Blowing Kisses

My ink, running out but still readable, splattered across the page. I moaned, trying to soak it up. It dissolved into the napkin, dancing onto my fingers. I lifted the scratchy "soft" paper and saw the light blue ink blotch. I sighed, continuing to write the letter to my family.1

There was a sleepy moan from a cot. I looked over my shoulder.2

"God, Gregory, what time is it?" One of my cabin mates asked, flipping on a flashlight. 3

"A little past twelve. Go back to bed," I camed him down.4

He laid his head own on the bare cot and turned the flashlight off. I continued on with my little supply of ink, the pen running over and over the paper. I gripped the chain that was under my uniform. 5

"I miss you so, so much, Julia."6

I finished my letter, blowing a kiss to the paper, then sealing it into an envelope. I placed it in my mailbox and twisted the stool so i could see who was still awake. No body. I stood up, making quite crunching sounds with my boots until I made it to my bed.7

"Greg?"8

I turned around to see another man, sitting up, frowning. His wrinkles lined his eyebrows like makeup a girl would put on for prom. I sighed, remembering when I took Julia to prom. I fought back the tears that were being unleashed my face. 9

"Yeah?" I replied.10

"Why up so late? It's five in the morning!" He complained, his deep voice misty and broken.11

I shook my clock. Sure enough, the broken screen moved to five thirty six. I shook my head.12

"When's he going to give us new equipment?" I asked him.13

"God, I have no idea. Who's shift is it anyways?"14

I looked around, trying to figure out witch one of my mates was going to stay awake to make sure no one attacked our site. 15

"Actually, I think it's Cabin Two's turn," I answered, staring into the grayish dark.16

The lantern flickered. I added a scrap of paper to it, the flame shooting upward. I giggled like a girl, then turned back to him.17

"Jack, when is our fleet going to move into the castle?" I asked him.18

He shook his head, making a face.19

"I really dunno, Greg. Max's got going crazy with the cargo at the moment, but I guess he's gonna get back to some shooting after this newscast," Jake explained to me.20

He tossed me the Brasil Verde. I read it curiously, trying to figure out what the Portuguese meant. 21

"Assassino Nacional é lançada sobre a cidade, pequeno desconhecido de Gengibre, Brasil. As autoridades dizem que o assassino foi libertado devido a... Wait, what? I don't understand," I said, a cheesy accent ending from my teeth.22

"God, this killer was freed upon this town called Ginger! Don't you understand! Here, read the rest," he motioned on for me to read.23

"A princesa da Arábia Saudita se estabeleceu na cidade desconhecido, e agora foi lock-tragados no castelo. A segurança foi lançado em toda a cidade. Mais de cem pessoas guardam o hotel que a princesa (que nome deve ser mantido em segredo por segurança) está no momento. O nome da princesa do hotel também foi mantido em segredo," I read off of the burnt up paper. "What's that mean?"24

"God, we have to show this to him! Come on!" 25

He grabbed my arm, almost ripping it off, and ran us into the fleet leader's tent. The man on the sigle bed shot up, his eyes brown and bloodshot.26

"Who goes there?" He said, chugging down about a ton of beer. 27

"Us, Captin Harrison. Gregory DiLavo and Jake Casdvi."28

"Ah, my boys! Come on in!" He let out a huge burp.29

"Captain HArrison, we have recently, er, read an article about the city of Ginger being under um, attack by a killer. The Princess of Saudi Arabia is locked down in the killer's target. I think she needs the American Armed Forces to, um, escort her flight back to her homeland, sir," I tried to explain.30

"What did you say?" His eyes shot open a bit more.31

"We need to go to Ginger, sir!" Jake shouted.32

"God, Jake! Not so loud!" I motioned my hand down.33

"Oh, right Sir, we need transportation, food and water, and some clean-"34

"Rookies, you're not ready to go off almost three days away from here yet! You're just kids!" He said, placing his head gently on his pillow.35

"Great," I said, standing up and walking out the flap of tent that we called a door.36

