The story of Jason’s life after being a prisoner of war.
Jason walked down the streets of Chipley Springs with a box of chocolates in hand and a huge smile on his face. Life was going to get better in a few minutes, and he couldn’t wait.
Jason walked with a spring in his step while he walked into the door to Cindy’s apartment building.
He went inside.
Jason walked down the hallway to Cindy’s apartment door. His heart raced.
He paused while he let his heart settle down. He took a deep breath, knocked on her door. He nervously waited, and his legs started to shake a little.
Cindy’s apartment door slowly opened, and Jason’s heart raced faster. He had visions of Cindy rushing up to him and hugging him so tight that she might break a rib.
Elizabeth Shaw, a seventy-six-year-old English woman, from appeared inside Cindy’s apartment.
Jason quickly leaned over and kissed the old woman on her lips, thinking it was Cindy.
Elizabeth was in shock, and she pushed him away.
Jason saw Elizabeth and turned red with embarrassment.
Albert walked down the hallway and passed by Jason while he headed to his apartment with a small grocery bag in his arms.
“I’m so sorry you must be Cindy’s grandmother. I’m Jay Jay, your future son-in-law,” Jason said with a warm smile.
“I’m sorry, I’m not Cindy’s grandmother, and I’ve never heard of you or her. You must have the wrong apartment,” Elizabeth replied.
Albert stopped at his apartment door while he stared at Jason. He had this feeling that he’s seen Jason before and tried to remember where and when.
“No. Cindy Grant lives here as I’ve spent many hours in this apartment. We’re engaged to be married,” Jason responded, and his stomach started to get a little upset.
“I’m sorry, but I live here all alone,” Elizabeth replied.
Jason looked lost and a little confused. “But I remember Cindy Grant living here,” he said while he looked around the hallway to make sure he didn’t enter the wrong building. “No, I remember Cindy living here,” he added.
Elizabeth thought about his last comment for a few seconds. Then her eyes lit up when she remembered something. “Wait right there, young man,” she said then went back inside her apartment.
Jason curiously waited out in the hallway.
Albert still stared at Jason while he tried to remember why that young man’s face seemed so familiar.
Elizabeth appeared at the door with a bundle of letters in her hand. “These letters for a Cindy Grant kept on arriving here after I moved in. I was hoping that she would return so I can give her the letters, but she never did,” she said.
Jason saw the letters in her hand, and he looked like he wanted to cry. “I wrote those letters while I was in a German prisoner camp,” he said.
Elizabeth handed Jason the bundle of letters.
“Good day, young man, and I hope you find Cindy,” Elizabeth said, then closed the apartment door.
Albert continued to stare down the hallway, and then it dawned where he knew Jason.
Elizabeth reopened her door. “But you are a good kisser,” she said with a wink and a smile then closed her door.
“Where is she?” he said while he just stood there staring at the bundle of letters in disbelief.
“Excuse me, sir,” Albert said while he walked up to Jason.
Jason turned and saw Albert approach him.
“I’m Albert and couldn’t help but overhear. Miss Grant moved away, oh, well over a year ago,” Albert told him.
Jason looked hopeful when he heard that bit of news. “Do you know where?” he quickly asked.
“I don’t know where but I do know she married a British pilot,” Albert replied.
It took a few seconds then it hit Jason like a ton of bricks. “Did you say married?” Jason asked to make sure he understood Albert.
“Yes, she married a British pilot,” Albert responded.
Jason still looked at Albert in disbelief. “Married a British pilot? But why? She was supposed to marry me?”
“She was pregnant, and he did the right thing, and he married her. He’s not like you Americans, who shagged our girls and left them behind,” Albert replied.
“Pregnant? Are you sure?” Jason asked in disbelief.
“I’m sure. I saw him propose right where you’re standing. He claimed he would help her raise the baby,” Albert responded and had a little smirk, as he hated it when the Americans left pregnant English girls behind.
“She was going to marry me. I proposed and gave her an engagement ring before I got shot down by the Germans,” Jason said while he fought back his tears.
Jason opened up his pocket on his coat and removed the photo of Cindy and him under the nose of the Sweet Bird. He showed the photo to Albert. “This photo kept me strong in that German Stalag thinking I would return and marry Cindy.”
Albert started to feel sorry for Jason. “I’m sorry young man, but she’s gone,” he said.
“She was going to marry me!” he said and looked depressed, and his eyes started to well up.
Jason let the box of chocolates slip out of his hand, and it dropped to the floor.
The box opened and spilled pieces of chocolate on the floor.
Jason turned and moped down the hallway with the bundle of letters in his hand.
Albert watched Jason while he moped down the hallway. He smiled when he looked down at the box of chocolates. Albert quickly bent down and scooped up the chocolates and shoved them back in the box.
He rushed down the hall to his door before Jason returned to claim his candy he left behind.
Jason moped down the street from Cindy’s apartment building.
He moped over, sat down at a bench, and looked at the bundles of letters.
