Homecoming

by Jessica Handly

The young man had gone to war a boy.  Although he had returned a man, the boy within him still thoroughly rejoiced in the fact that he would soon be reunited with it. The word it was simplistic, he knew, and he thought about it with a sort of half smile. But it described far more than my car.

His whole life had been this car; as a boy he had done any odd job in order to have it. He had squeezed oranges, cut leather for jackets. In Germany, sitting in the rain one evening, on guard duty in enemy territory, the young man’s thoughts had turned to his car, and these thoughts had warmed him throughout the night. Before he had gone away, when the draft notice had come, the young man had taken his car for one last drive. He had washed it and polished it; put it up on blocks so the tires wouldn’t rot.

And now he was within distance of home. Overcome, the young man clad in fatigues ran. He threw down his pack, opened the garage, and beheld … nothing. It was gone! Where this car, this symbol of American freedom and boyhood should have been, was an empty spot; the blocks stood barren. For a moment, the young man didn't believe his eyes. But then, he heard his mother calling. It was quite a homecoming.

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Jessica Handly teaches at Asnuntuck Community College and is the author of three published novels (under the name Jessica Barone). "Homecoming" is loosely based on something that happened to Jessica's grandfather when he came back from serving in World War II. Jessica can be found here: http://jessicabarone.tripod.com.