"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start...
Anyone can start from now and make a new ending."
-Carl Bard
*
Scores of shimmering stars illuminated the neglected front yard of Gunnery Sergeant Ryker Masella. It was another sleepless night for Ryker, and he found keeping indoors while enduring insomnia insufferable. Outside Ryker was free to meander around their ranch style home and stroll along their dead end street. Ever since he returned from his deployment in Iraq, Ryker slept only a few hours at a time and woke up in a cold sweat, still in the grip of a night terror he wouldn't remember. Plagued with depression and forever irritable, the summer air of South Carolina soothed Ryker and he preferred to lie on the front porch, resting in his favorite faded purple lawn chair.
Sleep deprivation only added to Ryker's mounting personal problems. His wife Angel, lost interest in love making after their second daughter was born, and when their third daughter arrived, Angel seemed to have lost her desire for him completely. Ryker lately had found his life intolerable, and sex was the only act he could take pleasure in.
Ryker leaned back in his creaky lawn chair and closed his eyes for a moment. His life hadn't panned out like he envisioned. He had spent most of his career overseas and became increasingly estranged from his family during the endless touring and training. Angel stopped being his lover and became his roommate. Angel had been Ryker's high school sweetheart. Ryker remembered sneaking in her window at night, and during the day seeing one another at school and burning inside with fiery passion. What happened to the passion? Ryker's eyes burned with tears and he selflessly swallowed his hurt. Eventually, he drifted off into a troubled sleep.
Saturday morning arrived and around noon Ryker decided to drive out to the Beaufort base to pick up his dry cleaning. After he paid for his uniforms and was driving home Ryker noticed an electric sign just beyond the base that read "Pandora's Petals" in neon pink. It must be a new floral shop he mused, and on an impulse Ryker decided to pick up a dozen roses for Angel. Just outside the shop a bulldog with a spiked collar and menacing growl tried to chase Ryker away. Ryker bolted inside the small shop and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
"Can I help you?" a soft voice asked from the other side of the murky room. Ryker squinted and saw a figure walking towards him. An attractive woman emerged into the dimmed lights and offered her hand to Ryker. She had a smile like a string of pearls and wore a feminine blouse paired with a longish, gray skirt which hugged her full figure. Ryker admired her chestnut hair which was pulled up into a smooth and elegant chignon.
The woman introduced herself as Nettie, and again asked him how she could help him. Nettie wasn't just attractive, her sculpted cheekbones and high forehead gave her an exotic appearance. Ryker had strong Italian features and stood at nearly six feet tall. His jet black hair was beginning to show silver flecks and was cut in a severe high and tight. He never thought he was much to look at, and never knew what Angel saw in him. Angel! Ryker reminded himself that's why he stopped at the florist shop in the first place, to buy flowers for Angel.
"A dozen white roses..." Ryker's voice trailed off.
Nettie smiled and walked into the back where the flowers were kept refrigerated. Ryker couldn't help but to glance down at her legs. Black hose covered her rounded calves and Ryker swallowed hard. There was something about Nettie that was familiar but Ryker couldn't put his finger on it. Her face was ageless and her attire seemed so 1950's to him. Her pretty lips were painted a deep red hue similar to the shade worn by his favorite pin up girl, Bettie Page. Nettie returned with a long black flower box and set it down on the otherwise bare counter. Ryker noticed OO-RAH had been carved into the counter top and thought it strange, then Nettie spoke again.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" asked Nettie, her eyebrows were raised and she tilted her head to one side.
Ryker was confused, was she referring to the roses or the unusual black box?
"Yes." he replied, not knowing what else to say.
"Then perhaps you could assist me in the back, I need your help if we are going to finish filling your request."