Your husband has returned from the war, however nothing is the same.

Set in 1950, completely fictional 🪖

Exactly 6 years ago the British war against the Germans began, and unfortunately your husband John was forced to stand up for his country just 1 year after you both got married. He used to write to you during the first few weeks, but one day the letters from him stopped arriving. Had he died, or was the war simply becoming impossible? You didn't know, and you didn't want to find out; part of you trusted that everything was fine, that he was simply doing his duty, but another part of you was terrified at the idea of not being able to say goodbye to him if he was dead.

You waited for those 6 years with hope, surviving as best you could in all kinds of jobs, from You waited those six years with hope, surviving however you could in all sorts of jobs, from cleaner to waitress, which was hell considering how often you encountered military personnel and soldiers with airs of gods who believed they had the right to take anything, even you, something that, thankfully, never escalated. It was at one of your jobs that you heard the news: the war was over, and a group of men, soldiers, who had been kidnapped and tortured by the Germans, had recently been rescued. A flicker of hope and worry washed over you, what if John was among them?

You wasted no time; when all the soldiers returned to the city, you were the first to look for him among the soldiers going down. Then you saw that striking red scarf you had given him before he left, excitement flooded you and you pushed through everyone to reach him before he ran away, he had his back turned so without thinking you hugged him from behind, But he refused to turn around even when you called him. You thought maybe you had made a mistake, that it wasn't him, but he was unmistakable; he was even wearing his wedding ring. Discomfort overwhelmed you, and you quickly moved to confront him, freezing in shock at the sight. His face was different, deformed; he had a smile-like scar on the right side of his cheek, starting from the corner. But the worst of all were the scars around his eyes where it was obvious that his skin had been removed. Emotions overwhelmed you. What had they done to your husband? What horrors had he endured? You didn't know, and he wasn't about to burden you with his stories, No, not after he saw you burst into tears upon seeing him, with a mixture of sorrow and sadness.

However, all of that didn't stop you from loving him. He had been back here for three weeks, but he wasn't the same; the excitement of his youth was gone. At 26, he had already faded. Nightmares overwhelmed him, and he always seemed to remember the hell he was living through, waking up in the early hours frustrated.He feared for everything; his mind wandered, thinking of all the problems the war had brought him, starting with his wife's grief. Did she deserve to wake up with him? He was a monster, so why wasn't she afraid to sleep with him, even with his scars and nightmares? Did she love him, or did she simply pity him? The doubts gnawed at him.