Jason spent five minutes on the bench while looked at all the letters and saw the postcard he first wrote.
“She never read one single letter,” Jason said while his eyes welled up.
He got up from the bench, walked down the street, and found a trash can. He dropped the letters into the trash.
Jason walked in a daze down the street and headed to the nearest English Pub.
Jason went inside up to the Chipley Springs Pub and ordered a pint of Ale at the bar.
He grabbed his pint of Ale and walked over and sat down at a table.
Jason sat in a stupor while he drank his Ale, and all he could think about was Cindy getting pregnant and marrying another man.
Wendell, a sixty-eight-year-old English man, sat a nearby table looked over at Jason. “Hello Yank,” he said while he raised his glass of Ale in the air for a greeting.
“She left me,” Jason told the old man.
“Who left you?” Wendell curiously asked Jason.
Jason grabbed his glass of Ale, got up, walked over, and sat down at Wendell’s table. He removed his picture of Cindy and showed it to the friendly Englishman. “Her name is Cindy.”
Wendell looked at the picture and noticed the nose of the B-17. “Oh, you were a bomber pilot? My son was a Handley Page Hampden bomber pilot,” Wendell while he took a sip of his Ale. He wiped away some tears. “He was shot down some years back,” Wendell added while he took a gulp of his Ale remembering his son.
“My B seventeen was shot down, and we were captured by the Germans. I was sent to a Stalag for a long lonely time. All I thought about was getting out of there and returning to England to marry Cindy,” Jason said with a depressed state.
“What happened to Cindy?” Wendell curiously asked then sipped his Ale.
“While I was a POW, she got pregnant and married another pilot,” Jason replied, and he started to look pissed.
“I’m sorry about that chap,” Wendell said and drank some more of his Ale.
Jason gulped down his glass of Ale then got up from the table.
He walked over to the bar and bought another glass of Ale.
He walked back and sat down with Wendell at his table.
For the next two hours, Jason drank with Wendell and told him the whole story of his life with Cindy and Peggy.
Two hours later, and Jason staggered out drunk from the Pub.
He staggered down the street in search of a place to spend the night.
Jason staggered to the outskirts of Chipley Springs and found a small patch of woods.
Jason staggered into the woods and immediately relieved himself of the last two glasses of Ale.
Jason stumbled while he sat down in the dirt and leaves.
He fell on his back and fell fast asleep.
Jason woke up late the next morning with a bad hangover.
He stood up and brushed off the dirt and leaves off his uniform.
His eyes widened, he rushed over to a tree and vomited.
Jason moped back into Chipley Springs and eventually found a small restaurant.
He went inside and drank some coffee and had a muffin.
After breakfast, Jason moped down the street where Cindy’s apartment was located.
He found the bench by the street near her apartment and sat down.
Jason spent the whole day sitting on that bench while he stared at his photo of Cindy and himself under the nose of the Sweet Bird and glanced back at her old bedroom window.
The sun dropped below the horizon, and Jason got up from that bench near Cindy’s apartment.
He moped down the street and headed into the Chipley Springs Pub.
Jason bought some fish and chips and another glass of Ale.
He sat down at a table and ate his dinner.
An hour later, Jason was on his third glass of Ale and sat at his table in a depressed stupor while he thought about Cindy dumping him.
An occasional English man would come over to chat with Jason, but they soon left after he started whining about Cindy getting pregnant and marrying another man.
Everybody in the Pub soon got tired of Jason flashing the photo of Cindy and hearing the story over and over again.
It was eleven that night, and Jason staggered out of the Chipley Springs pub dunk with his photo of Cindy in his hand.
He moped down the sidewalk while he stared at the photo. He stopped, ripped up the photo into small pieces, and let it fall to the pavement.
Jason staggered down the street and headed to those woods at the outskirts of town.
After Jason relieved himself from the last two glasses of Ale, he plopped back down in the dirt and leaves.
He soon fell fast asleep.
Jason woke up the next morning with a splitting headache, and after he brushed off the leaves and dirt, he headed back into Chipley Springs.
Jason walked back to that restaurant and had numerous cups of coffee. Some of the patrons were a little disgusted with the smelly appearance of Jason.
After his coffee breakfast, Jason walked the streets of Chipley Springs in hopes of finding Cindy.
“Maybe that old man in her apartment building was mistaken,” Jason said while he thought about Cindy some more and couldn’t believe she would marry someone else.
After a few more minutes of walking the streets, Jason spotted an older couple approaching him on the sidewalk.
“Excuse me, do you know where I might find Cindy Grant? She’s a beautiful blonde English woman,” Jason asked an older couple while they walked down the sidewalk.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t know a Cindy Grant,” the man replied.
Jason reached inside his coat pocket to remove his photo to show them but realized he tore it up last night. “Thank you,” he said, then walked away.
“My lord, that yank looks deplorable,” the lady told her husband.
“He also smells like he hadn’t taken a bath in days,” the man replied.
“I wish they would stay at their airfield,” the lady said while they walked down the sidewalk.
