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Heavenly Dreams
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the .pdf version)
© 2001 by Betsy Walker
The plane lightly grazed the
clouds or drifted through them as he navigated the plane across the sky. As he
looked down through his window, he saw the earth gradually drop away from him.
He was in his own little world now.
"Cory, time for breakfast! Get
out of bed or you'll be late for school!"
What? How did his mother get up
there in the sky with him? Cory slowly opened his eyes to see that he was still
lying in his bed, in his room, in his house, on the ground. He let out a
slightly exaggerated sigh.
"Coming, Mom," he groaned as he
lowered his feet to the floor. He moped out his door and down the stairs to his
kitchen where his mother was standing at the stove, working diligently to
achieve a grade A breakfast.
As his mother turned to look at
him, she asked, "Did you plan on sleeping in until noon? You know you have that
math test today." She stared sternly at Cory while he slumped into one of the
old country style chairs and scooted up to the table.
"No, Mom. I was having another
dream about flying." His eyes lit up when he mentioned flying. His mother's
eyes, on the other hand, narrowed and burned into him.
"There's no room for talk of
nonsense in this house. Haven't we had this discussion enough times? I'd think
you could recite it by now!"
"Yes, Mom. But-"
"Nonsense! There will be no
more pilots in this house as long as I can help it." She turned her back to Cory
coldly and returned to breakfast. A moment of awkward and tense silence passed.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I know that
you don't want me flying because of dad's accident." His mother's back
tightened.
"Yes, that's exactly why I
don't want you flying. Your father had the exact same dreams, only his came
after I married him." She turned to face Cory, wiping her hands on a dishtowel.
"He wanted to fly so much, Cory. He wanted it so bad that he put himself through
flight school by working all the extra hours he possibly could. So I was happy
when he finally achieved his goal because it meant he'd be home more often."
"He loved flying so much, Cory.
He really did. He went to the airport every Saturday and Sunday, if I'd let him.
Even once you were born. Then he took you with him. I'll never know how he
managed to strap that baby seat into the passenger seat of the plane." She
smiled. "So of course you had the same obsession.
"If only he had just flown on
nice days. But no. Come rain, snow, sleet, hail If it rained houses, your father
would have flown anyway. That's how much he loved flying. I can't understand
what he loved about it so much." Cory saw a tear slide down his mother's cheek.
"It's okay, Mom. Don't cry. I'm
sorry, I really am," Cory pleaded.
"No," she insisted. "I've told
you this story ten thousand times and I'll tell it ten thousand times more if
that's what it takes to discourage your dreams of flying.
"Anyway, one Sunday your father
skipped church so you and I went alone. After church, we arrived home to an
empty house so we drove out to the airport. It was raining really hard and you'd
occasionally see lightning and hear thunder. The line-boy inside the building
said your father had taken one of the planes out before the weather had gotten
too bad.
"We sat in the airport for a
little while as the line-boy, I think his name was Jason, tried to radio your
father. I thought he'd never get a response." Tears rolled down Cory's mother's
cheeks. "Through all the static, we heard a small message. Do you remember what
it was?"
"Yeah. He said ďTell my little
boy I love him and that I won't be coming home anymore.'"
"That's right. Then after that
Silence." Cory's mother sat down at the table beside him. "I'm sorry that I have
to tell you that story repeatedly but Cory, I can't lose you to the sky like I
lost your father. That's the only reason I don't want you to fly."
"I know, Mom, and I'm really
sorry."
"It's okay, it isn't your
fault." Cory's mother stood up and wiped her tears away and put on a fa?ade
immediately. "Now, how about some breakfast?"
* * *
As Cory grew through his
pre-teen and teenage years, he continued having dreams of flying but he never
told his mother of them after that. He thought it would be best not to since it
hurt her so much.
Cory graduated high school and
attended a college nearby so he could still see his mother. In college, he met a
girl who shared his dreams of flying but who also understood his mother's point
of view. They married and she was pregnant with their first child when Cory,
against his mother's will, graduated from flight school.
"I really don't think it's a
very good idea for me to go with you, Cory. I don't want any complications with
my pregnancy."
"I understand, Eve, it's okay.
Are you still going to come to the airport with me to see me off on my very
first flight as a licensed pilot?"
Eve smiled. "Of course I am. I
wouldn't miss it for the world. Is your mother going to come? I know she sounded
like she really didn't want to but is there a chance?"
"I doubt it. This is really
hard on her since I have the same ambitions as my father did. She thinks I'm
going to make a fatal mistake and suffer the same fate, too."
"I hope your mother's wrong."
"I know she is." Cory put on a
confident smile and walked out the door after kissing his wife goodbye.
Later that day, Cory ventured
on his very first flight while Eve and his unborn baby remained on the ground.
He radioed down occasionally to assure them of his safety and tell them how
beautiful it was.
During one of his radio
transmissions, an unfamiliar voice invaded the airwaves.
"Cory, no hot-doggin' up there.
You hear me?"
