Prologue

This is my first submission and attempt at giving my writing skills a challenge.

A big thanks goes out to

ghostdaddy27

for editing my work and the advice about the story.

On that note, Enjoy. Any constructive comments, positive and negative, are appreciated.

*****

Capt. Johnathan Saunders sat bolt upright in his bed when he heard someone knocking on the front door of his one story ranch house. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he tossed the heavy comforter on his queen-sized bed and made his way to the door. A delivery woman held out her signing pad.

"Good morning, sir," she said, pleasantly. "Please sign for your package."

He silently signed and took the package. It was addressed to him, sure enough, but it had no return address. Shrugging, he went into the kitchen and started up his coffee maker. While it was working, he grabbed some granola cereal and sat down to eat after he had enough coffee for a cup.

John reached for his cell phone that had been charging overnight on the table, unplugged it and ran through his messages. He saw a couple more condolence messages and deleted those, unread. Next, he ran through his electronic agenda. He saw that there was only one thing happening soon, an interview with a local farmer about helping out around his farm in two days.

He didn't really need the work because of his medical retirement and property income he had but he tried to keep working hard to keep the dreams and personal demons at bay with exhaustion. The work the farmer was offering was interesting since John had never even lived on a farm, let alone worked on one. He was also attracted to the long hours mentioned in the advertisement. The advertisement also mentioned using tractors and other heavy equipment. That didn't bother him either as he had driven lots of heavy vehicles in the Marines.

His phone rang. He checked the display and saw it was the farmer renting the land he had bought after his discharge.

"Hello?'

"Hey, John, it's Maggie. Sorry to call you so early but I wanted to let you know about something."

Maggie Thurston had inherited the farm next to his and had wanted more land for her crops. John hadn't had a problem renting the land to her and had given her a very good rate, in turn she helped maintain the land. She was an attractive blond with a very strong, athletic figure from the years of farm work.

"What's up?" he replied.

"I was down by the south end of the fields and there's a section of fence that's broken. I've already fixed it but I thought you should know."

"Alright, let me know how much it cost you and I'll take it out of next month's rent."

She laughed. "Don't worry about that. I just used some wire to hold up the beams and I get that pretty cheap down at the co-op."

"If you're sure?"

"Tell you what, if you want to keep things even, I could use a hand later this week hauling grain down to the co-op."

He smiled. "Sure. What time?"

"Friday. I'll meet you at my house around noon if that works for you."

"That's fine. I'll see you then," he said. "Now I'm gonna get going and finish my breakfast."

"Ok, have a good meal." She hung up.

He liked Maggie though he was careful not to get too close. He wasn't ready for that. She seemed to know that and she kept her distance but John had a suspicion that she wanted more. Maggie always seemed to be coming up with ways to get him around to help out. John didn't mind of course, she was good company and had helped him recover from bouts of depression with her razor-sharp wit and sense of humor. Sighing, he turned his attention to the package.

The package was perhaps six inches long, deep and wide. It made no noise when he shook it. Paying attention to the 'Fragile' sticker, he gingerly used a knife to slice through the packing tape and opened the box.

Aside from the never-too-sufficiently-damned packing peanuts, there was a small orb and what appeared to be a letter. He picked up the small orb and examined it. All over its surface, there were beautiful geometric and flowing designs. On what he assumed was the top, there was a small indentation that the designs connected to.

He noticed the coffee was done, fixed himself a cup and sat at the small table. Setting the orb down in his lap, he picked up the letter, opened it and read with a stony expression as he recognized his wife's beautiful hand-writing.

To my loving Jarhead,

To quote an old cliché, if you're reading this letter, then I am no longer with you. Please do not grieve for me. The years we spent together were the happiest of my life. Who knew I'd find my soulmate in the middle of the desert? I found this thing on our last deployment and thought you might like it. I know you love puzzles and tinkering with things. I hope you like it. I had hoped to give to you as an anniversary gift after we got back home.

One last thing, I never told you my biggest wish. My Wish is that you find happiness once again and live life to the fullest.

I love you with all my heart and soul.

-Annette

For six months, he had buried his grief, but as he read the letter, the dam began to crack and all his buried tears fell as silently as rain. He closed his eyes as he hung his head and silently sobbed. He never noticed as the tears fell onto the orb, it began to glow. Slowly, the indentation opened like a camera lens and pale lavender smoke poured out and around him as blissful unconsciousness pulled him under.