“Maggie, he’s coming home! He’ll be back with me soon!” Ellen held the paper to her chest as her sister worked on baking a cherry pie – Sam’s favorite, she noted with a wide, pretty smile. She straightened out her dress and pinned the newspaper on the wall beside the gas stove. “The war’s over! He’s coming home!” In her mind, the dark-haired handsome soldier was already in a truck, on his way home to her little town, right into her arms.
“Then you can finally stop wearing that flamboyant yellow ribbon in your hair,” Maggie joked from the other side of the kitchen. “Ellen, light the stove, if you don’t mind. I want to have this done before he gets here.” Ellen giggled and retrieved the matches from their cabinet near the sink.
“All of the army wives are wearing yellow bows, dear sister! It’s to show support and faithfulness.” She sighed dreamily. “I hope he’s proud of me. Do you think he’ll be proud of me?” Maggie nodded blindly. “I mean, I did everything they said to. I helped Timmy and Rosie from down the street to collect aluminum, and I helped the ladies at church make mittens, and you and I planted that victory garden- ” Maggie laughed and nodded as she put the pie in the oven.
“Yes, Ellen, he’ll be proud of you.” Ellen danced and twirled around the kitchen, her skirt flaring out and flouncing about as she laughed and danced around her sister. After a while, there was a sharp knock at the door. Ellen danced over to answer it, but when she opened it, the soldier gracing her doorstep was not Sam, but a young man with freckles and short red hair. Maggie ran up behind her, saw the uniformed man, and covered her mouth to stifle a gasp.
“Are you Mrs. Garrison?” Ellen nodded wordlessly, and the man handed her a folded flag and a tattered army cap with the name S. Garrison embroidered on the inside. “I’m awful sorry.” Ellen held on tight to the flag and set the cap on her head, in a sort of trance. The soldier handed a medal of honor to Maggie, then tipped his hat and walked away slowly.
“Ellen?” Her sister asked cautiously. Ellen ripped off her yellow ribbon and slammed the hat down over her eyes.
“I’m not taking it off until he gets home, Maggie, and don’t you try to convince me otherwise,” she sobbed and handed the flag to her sister. “Not until he gets home to me.”