The River of Tears

Katie had fun with Alan in the park today. She couldn't believe that they had been together since she was sixteen years old, and now they were both twenty-five years old. Although she had enjoyed today, there was a deep sadness in her heart.

Alan was leaving. He was going away to train with the army, and he couldn't tell her how long he would be away.

Katie couldn't bring herself to say any words. Memories played over and over in her brain, like a video stuck on replay in her head. She remembered her first kiss, their countless walks in the park, making love on her mum's couch without getting caught, and all the love they had shared.

Alan knew he had to do this. He didn't want to leave her, but he had no choice.

Kate was pregnant with their first child, and they needed money. He had been trying to get a job since he left school, but he had no success with any of the interviews. The army was all he could do. He knew he might never see his child grow up, and he might never see Kate again.

He knew he could be killed, but he didn't want to tell her that because it would upset her.

Kate was too upset to be mad at him. Her tears were flooding out her anger, and she just felt numb. She was frightened,

Frightened she might never see him again, frightened their baby would never get to see his dad, and frightened that Alan would be killed.

Kate was just frozen and numb to the core. Alan tried getting close enough to give her one last kiss, but Kate put her hand up to stop him, shook her head, and turned her eyes down so he couldn't see her tears.

Alan shed a tear, but he wiped it away in embarrassment. He felt that he didn't have the right to cry; after all, Kate was going to be the one left to bring up the baby.

He knew that there was a chance that she might settle down with someone new, and that made his stomach churn. However, he also knew that wasn't his choice to make, after all, he was leaving her to bring up a baby by herself and that baby needed a father.

Nighttime arrived and they both slept in separate rooms. Kate found herself not being able to spend her last night with Alan; his warm touch and tender kisses were too much for her to handle as her emotions were running high, and she felt that she would break completely under his touch.

Alan didn't sleep well at all. He spent the entire night crying silent tears alone. In the morning, he got his army uniform together and packed his bag. He skipped his usual coffee because he felt sick to the bone. He took one last look around the apartment, flooding with tears as all of the loving memories he had made with Kate re-played through his mind.

He didn't think to leave her a note. He left without a trace.

When Kate woke up, Alan was gone. The apartment felt strange without him. She was angry at him for leaving in this way, and she booted the apartment door until the wood crumbled. She then sat down and cried her heart out. Kate had never experienced sadness like this before, and she felt guilty for the baby inside her,

but she promised to be the best mum her baby could have, and she knew that she could raise her baby with or without the baby's father.

She decided not to stay in the apartment, so she put it up for sale and bought a place they could both live in near her friends and family.

Kate gave birth to a little boy whom she named Dean. Dean was ten by the time his dad came home from the army, and by that time, Kate had settled down and married a man whom Dean came to know as his dad.

Alan turned up at Kate's new apartment on Dean's tenth birthday. He felt sad and empty when his son didn't recognize him, and he was heartbroken to find Kate had married, though he knew it was his own fault because he hadn't stayed in touch with any of them while he was in the army, and he had been seeing other women.

Alan just stared at Kate, but after ten minutes Kate shut the door on him without saying a word.

Alan's heart sank as he walked away. He knew he deserved it, and he never saw his son or Kate again.