The Rose
by S.I. Kishor
John
Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and
studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central
Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he
didn't, the girl with the rose.
His
interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library.
Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the
words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft
handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the
front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis
Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New
York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to
correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World
War II. During the next year and one month the two grew to know each
other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile
heart. A romance was budding.
