Work Text:
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1946.
A man came inside the building, it's a stationary store. The small bell above the door chimed as the door opened and closed. The man went to pick up some school supplies, a big size pack of crayons with variety of colours and a wide drawing book.
The man put the stuff he took on the cashier, the clerk glanced and gave him a friendly smile as he serve his customer. "I see, seems like it's almost to back-to-school. Charlie must be excited, Mr. Kimberly."
The man smiled back. "You're right, my son is excited for the next grade. He had been doing well last year, I think might as well suprise him with gifts."
"This gift surely would make him happy, have a nice day, sir." The clerk gave handed the bag along with the change, but the customer pushed the money back to his hand.
"Keep the change, have a nice day, Norman." Mr. Kimberly waved as he left.
Norman let go of his wide smile, letting it fading out. He put the money back in the register, sat down, and rested his head on his hand. The clerk looked out of the window. He saw many people, particularly the men. The kids running around, teenagers hanging out, the adults are working, and old men sitting in the park.
Norman is supposed to be an adult now. Yet the adults still see him as part of the young. Though, Norman he doesn't belong in any group. He may be young, but what he had seen is not relatable to most people his age.
It's been a year since, now he's safe and well in hometown. Sometimes he couldn't help but to remember about the past. When it's quiet, he would close his eyes, took a deep breath, and recall his memories. Often times, his commander came into his visions.
It's annoying at first, Don had appeared in his nightmares and daydreams. The Sergeant did went harsh on him for the first few days. Even if it was understandable, he's still had some hatred left towards the man.
But if life had taught him anything, is that sometimes you just gotta deal with it. So he did, and it became less of a nuisance and more of a... Blessing. If he ended up having a nightmare about being in combat, Don would be there to lead him through the battle. Sometimes it's just a vision of them in the peacefull times, where he would be less of a jerk.
Slowly Don Collier would appear in his every dream. And what he found as a headache when he saw him, turned to an ache in his chest.
Norman is an adult now, he should be doing his own thing. And Don is not his commander anymore. Yet why does the young man wanted to... Hear from him? See him? He doesn't even know. Don was there in his life. And now that he's not, there's this gap.
Don's face appeared before his eyes, the man was smoking while leaning onto a wall. "Hey Norman, what got you to sulk like that? You're missing your folks?"
"There's no shame. Sometimes, it's okay to miss someone." The older man smiled.
He opened his eyes, he's back at the store. Norman could see how sunny the weather is, he could breath smoothly. Norman walked towards the door and turned the sign to "close". His hand reached for his pocket, a piece of paper with a telephone number on it. He went for the telephone and called the number.
Sometimes it's okay to miss someone.
A gruff voice answered. "Hello. It's Don Collier speaking, who am I talking to?"