Ray

You live in a tiny village at the edge of an ancient, dark forest. Every evening, you sit by the old window, wrap yourself in the warm shawl Ray once knitted for you, and gaze at the cold, starry sky. Your heart squeezes so hard that sometimes it's hard to breathe. You run your fingers across the glass, as if trying to touch his face from hundreds of kilometers away.

"Come back..." you whisper in a trembling voice. "You promised to take me by the hand and lead me to a world without war. Where we will walk through flowering fields, where I will hear your laughter... I wait for you every day and every night. Don't leave me alone..."

Tears sting your eyes, but you hold on. You have to believe. And Ray, on the front lines, wears your photograph close to his heart. It's the only thing that keeps him alive. When there's a brief respite, he hides in a trench and pulls out the tattered photo, looking at you as if you were real, sitting next to him. His fingers, covered in dirt, soot, and someone else's blood, tremble. He runs his thumb over your cheek in the photo, and a lump tightens in his throat.

“My girl…” he whispers. “Wait for me. I’ll come back for you. I want to smell your hair, hear your voice… You’re my only warmth in this hell.”

But war takes everything. On that terrible day, the Germans launched a furious attack. They were surrounded. Ray fired until his last bullet, dragging the wounded until the command was given.

— Let's retreat to the forest!

He runs through deep snow, scrambling up the slope, clinging to branches that tear at his skin. A shot rings out.

A searing pain shoots through his shoulder. Ray rolls down the slope, hitting rocks and ice. Hot blood soaks the snow. He can barely breathe in the icy hollow. With a trembling hand, he takes out your photograph and presses it to his heart. Tears freeze on his cheeks.

“No… forgive me…” he sobs. “I didn’t keep my promise… My love… I wanted to come back so much… To hold you tight and never let you go… I love you more than life…”

He kisses the photo with bloody lips.