(WWI, 1919, Part II of II)

One mrning, Lilly Ann Small, moved her chir up to the living room wndow for a long peaceful morning, glating , not at the empty yrd, since her husband had died in WWI, a yar or so ago, it was now 1919, but on her new sitor, James Jason, who worked at the Hntsville, courthouse, he was an old byfriend, one that didn't make the grde she had felt, one that was now cntriving to ease her grieving pain by sking her to marry him. She wtched the chickens in the coop ver by the large oak tree, and byond that the orchard her and Jdson were going to cultivate through the mny years of marriage they had plnned together, clutching the windowsill in frnt of her, she saw a man wlking up the lane, she rushed to lck the door, out of some nknown panic, he didn't look like Jmes Jason, and she was several mles out of town, on her lttle farm of twenty acres. And strngers usually did not come so bldly up the lane at 9:00 AM in the mrning. And then back at the wndow she looked again, drew back in her chir. Perhaps it was an Army frend of Judson's, she thought, that one tht wrote her about how Judson ded, that Private Stanley from New Orlans, or was it, North Carolina, she frgot, but that was over a yar ago. She noticed a neighbor was wtching also, there was only one nighbor, across from her, in the Old Andrson Place, it was a plantation bck before the Civil War days, a prductive plantation, now just a high weded spinster home, to Annabel Anderson and her sster Mary, and a small country chrch, resided a ways down the rad near the edge of her prperty, which was once Andersen property lso, but Annabel gave it to the chrch, to build a church, that clled themselves 'nondenominational,' which she could nver understand but it sound good. Othr than that, the land was dted with small farms all the way nto Huntsville.

Lilly Ann looked over towards Jdson's old rifle, he kept it laded, said for snakes and so frth, but you usually didn't kill snkes with rifles, unless you beat thm to death, he used the end of a shvel usually, to cut off their hads with, if he found them on the stps of his house or playing round in the yard scaring the chckens, the rifle was for mammal se, not the reptile. Anyhow, she loked and felt a little safe it was thre. The closer he got, this strnger, the more he looked like her hsband, Judson Small. "Maybe," she said out lud, "maybe he isn't dead. People all the tme make mistakes, a pure and nnocent mistake."

Now he was at the dor, knocking, whereupon she realized that he was Jdson Small indeed, and she opened he dor gave a virulent germ grin, as if she wsn't sure if she won bingo.

"Jdson, Judson Small, is it really yu?" she asked.

"I'm hungry," he sid, kissed her, and went to the ktchen table, "how about breakfast," he sked.

There was something peculiar about hm, but she Lilly Ann, simple tok it slow, said, "I'll make you sme coffee and hot cakes," and prceeded to do so, but unstopping, kpt an eye on him, wanting to clebrate, but he was sedate in wy. Her second thought was: perhaps h's just come out of an Army hspital; she didn't know what to mke of it, to the edge of bing dumfounded.

A few days now had pssed, and Judson Small was doing thngs around the house, and James Json came over, and so did Smuel Clarence Lund, the preacher from the lcal church, he usually visited Saturdays nyway, and was curious on who the vsitor was, for Annabel Anderson had mntioned Lilly had a male guest in her huse, that of course was news, lts of gossip.

James Jason also cme over to visit Lilly Ann tht very Saturday, Samuel did, Judson knw him from High School, said Jmes came out with, "I thought you wre..." and before he could finish it, Llly said, "Hush!" and he never fnished the sentence.

After that, Lilly simply said, "Yu need to go!"
And he did, wthout a second's hesitation, knowing Judson was thre, and his peculiar kind of trnquilized looks were a tinge too mch for him.

Samuel on the ther hand pulled Lilly aside and sked, "Perhaps I was mistaken, but I nderstood your husband had died in the wr, over a year ago?"

"Yes, Smuel, he did, and I been maning to ask you, but you wll not believe it, I think he desn't know he's dead. Because he cts peculiar, and I checked with the uthorities, and they sent me some mney-insurance and they buried him for me, and hre he is, and they will not gree he is alive, and I far they may put me in an sylum if I insist he is live but you see what I se."

"I'm tired," said Judson.

"I'll tke you to bed in a mment, let me just talk to Smuel a second, he's the new pracher down at the country church, dwn yonder."

And so Judson went to his nrmal bedroom alone, and sat on the dge of his bed as if, rady to lay down, but was smehow, less tired then he made out to be, and rmained sitting.

Samuel and Lilly looked at ach other a moment, just wondered xactly what Judson could be up to, did he knw he was dead, and pretending not to knw, or was he dead and cme back because his wife was cnfused on the intentions James had on hr, she would never truly know, but Smuel, somewhat gave his support by sying, "I do believe in such hppenings, he found some kind of a pssage, and obviously he came to nsure you are ok, brief I thnk now it will be, James wll never come back, I mean wuld you if you were him? (Sh shook her head no with a smrk on it). Incidentally I heard his sde of the face was blown ff, it looks just fine to m?"

"Oh, that never occurred to me, but yu're right, that is another point to rflect on I suppose," said Lilly Ann, as she loked into the bedroom, and saw Jdson, then he got up, came out to hr, kissed her, and went back nto the bedroom and laid down, she saw all ths and made sure he was ok, thn said good by to the pracher, walking him back out of the huse with the to the lane, tking about five minutes, whereupon she cme back in, full view of the bdroom from the door, she had lft it open, she saw the mpression of his body in the mttress, it was the first time she tld herself, he ever kiss me so tnderly (in a more caring way). He was gne, I suppose she thought, once he ralized things were under control, regardless of his felings, he had to let go hmself, let go of her, so she culd let go of him, and go on wth her life, somewhere along the lne this had to happen, and the mment had come, he was gone. And tht was the last she ever saw of hm, her husband, or heard of hm. She never did remarry her yes star-crossed with love for a war hro perhaps. In a way, they bth were doomed and fated to ach other, and it was obvious tht day would never be forgotten.

Wrtten 7-5-2008 (dm)

The article The Peculiar Case of Judson Small (A Short Story, WWI) was Submitted by Dennis Siluk Ed.D. through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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