Solitary

“And finally tonight we have a very special ‘Hometown Heroes’ segment. After three-hundred and thirty-three days in captivity, the town of Burgess welcomes home one of its own, Private Denny Darvin. I can speak from all of us here at channel 4. We thank Private Darvin and all of our heroes in uniform for their service. And we are grateful for their healthy and happy return.”

The television spat flickering light and fleeting sound into the hollowness of the room. Denny Darvin, quiet and motionless in his seat, barely registered that he was the subject of the night’s limelight.

A moment went by before a voice approached from out of the darkness, “What are you doing down here?”

Denny sat up at attention by the sound of Dharla, his long-time girlfriend.

“Are you alright?” she continued with concern apparent in her voice.

At that, Denny emotionally collapsed into tears. This instantly launched Dharla into tears of her own. She jumped along side him on the sofa and whipped her arms around his slumping shoulders. His grasp soon met hers as his arms curled firmly around her body. There, they shared a deep embrace.

“Why are you down here?” Dharla asked, still wrapped in his arms.

“I just needed the sound.”

Denny and Dharla stood together in the lobby of the Veteran’s Affairs office. There, they held hands, facing the elevator doors.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Dharla inquired timidly.

“I don’t know,” Denny tersely replied. As his loving compatriot, his detached attitude sent daggers through Dharla’s heart. But in her mind, she had steeled herself for the recovery, no matter what it took.

Not a moment later, the elevator arrived. The pair instinctively walked inside. They turned towards each other, as they rotated to face the elevator doors once more. In doing so they released their clasped hands. But no sooner than the doors began to glide shut, the pattern of rushing footfalls echoed through the lobby and headed straight for the elevator bay.

Dharla reached for the button panel and held the elevator for the approaching stranger. Simultaneously, Denny reached and pressed the button for the 5^th floor. Before his arm had returned to his side, the young woman from whom they were waiting burst in. The heals of her shoes silenced against the carpeted elevator floor. With a quick but cordial acknowledgement, Dharla released the button. The woman took a position in front of the doors, as again they began to glide shut.

The doors slid closed slowly, as elevator doors do. But, although they had done this a thousand times before, their confining motion had never taken on such significance. Denny was transfixed, watching them slowly wall off the outside world. The ladies in the elevator were inattentive to this, but the gentleman was all too aware.

The young woman screeched as she tumbled into the elevator wall. Denny barreled past and out the remaining narrow passageway at the last moment possible. Without skipping a step, he ran from the elevator and toward the front entrance. He met no resistance as he hurdled past the security gates and blasted through the glass atrium to the exterior of the building.

“What happened?” Dharla called out between gasps of her panting breath. She had only just caught up as Denny has knelt down, trembling, against a brownstone stoop.

“Denny, talk to me!” Dharla demanded, almost shouting into the widened eyes of Denny’s blank stare. “Denny, talk to me.”

The stare broke as Denny focused his vision onto Dharla’s panicked face. He blinked for a moment erratically.

“What happened back there?” Dharla demanded again.

Denny again closed his eyes, confused. But his expression quickly turned to one of embarrassment.

“I went back,” he said, with a wince.

“You had a flashback?”

“I don’t know,” he answered with sincerity. “I knew I was okay, but I just felt like I had to run.”

Denny clenched his eyes shut. He quivered in a few short and staggered gulps of air before exhaling exhaustedly.

Dharla drove. Denny rode in the front passenger’s seat. They took Route 34, the same route they had taken for so many years in younger times.

“Everything is so colorful,” Denny volunteered. They passed a used car lot with banners and streamers flailing.

There was a pause before Dharla spoke the thought on her mind, “What was it like?”

The pause continued.

“…for you there?” Dharla’s voice found a confident strength that belied her fear in the question.

With a frankness, Denny replied, “I don’t know. Every day, maybe, they’d open the little slot in the door. And they’d throw in this cup. It was a cup of slop. I don’t know what it was.”

There was another pause, as more scenery sped by.

“At first, it was awful. It was rotten. But I was hungry, and it didn’t take long for me to want to see it again. When they would open that slot, that was the only light I had. That was it until the next time.”

More scenery rushed past.

“But then it was too much. I didn’t want it anymore. It was so sudden and so bright. A reminder where I was. That was when I knew I couldn’t take much more… when couldn’t stand to see the light.”

The car slowed and turned onto Route 10, just another road on the way home.

Denny was spending another sleepless night. His closed eyes brought him images that denied any rest. Dharla lay next to him on her side, with an arm draped gently across his chest. Her eyes were also closed but she was no closer to slumber.

“You waited for me,” Denny suddenly said.

Dharla’s eyes instantly shot open, and the muscles in her neck tensed.

“What do you mean?” she asked in a quickened cadence.

“You waited for me when you didn’t know I was coming back,” Denny elaborated in his monotone demeanor.

With this, Dharla shot up, wrenching herself in full sight of Denny’s face, as she locked eyes with his.

“Of course, I did!” she exclaimed with a fury. She stared into his eyes for a reaction, before adding in a softer tone, “There is no one but you.”

Tears welled in his eyes and glistened in the dull light of the room.

“Of course, I did,” she repeated, sinking into shared tears. “There couldn’t be anyone else.”

The Benefits Coordinator was a gruff old timer with Veteran’s Affairs who had an office on the first floor. Dharla sat in the waiting room while Denny completed his first session.

With the signatures done, there was only one remaining order of business to complete. The old timer took a long look at Denny, one that clearly changed the tenor of the conversation between the two men. His gravelly voice dropped a step before he again began to speak.

“I know those shrinks are already talking to you up on the 5^th floor.”

He continued, “You remember Operation Just Cause? Noriega? Panama?”

There was a break before he continued, “I don’t talk about this much, but they got me for a little while.

“…but who’s still around, eh?”

Denny sat silently as the monologue continued.

“There are gonna be a lot of reminders, always. But this is just your last battle with it. You do what you’ve gotta do not be a prisoner in your own life.

“I’ve seen what you’ve got out there, a pretty girl who cares a lot about you. You know, this is the easiest one you’ll ever beat.”

The gruff old timer stood up, and Denny took the cue. The men looked at each other for a moment, and then the elder hinted a glance toward the door.

“Thank you, sir,” Denny muttered as he compiled his thoughts. He walked toward the exit and slowly swung open the door. And there, directly ahead, sat Dharla. Her beauty was never more captivating, his gaze never more trapped in hers. Her face lit up with a beaming smile as she saw him, and the brilliance of her presence grew brighter and brighter.

Denny could soon barely stand the shine. His eyes stung in its glare.

The cup of slop fell to the floor, the slot door jerked shut, and then the darkness returned.

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