What She Wanted

 "What is the one thing you want most, that you would do anything to get for just one day?"

This was the life-changing question that the hobo on the side of the street hollered frequently as he rang a small silver bell in his hand and also had printed on the billboard that he sat next to. The town saying was, 'if you give to someone in need, you also give to yourself'. Caroline walked over to the man and dropped some change in his collecting bucket. "Thank you, young lady," he smiled as he politely bowed and tipped his cap to her, showing off a shaggy head of black hair.

"You're very welcome!" she replied sweetly as she began to walk away, but faltered when the man waved after her, "One last thing, Miss!" he cried.

She turned to him in surprise, wondering if she had given him enough money. "What is the one thing you want most, that you would do anything to get for just one day?" he inquired almost desperately.

Caroline seemed to think deeply in the few moments she took before answering. She glanced at the man and replied timidly, "To have my father back from Afghanistan."

"That's a very nice wish," he smiled, "I hope he comes back safely."

"Oh, he's not coming back," she looked down to her feet, " He died in Afghanistan."

Caroline turned away from the man, once again, and shifted her bag that she carried on her shoulder, suddenly uncomfortable. It would never get easier to talk about her father. Her longing for him sometimes felt stronger than the longing for food when she was hungry or the longing for sleep when she was tired. Caroline wanted her father back and was slowly falling into a spiral of loneliness and self pity. She almost didn't notice when the man bowed his head and solemnly replied, "My condolences, Miss. It will all be better soon." He quickly went back to his happy character and smiled before adding, "Have a great evening!"

And with that, she was off, trudging through the snow in the cold winter evening. She arrived at her house, shortly after. Caroline entered her house and immediately kicked off her boots that were sopping wet from the snow. She trudged over to the couch with her equally soaked socks and sat down with an unintelligible sigh of breath. She peeled off her socks, throwing them across the room, grabbed a large heap of blankets from the arm of the furniture, and spread them across her legs. Caroline stretched her limbs one last time before cuddling into the mound of blankets on top of her and drifting off to sleep. Little did she know of what was to come in her near future.

Caroline stirred awake to the odd sensation of someone watching her. Her mother worked the graveyard shift at a local deli and wouldn't be home for at least another two hours. Her eyes fluttered open uneasily as she set her gaze on a blurry figure standing in front of her as she lay on the couch in the darkness. Had this person been watching her sleep??? Creepy!!! The thought sent shudders down her back and made the hairs on her neck stand on end. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house!" she panicked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and began to stand up.

"Caroline?" an oddly familiar, almost unbelieving voice came from the figure.

Her mind raced, heart thumped loudly in her ears, her breathing sped up, and eyes blinked rapidly as she started to comprehend her situation. What was going on here? She quickly turned on the lights, wondering why her imagination was being so cruel. The lights blinked on, showing that her imagination truly had nothing to do with the sight before her. She blinked and took in what she saw, going over every detail to make sure she was not mistaken. The military style, shaggy blonde hair. His. The bright, pleading, emerald green eyes. His. The sharp cheek bones, the square jaw, the gleaming white smile. All His. Even his stocky, tall build was the same. She stared unbelieving for a few more moments before simply asking, "Dad?"

"Hi, sweety," he smiled, still unsure as to whether he should hug his daughter or let her recover from the shocked look on her face.

His unsaid question was answered when she suddenly jumped into his arms yelling, "Dad!" with such a longing, loving voice that made his heart break into a million pieces.

"I missed you, Arrow" he whispered as he could still remember when the nickname was first created...

"Dad, how come you don't have a nickname for me," a young Caroline asked her father with a silly grin on her face.

"I never thought of one for you, I guess," he replied smirking, "I guess I could always call you Line."

"No, Dad," she giggled, " Line sounds silly."

She chuckled again before having a great idea, " How 'bout instead of calling me Line, you could call me Arrow. An arrow is just a line with a hat," she chuckled, but then continued almost angelically, " And arrows also help people by guiding them in the right direction."

Her father smiled proudly, happy for his smart, little girl, set on helping people with her kind heart, " Arrow it is then."

He sighed softly as the memory flashed across his eyes and he came back to the present, where he was caught in the tight embrace of his not so little girl. "Daddy," Caroline started to release her grip on her father, " I'm not trying to sound ungrateful, but why and how are you here?"

"Let's just say that a very special friend of mine is very kind and tends to work miracles." He paused, already knowing of his daughter's next response, but cut in before she could reply, " I don't know how he does it, but I do know that, yes, I am a spirit and that I also have one day with you." He turned to Caroline and gently wiped the oncoming tears from her cheeks, " I would like to spend this day with my daughter."

"Who? Why?" were her simple answers.

" His name is Rick. You have met him before. He only does this for very special people, ya' know," he gave her a playful wink, " And you just happen to be very special people."

" What are we going to do first?" she asked quickly, not wanting to take away from her short time with her father.

"You'll see," he replied with a grin as he proceeded to gather Caroline's coat and shoes for her as he began to open the door.

The day was filled with joy and laughter as the two reminisced with each other as if they had never been separated for several years, as if everything was back to normal. They were walking down the sidewalk when Caroline's father suddenly turned to her and said hurriedly, " Caroline, I want you to know that I am very happy to see you,"

"I'm very happy to see you too, Dad" she replied playfully with a grin.

He nodded, " Sweety, I need you to listen to me. I am going to leave very soon and I want you to know a few things before I go," he continued, growing more serious, " I am very happy where I am now in Heaven and I accept that I died in Afghanistan," he could see the tears start to rise in his baby girl's eyes. " I know that I died for a good cause and all that matters to me now, is that you know that, and that you stay safe and live a happy life without me."

"I know, Daddy." she said, the tears streaming down her face, "I love you."

"I love you, too." he replied with a loving smile as he began to fade away.

Caroline kept walking down the sidewalk, grinning with each step. She soon found herself on the sidewalk with the man she had met the day before. She walked up to him knowingly. He seemed startled as she suddenly wrapped her arms around his waist and again could not control the tears that streaked her face once more. He hugged her back before she uttered two little words with very big meaning, "Thank you."

The End