Operation Charnwood

The young man led me by the arm through the rubble, helping me over fallen walls and crushed motorcars. I could have made the way myself, but the bombs had rendered the place unrecognizable.

“The historic district is mostly gone, I’m afraid,” the soldier explained as we walked. The corners of his mouth went up a bit, with pride for the might of the Allies, I suppose.

“The rest of the city held more for me,” I said. “But that’s gone now, too.”

The soldier nodded, and the shadow of his smile faded.

I had lived my entire life in Caen. I had scraped my knees on the schoolhouse cobbles as a child; stolen kisses (and more) behind my mother’s patisserie; there was a wall—or there had been—where my first husband and I had been photographed by the elder Lumière himself. But even the photo was gone now, under the pile of stone and glass that had been my home. The city was a graveyard, and my whole world lay beneath its stones.

“Where are we headed?” the soldier inquired. “Your kids live up this way?”

“No,” I replied. “My children are dead.”

The sky cleared as we advanced, slowly climbing out of the city and into the heights to the north. The sun was white and the sky was pale, but it was warm on my skin. Here, grass and wildflowers grew thick at the roadside.

“Boy,” I said, pointing to a pretty bunch of purple and yellow, “pick me some of those.”

“Ma’am?”

“And those white ones by the rocks.”

I smiled as I climbed ahead of him. Before long, I’d filled his arms with color. When we crested the hill, I pointed down the other side.

“I can manage from here,” I said.

“What do I do with these?” the soldier complained.

“Give them to a pretty girl, of course,” I replied. “The years fly, boy, and too many of yours have already blown away in the war.”

This is my response for this week’s Trifecta Writing Challenge: Fly. Pop on over to the Trifecta page to read the rest of the responses as they pour in—you won’t be disappointed!

If you’re interested in the history behind this particular story (and the photo), check out the Wikipedia article on Operation Charnwood here.