.”


That’s so cool man! So you are working with me now!” Ralph exclaimed outside of the building after the day was over.

“Yup! I’m pretty excited!” John almost shouted with excitement. “Hey? Who’s that guy over there? He’s just traipsing around in a circle.”

“He’s always there. No one goes near him though. He’s probably the farthest thing from beatific.” Ralph said.

“I’m gonna go ask him if he’s alright.” John started, but then as he got closer, the man’s face seemed indecipherable. No emotion could be detected. “Hey are you okay?” John asked to the man.

Then the man turned toward John, and just charged toward him. John was blown back by the hit. PMMMF!

“Vietnam! Hoo-hoo-hoo!” the man screamed.

“Hey John are you okay?” Ralph asked as the weird man waddled away.

“I’ve just gotta drive home though. My wife would be waiting. So seeya tomorrow!” shouted John as he hopped into his car and drove away.



“Oh John!” Lisa sang blissfully “I’m just so glad that you are back now, with me and Jenny!” she said.

“Me too, Lisa. Me too.”