War Letters

Dear Mom,

                If you just knew how much I miss you; I miss the many hours we watched Hawaii Five-O and Criminal Minds together, the jokes, the sarcasm. I miss the long and private conversations that we will only have in the gray Montero with a Dismay plaque and with the name Mickey. I miss how the name of the car will change to Mini when we went off-road and the car will start skating, only because you never remembered to turn on the AWD. I miss how I will make a chocolate shake and I will offer you one but you will say that it will do you bad to the stomach. How you will take my glass and drink half of the liquid even thought I offered to prepare you one.

                I am sure that you are praying for me from Panama, in the house that never was too big but never too small. Nick is probably now only another small china pot on a shelf. I hope that things have be quiet and relaxing at home. I know you will not believe me but here it is also very calm. The only thing we do all day is to march around some woods. We have never seen an armed opponent. We only carry some assault riffles if something happens but the only reason they have us here in war is for us to walk around with guns to scare others. I know you heard in the news that Francisco died. I know you are scared that the same thing will happen to me but he didn’t die as you think. He got malaria because the idiot forgot to drink his pills. I drink the pills every day so I am not in danger of getting sick.

                Mom, I am sure you are scared of my safety but I can assure you that I am coming back in one piece and you are going to be so proud of me when I obtain a bunch of medals. After this is all over I am leaving the army and will become a lawyer, have a calm job. I appreciate that you are scared of my safety but I know how to take care of myself. I am not the boy that grabbed an umbrella and jumped down the wall thinking I will fall gently as Marry Popping.  In some months I will be sent back home for some vacation in which all the things that we used to do together will be resumed. We will go to the double decker in London, go to South Africa—I will ride and ostrich as I always wanted—, go to Alaska, we will do anything he always wanted to do. This is a promise and I will not break it.

Sincerely, Harmodio

                I chose to write to my mother because she is the closest person I am in my family. She is the person that I can tell everything and she will accept it. With my dad there are many things that I can’t tell him because he is very closed-minded. I can’t tell him ant idea I have because it is very likely that he will disprove it or tell me to do what I want—which means don’t do it. I have decided to not share a lot of information about what really is happening in the war but about the past or about the future. Also I tried to reassure Mom that there is no risk at all to try to make her feel better. Information as the real reason of why one of the soldiers died was hidden to try to convince my mother that there is no risk. Most information about the war is omitted. I know that my love ones are going to know that it is a lie but it is still better to omit such information.