Cory sat in silence for a
moment before replying. "Mom?"
"Yeah, it's me. I made it after
all. I might as well support you since you'll do what you want anyway."
Cory could picture his mother
smiling. "Thank you, Mom. This means a lot to me."
"Okay, you just better come
back down here in one piece or whatever's left is going to receive a sound
lashing from me." She laughed lightly.
"I gotcha, Mom. Thanks for the
warning." Cory smiled to himself.
* * *
Over the next few years, Cory
spent most of his spare time in the sky with his wife, Eve, or his beautiful
son, Matt. It was very rare that Cory flew alone. He even coaxed his mother into
a trip or two.
After satisfying his taste for
leisure flying, Cory wanted to join the Air Force. When he told his mother and
Eve, neither was very happy about his decision.
"I'm thirty years old. I think
I'm old enough now to make my own decisions."
"You are and I know that, son.
You've done really well with your flying. Unlike your father, you take the
weather into consideration. But the Air Force? Do you realize how dangerous that
is if you go into a war?"
"Mom, the last war was several
years ago. Before I was even born. It's 1941, Mom."
"Yes, and there's a war going
on over seas as we speak!"
"But we aren't in it. It's
Germany and all those countries over there."
"You don't know when the U.S.
could be brought into it though. It could happen any day now."
"It's too close to Christmas,
Mom. I doubt anything will happen any time soon. What is it, November 24th
today?"
"That's right," Eve said
quietly.
"I thought so. I'm going to
enlist, you two. There's no stopping me. I want to see the world. I've seen our
tiny little town from every angle possible and I'm ready to move on. Dad would
wish me luck."
"If he were alive, yes, he
probably would," Cory's mother muttered sourly.
"So wish me luck on his behalf,
Mom."
Cory's mother rose to her feet
and silently left the room. Eve followed her.
* * *
"A few minutes before 8 AM on
Sunday, December 7th, Japanese carrier-based airplanes struck Pearl Harbor. In a raid lasting less than two hours, they sank four
battleships and damaged four more. I'm sure you're already fully aware of this
seeing as how it is currently December 11th. The attack brought the U.S. into the war on December
8th and I've heard that as of this morning, Germany and Italy have declared war
on the U.S. Yes, mother, you were right. I should have listened to you.
Unfortunately, I'm in one of the troops being sent over to fight in aerial
combat. I will write again as soon as I am able. Tell Eve and Matt that I love
them."
Cory's mother dropped the
letter to the table but remained silent herself. Matt was the first to speak.
"So dad has to fight that
Hitler guy?"
"Yes, Matt. He does." Eve put
her arm around her son.
* * *
Four long years passed with no
word from Cory except the occasional telegram that he was okay. Many events had
occurred, also, such as The Battle of Midway, The Casablanca Conference, The
Battle of Kursk, The Tehran Conference, The Normandy Invasion, The Liberation of
France, and many others.
All through the last four
months of 1944 and into 1945, the family heard nothing from Cory. They presumed
him to be dead but none of them lost hope.
September 4, 1945, Matt, seven
at the time, was sitting on the front porch of his grandmother's home, spending
another afternoon hoping his father would be home that day.
"Matt, you can come inside now.
It's starting to get dark." Eve kneeled beside him.
"When will he be home, Mom?"
"Soon, I hope. Since the war's
over, I don't think they need him anymore so he should be home any day." Despite
Eve's doubt, she continued to keep Matt's hope alive that Cory would be home.
"Eve, there's a phone call for
you," Cory's mother called from the kitchen.
"I'm on my way." Eve rose to
her feet and returned to the kitchen where Cory's mother stood. She had tears
glimmering on her cheeks. "Cory?" She nodded and Eve took the receiver and put
it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Radcliffe? Mrs. Cory
Radcliffe?"
"This is she."
"My name is Mr. Franklin J.
Galen, I'm the secretary of the U.S. Air Force. Your husband, Mr. Radcliffe,
hasn't been accounted for. We're very sorry, Mrs. Radcliffe." Eve's heart sank.
"Thank you for letting us know,
Mr. Galen. It's very much appreciated." Eve hung up the receiver and looked at
Cory's mother. "They haven't been able to find Cory."
Cory's mother sat in a chair,
as did Eve. Suddenly, Matt burst into the room.
"Why do you look so sad?"
"Honey, daddy's not coming
home."
"What are you talking about?
He's walking up the street right now!" Matt ran back to the porch with his
mother and grandmother hot on his heels. Sure enough, Cory was walking down the
street. He quickly broke into a run as his family ran toward him.
They met half way in a big hug.
"I don't understand," said Eve.
"The secretary of the Air Force just called and said you hadn't been accounted
for."
"At one of the final raids,
there were quite a few casualties and they gave up counting."
"So what was it like, dad?
Flying up there in the really big planes?"
Cory smiled and hugged his
family closer. "Let's just say it was the closest to God and Heaven that I've
ever been. Oh, and Mom, Dad says, ‘Hi!’”
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