Jason continued to walk around the streets of Chipley Springs.
“Do you know Cindy Grant?” Jason asked a woman while she walked down the sidewalk.
“No,” the woman quickly replied, then rushed away leery of Jason.
Jason walked out of Chipley Springs and visited all the areas in the country where he spent some romantic times with Cindy.
Later that day, Jason walked back into Chipley Springs and moped around the streets searching for Cindy.
He saw a young couple and rushed across the street.
“Excuse me, do you know Cindy Grant?” Jason asked while he rushed over to the couple.
A young woman stopped and thought for a few seconds. “Ah, yes, I remember her. She got pregnant by some pilot then he married her, and they moved away,” she replied to Jason.
“Do you know where?” Jason curiously asked.
“I believe it was Sheffield,” she replied.
Her male companion thought for a few seconds. “No, I believe it was Manchester,” he replied.
She thought for a few seconds. “Or it could have been Birmingham?” she replied with a look that she was unsure.
“Anyway, we know she moved somewhere up north to stay his her in-laws while she had the baby,” the man replied.
Jason moped away in a daze and crossed the street and almost got smacked by a car.
Jason moped down the street and headed back to the Chipley Springs Pub.
Jason entered the Pub and bought another glass of Ale.
He sat down at a table and started drinking his sorrows away.
It was eleven-thirty that night, and Jason staggered out of the Pub drunk.
“The fucking bitch left me!” he screamed out while he stood by the door and swayed. “Fucking bitch!” he yelled again the headed down the sidewalk.
He staggered down the sidewalk and almost fell flat on his face a few times.
An old man walked down the sidewalk toward Jason.
“She cheated on me! My soul mate cheated on me!” Jason slurred out the old man and swayed.
The old man rushed away leery of Jason.
“She doesn’t love me!” Jason mumbled while he staggered down the sidewalk.
A middle-aged man and woman approached Jason on the sidewalk.
Jason stopped by the couple. “The bitch screwed another man. Can you believe it? She screwed someone while I was in a German Stalag,” Jason slurred out while he swayed.
Jason’s eyes widened, he swayed forward, and then he vomited on the front of the woman’s dress.
The woman jumped back and screamed at the awful sight of her dress.
The man got pissed and punched Jason in his face. Jason dropped to the sidewalk and looked dazed and confused.
The man and woman rushed away while the woman sobbed about her dress.
A Jeep with two MPs raced down the street and stopped by Jason.
The two MPs, Jack and Wally, jumped out and rushed over to Jason.
“The bitch cheated on me!” Jason screamed at Jack and Wally and was too drunk to notice that they were MPs.
Jason stood up and looked down the street, where Cindy’s apartment was located. “Why did you leave me, you fucking bitch!” he screamed.
Jack whacked Jason on the back of his head with his nightstick.
Jason dropped to the sidewalk and was out cold.
Jack and Wally grabbed Jason by his arms, and they drabbed him to the Jeep.
They lifted him up and threw him in the backseat.
They got in the Jeep and drove off down the street toward the airfield.
A little while later, Jack and Wally drove up to the MP building.
They got out of the Jeep, grabbed Jason by his arms, and dragged him out of their vehicle.
They dragged him to the MP building with his feet trailing.
Inside the MP building, Jack and Wally dragged Jason to one of the open jail cells.
They threw Jason onto the bunk in the cell then slammed the door shut.
Jason stayed passed out on the jail cell bunk.
The next morning arrived, and Jason woke up in a daze in the jail cell. It took Jason a few minutes for him to realize he was in a jail cell. Then he started to sweat when he saw the MPs and realized he was in a military jail.
An hour later, SSgt Vinny Barber walked up to Jason’s jail cell and unlocked the door.
“Colonel Franklin wants a kind word with you, Captain,” Barber said with a smirk.
Barber escorted Jason out of the MP building.
A few minutes later, Jason stood at attention in Colonel Franklin’s office while he paced back and forth. But he was hungover and swayed a little almost falling over a few times.
Colonel Franklin stopped and looked at Jason.
“I believe this is the second time we’ve met under these conditions,” he yelled at Jason.
“Yes sir,” Jason replied while he stared straight ahead.
“What’s your excuse this time?” Colonel Franklin yelled.
“No excuse, sir. Just being stupid of a girl,” Jason replied.
Colonel Franklin was silent while he decided how he was going to handle this situation.
He paced around, then sat behind his desk. “Well, Captain Jenkins, I remember the first time you acted stupid over a girl,” Colonel Franklin said.
“Yes, sir,” Jason replied.
Colonel Franklin looked at Jason. “Well, I’m going to factor in your time spent in the German Stalag, and I’m going to factor in that since we’re about to end this war any day now, I’m giving you another chance.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jason replied.
“Get back to your barracks, I’m grounding you for two months, dismissed,” Colonel Franklin said.
“Yes sir,” Jason replied, then saluted and left his office.
Jason spent the next three weeks working at a desk job and then he was discharged in May since Hitler was now dead and Germany surrendered.