“The music is just perfect to dance to! Who could imagine that the Denver USO Club would be so great!” Rose exclaimed.

“I am so excited that we decided to come!” Jane replied.

Rose looked in the bathroom mirror and stated, “We are looking good, gal!”

“You bet!” she responded as she carefully put each curl in place.

Rose stated, “Who would think we could be such good friends. I am topsy, turvy, and full of life, and you are exacting, sweet, and steady as she goes!”

“Well, we are, and that’s that! Let’s go!” Jane replied, laughing as they went out the door to the dance floor.

“Oh, man, look at those two handsome soldiers who just walked in!” Rose said as she nudged Jane.

Unerringly, those two just happened to be looking back at them.

Bill looked up at Johnny and said as he smiled, “Now here is why I dragged you with me tonight. Just look at those two beauties over there! You were going to stay in the barracks.”

They came over to the girls, where Bill said, still smiling “How about a dance, good looking?”

Rose took his arm immediately and responded, “Let’s not waste time, handsome and charming!”

Johnny smiled shyly at Jane and held out his arm, which she took readily.

The two couples danced the night away, one lively and full of fun. The other talking quietly, enjoying each other’s company.

When it was time to leave, not one of them wanted to end the night, regardless of the time.

“Do you want to take a walk over to the park? It’s not far from here.” Jane asked Johnny shyly.

In response, he took her arm and started walking with her.

Bill looked at Rose and said, “You don’t want to get left behind, do you?”

Rose shook her head, and they followed along.

It was a lovely night in Denver, balmy with a light warm breeze gently blowing.

Bill stated, “You know, life seems so short. We just met and now Johnny and I are shipping out in the morning. That is just plain bad luck!”

Rose tipped her head back as she laughed, saying, “It sure is, big guy! It sure is!”

Just then, Rose pulled four fully-loaded water guns out of her purse and shot Bill as she passed him his and then tossed the other two to Johnny and Jane. The fight was on, running, shooting, and laughing uproariously. When they were spent, the just sat on the grass, trying to recuperate.

“I have an idea,” said Rose. “Let’s carve our names into that rock over there as a memory of how wonderful this night has been.”

Everybody agreed and proceeded to do that. Just as they got finished, a car pulled up, flooding them with lights.

Rose recognized the car and stated, “Uh, guys, that’s my Dad, and I’m in real trouble!”

By that time, he was approaching them and was obviously as mad as a hornet, shouting, “Rose, you know the rules. It’s one thing to support the troops at the USO, but it’s another to stay out half the night!”

Bill, as cool as a cucumber, approached him and stuck out his hand, saying, “I’m sorry, sir. We are shipping out tomorrow. We just met Rose and Jane tonight. We were enjoying ourselves so much and simply forgot the time. Please don’t punish Rose, sir.”

Dad by this time was somewhat mollified by Bill’s congenial manner, shook his hand and said, “God bless you, son. May He protect you and bring you home safely.”

Turning to the girls, he ordered, “You two get in the car right now, wet clothes and all. Whoever heard of such a thing, and at night to boot! Jane, your parents are worried sick. I’ll take you home as well.”

He looked at the two soldiers, saluted them, and got in his car to leave. The girls hastily kissed their soldier’s cheeks, got dutifully into the car, and waved as they drove off.

Bill turned to Johnny and said, “I don’t know about you, but I just met the love of my life!” as he looked at the address Rose had put into his hand as she kissed his cheek.

Johnny said, “Me, too” as he looked at the address Jane had placed in his hand as well. “I am sure glad you talked me into going to the USO tonight!”

They walked off whistling as they headed for transportation to take them back to the base.

The hands of time move ever forward. Timing sometimes is everything.

Johnny wrote to Jane every day, and she did likewise. The mail was so slow that sometimes several letters would be delivered at once, especially in the field.

Johnny and Bill stayed friends, but there came a day when Johnny looked at him and said, “My service is done, my friend. I am going home to Jane. I can find a job doing mechanic’s work. I will make my way somehow.”

Bill shook his hand, responding, “I wish I could, too. But there’s nothing I can do back home, really. I’ll be staying in and make it my career. Tell Jane and Rose hello for me!”

“Have you written Rose yet?” Johnny asked.

“Oh, I wrote a little, but letters just aren’t the same. I think of her a lot, but that just doesn’t make it to the page when I have a pencil in my hand. I sound more like a brother instead of a sweetheart,” he responded.

