19th February was the day she wept for the whole day when she came to knew that David was posted to Iraq for a time period of two years, and decided to bid goodbye, but was never able to gather enough courage. On the other hand David also expected to see her before his flight but went unhappy as she never showed up.

The whole way he only thought of her. Her hair, her beautiful eyes, her awesome lips and what not. The memories they both shared of school, of college, of dates that they went on, it was all coming back and this time he couldn’t stop it. He started crying mid – flight and turned his face towards the window to hide his watery eyes from the rest of the soldiers. They reached Iraq early – morning and were sent to sleep immediately for a couple of hours. While others were sleeping he was gathering himself together and was trying to control his overpowering emotions.

Around noon they were sent on rounds both by foot and in jeeps with a chopper roaming just above their head judging the situation. He was all lost during his trip, had swollen eyes and a partial functioning brain due to the lack of sleep which was clearly visible through his face, but no one commented. The next day he woke up fine and went for a quick run in the city. Their rounds continued till some days until the war broke out and all were posted in different locations with 2 – 3 other soldiers. They didn’t had much to do as there was a stay order on firing until the active firing from the other party was stopped completely which continued for some days.

Then came the day when he was scheduled to be back. This time his girlfriend who waited for him finally reached his home to welcome the soldier. But instead of walking he showed up in a coffin with the country’s flag wrapped around it. He was shot in the head twice by a sniper during the normal rounds of inspection. Everything shook dead for a second. A letter was handed over to Jilly by the sergeant who brought the body which had her name written on it. The mother had lost both, his son and his husband. She hugged her son’s dead body and started crying. Jilly was still in shock and was not able to believe what she just saw. She ran back home and locked herself in her room and read the letter and cried continuously for four days without having anything to eat or drink. The letter stated: –

“I know it has been over three years since we last talked to each other but you are still my sweetheart and I think about you every single day. I have bought the ring and as soon as I return we will get married. Dying to see you. Love you”.

– David

The envelope even possessed the ring with her initials embossed in the diamond. She wore the ring and did not marry anyone else in her life. She would often end up crying by looking at the ring and reading the letter over and over again. But could never forget David.