I tromped through the dry air and into the tent, plopping down on my bed.37

"Jake, what's it with him that even after five bottles of beer, he still knows that we're the new guys? Why can't we just go and, you know, save the princess!" I shouted in an angry whisper.38

I pulled the picture of Julia, my wife, out from under my bed. We were newly wed when I was assigned a station in the war-broken parts of Brazil. She was heartbroken, just as I was. I had to leave her alone with out three year old girl who would never actually know me if I went this time. And I promise myself if I come back to Oregon alive, I will never, ever leave my recruiting strip of the Main Street again.39

"You miss her, don't you," Jake said, sitting down.40

"Yeah, I really do," I answered you.41

"I miss Brittany, Greg. Her perfect brown hair, I wonder what color it is at the moment, and her bright blue eyes, her beautiful, beautiful skin. God, i miss her."42

I felt sorry for Jake. His girlfriend of three years loved him just about as much as I love life. He was her candy, her life, her soul, and he broke her heart by leaving her and her new baby.43

"Got any news about Jeanette?" I asked him.44

He shook his head. His beautiful baby girl Jeanette looked a lot like him. Her green eyes and flawless burnt-gold skin made her look very mature for about six months now.45

"We're going," I said, standing up.46

"Guy-ys! Please go to be-ed!" Another fleet member called from their bed.47

"Sorry," I whispered.48

I put the picture of Julia in my bag first. The glow of the flickering candle bothered my eyes, so I shut them, digging for my clothing. I grabbed a peice of fabric. I tugged on it, but it wouldn't budge. I opened my eyes to see a very confused, almost asleep person in my hand.49

"Dude, what the heck?" He asked, pulling my hand from his pants.50

"God, sorry!"51

I continued backing, dealing with the flickering candle. Soon enough, I was packed and placing Jake's things with my bag.52

"Greg, what are you doing?" He asked me as I ripped his picture of Jeanette and Brittany out from under his bed. 53

"We're going, Jake!" I said, zippering the now full bag. I flung it over my shoulder and walked out of the cabin. On my way to the door, I grabbed the lantern and a flashlight.54

"You coming?" I asked him.55

He scrambled, putting coat over his shoulders and tossing a jacket over to me. He jogged over to me, turning on the flashlight.56

"Turn it OFF!" I yelled at him.57

The light flickered, but it went out eventually after twisting and turning. We carefully scampered out of the waking-up campsite and into the desert. It was still freezing cold, and thankfully we were only going to be walking this way for about a day. I shivered, pulling everything on me closer.58

"God, Greg, I can't see," Jake said, flipping the flashlight on.59

I pulled the picture of Julia out and stared at it while we walked on and on into the cold desert. I could hear Jake rustling the picture of Jeanette and Brittany in his hand. For a second, I thought I heard him whimper. I let out a tear. It slowly slid down my cheek, my eyes shining with sorrow. I shook it off, not letting it slide down my neck and dissolve into my clothing. I wiped my face and sighed.60

"Man, it's gonna be okay, I promise."61

*****62

1 Year Later63

"Hey," she kissed his cheek.64

"Hon, how was your trip?" He asked her as she entered the door a bit more.65

"Good. Charts went up about fifty dollars."66

"Mommy!" She ran over.67

The sceen was beautiful. He was hugging them both tightly, but tighter because the little girl was slightly squeezing them together. The mother let go.68

"Julia, how was the flight?"69

"Great, thanks for asking."70

She moped to the calender and looked at the date. She shook her head and laid a candle out on the table.71

"I'm so sorry, honey," he said, rubbing her shoulder.72

"It's okay," she answered, taking out a picture of someone.73

She blew the dust off of it, for it was only taken out one day a year, and traced the figure's face.74

"You were so stupid."75

She placed it down, leaving Gregory out on the table. She kissed her new husband, Frankie, and walked up the sitars to sleep and dream about her only truly loved one. She allowed one tear to slowly tricle don her face.76

"I wish you had kept your promise."