The warm summer breeze blew across my face, as I watched the sunset on the horizon. But my moment of serenity was ended by the joyful sound of my beautiful fiancé Emily creeping up behind me. I turned around hoping to catch her, but instead I saw nothing. Then all of a sudden, a delicate pair of hands slammed into my back and knocked me into the grass, and the sound of laughter echoed throughout the meadow.


I got to my knees and embraced her as the moon shined above us. As we separated, a large man in a sergeant uniform approached us with a wrinkled slip of paper. Emily was full fright, so she gripped my arm in comfort.


"Good evening, I am Sergeant Ronald Knox, and I am looking for Mr. Daniel Blanchard." the kind man said with a calm and low voice.


"I am Daniel Blanchard, and this my fiancé Emily Maplewood." I replied trying to hold back my protective instincts.


He stepped forward and handed me the slip of paper, my eyes widened in shock as I read the words at the top of the page written in large print.


Attention Mr. Blanchard, you along with every other strong man in the village are ordered to report to the enlistment post in Berlin.


Emily's sobs of sadness snapped me back to my senses, I looked at her face and saw the fear in her eyes.


"I am terrible sorry, but no one can refuse those orders. A carriage will arrive tomorrow morning to pick you up." he said as walked off into the distance.


I walked Emily back to the cottage, and as we entered the dining room, she dropped to her knees in despair and soaked the floor planks with her tears. So I walked over to the window and pull out her favorite flowers that she loved to smell whenever she was upset. After grabbing them, I held them up to her nose. She took a wiff of the flower pedals, and most of her tears vanished like magic.


"Please don't go, stay here where it's safe. I love you!" she cried while wrapping her arms around my neck.


"I love you too Emily, but if I don't enlist, the Nazi's will destroy everything we care about." I said to her while to stay calm.


"I know that, but I don't want to lose you!" she screamed.


I interrupted by planting a kiss on her beautiful red lips, and soon, she was silent.


"Don't worry about me, I promise to come back to you after this war is over." I said to her.


She tried to understand the importance of the situation, and she forgot her troubles instantly.


The next morning, I packed up and waited for the carriage to take me to Berlin. Then, it slowly approached from around the bend, and stopped about 2 feet away from the cottage. My bags were scooped up by a couple soldiers and tossed onto the flatbed. Without question, I jumped into the back of the carriage and sat with the other men of my village. As we slowly began to depart, a million memories of this summer with Emily rushed through my head, and I thought it was the best summer of my life. Then, I looked out towards the sunrise and prayed for no harm to be fall my love.