The years passed quickly. Rose cherished the memory of that night with Bill. She got a job as a secretary. Sometimes on her lunch hour, she would go by the rock and talk to it, touching his name, and thinking about him. But finally, she began to date. Sam eventually became a steady item.

When Rose thought about Sam, she thought, “He is ruggedly good looking and very friendly, but he just does not have a sense of humor or adventure.”

Johnny and Jane watched Rose pine for Bill all that time, knowing what she was feeling. They were relieved when she started dating and liked Sam.

Occasionally, they would get a short note from Bill, which always ended with, “Please tell Rose Hi for me, K?”

Johnny would just shake his head and tell Jane, “I know how Rose will light up when I tell her that. Why can’t he just say it to her directly?”

Whereupon Jane would just shrug her shoulders.

After a while, Sam began pushing Rose to get more serious. He wanted them to get engaged and set a date. She would just sigh and shake her head, turning away so he could not see her tears.

Johnny finally got a letter from Bill. He was so excited that he ran into the house to tell Jane, shoving it under her nose, saying, “Here, read this!”

She looked at him questioningly as she stopped feeding John, Jr. She yelped in surprise as she read it.

“Do you think we should tell Rose?” she asked.

“No, I don’t,” he replied. “Let’s wait, OK?”

She nodded her head in agreement because she did not want to hurt Rose in any way.

Finally, days later, there was a knock at the door. Johnny opened it quickly and grabbed Bill up in a big hug, saying, “I was so happy to find out you were stationed at Lowry Air Force base! Wow! That is great news!”

Hearing the hubbub at the front door, Jane came out wearing an apron and dusting flour off her hands.

She gave Bill a big hug as she held her hands away from his uniform, chiding him, “Well, it’s about time!”

He looked deeply into her eyes and, with a tear in his, asked, “Is Rose happy? Has she found a young fella and settled down? She’s so good looking, I can’t imagine her being alone for very long!”

She answered, “Not, not yet anyway. She has a steady beau named Sam, but she has not said yes yet. I know he’s asked her, but she keeps putting him off.”

A light grew in Bill’s eyes as he spoke, “I think about her more than I’d like to admit to myself. I just cannot forget that first night and how much fun we had!”

Jane looked at him, shaking her head vigorously, and stated, “Then you should have written Rose! What were you thinking?”

They all sat down to dinner, laughing and talking.

Bill held little John, Jr., and complimented them with, “What a fine boy you have here!”

“We think so,” they responded at the same time.

After dinner, Johnny winked at Jane and said, “Let’s take a walk down to the scene of the crime!”

Laughing, they began walking towards the park. The sun was setting, and it was a beautiful time of the evening.

As they approached the rock their names were carved in, Rose was standing there, with her hand over Bill’s carved name.

She was angrily saying, “Sam, I told you, I just don’t want to get married right now! Why do you keep pushing me?”

Sam was about to reply as Johnny, Jane, John, Jr., and Bill walked up.

Sam said, “Well, look who’s here now.”

Turning, Rose raised her hand off Bill’s name and whispered, “Bill!”

Embarrassed, she froze, unsure of Bill’s response as he had not written in so very long.

Bill reached out casually for Sam’s hand and said, “Hello. I’m Bill. I’m an old friend of Johnny and Jane’s.”

Sam slowly reached out and shook his hand, saying, “Sorry about the argument you must have overheard.”

Bill replied, “Well, disagreements happen, don’t they?” as he looked at Rose, whose cheeks were as red as her name by then.

Looking Rose right in the eyes, he said, “Say, do you remember that night when we first met? I can tell you, we had the devil of a time explaining about our wet uniforms!”

She threw her head back, laughing so hard, saying, “How can I forget?”

She reached into her hand bag and pulled out her water gun, querying, “Are you ready for action?”

Grinning, Bill reached into his pocket and pulled out his water gun, and said, “Yup!” as he shot her with it.

The fight was on as she shouted, “You are on, mister!”

Sam looked at the scene unfolding before them all, shaking his head, and finally stating, “Well, I just don’t believe this! I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous in my whole life!” as he stormed off out of sight.

Johnny and Jane held John, Jr., just hugged together, happily saying, “It’s about time!”

Bill and Rose were enjoying themselves and that moment, laughing crazily. Finally, they began hugging each other, finishing with a kiss that lit up the night.

(This is just a short love story to lift your spirits. Enjoy! God’s blessings on your journey!)