Prisoner

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

"He's our great Grandpa, Rin!"

"Great great Grandpa!"

"You got it wrong again!"

"Rin! Len! Stop yelling! Great Grandpa's ears will hurt!" Little feet stomped around downstairs. His great grandchildren were visiting again.

"Great Grandpa!" the little boy, Len, called.

"Len, shush! Great Grandpa will be upstairs in the reading room like he always is!" That was Miku, the oldest, and most bossy.

"Why is Grandpa always in the reading room, Miku onee-chan?" Rin, the youngest, and most innocent.

"He likes to read stories."

"Miku 'nee-chan! We should ask Grandpa to tell us a story!"

"Len, he won't like that!" Miku said loftily as all three of them burst through the door.

"Grandpa!" Rin ran forward for a hug. He gave her one.

"Great Grandpa, will you tell us a story?" Len asked.

"Len!" Miku thwacked him on the head. Great Grandpa smiled. It had been a while since he had smiled.

"I'd be happy to." They all cheered at sat down in front of me, leaning forward eagerly. "One day, some place, a prisoner fell in love with a girl outside the fence. She threw paper airplane letters over the fence, and went home. She would always come back the next day, take a letter from him, and give one in return. But one day, her letter said that she had to go away. Where or why was never said. She didn't come back after that day."

"When it was time for the prisoners' daily inspection, the guards found the letters the girl had sent. Contact with the outside world was not allowed in this prison camp. The general ripped up the letters. The general ripped up the prisoner's precious memories of that girl. And he was angry. He hit the general. That led him to be imprisoned in a tiny room with no light. He would have no food, no water, no company. He was to die a slow death in solitude. And as he lay there, dying in the quiet, he wished. He wished that he knew the girls name."

"As time passed, the prisoner was rescued. He grew from a boy to a man, married a woman, and had children. But no one knew that he still loved the girl outside the fence. The end." The children sat still for a moment or two, then Rin spoke up.

"But Grandpa, that can't be a good story. There wasn't a happy ending."

"Then, let this story tell you that not all of them have happy endings... I believe it's time for you three to head home."

"Rin, Len, go downstairs and get your coats and shoes on. I'll be down in a minute." The two tried to argue with their older sister, but she shooed them out of the room.

"Great Grandpa... was that a true story?" Miku asked slowly. Great Grandpa nodded. "And was it you who were the prisoner?"

"I thought you might figure it out. Now, you should hurry on home. I'm sure your parents will be waiting for you." Miku nodded, and left the room. She felt sorry for her great grandfather. She thought it was one of the worst things in the world not to be with the one you loved.

"Miku 'nee-chan! What took you so long?" Len whined.

"I wanted to ask great Grandpa who the prisoner was." Miku motioned for them to follow her, and they left the house.

"Who was is, Miku onee-chan?" Rin asked as she took Miku's outstretched hand.

"Someone he knew very well."