It was the fourth of July and preparations were in full swing. The town had hosted a parade earlier and every business had a flag outside. The radio played patriotic tunes all day and children ran around in red, white, and blue outfits. Housewives all over the city displayed flags and baked special apple pies in honor of the holiday. June Adams was no exception to the rule. She had hung a flag in her front window and was just pulling a pie out of the oven when the door bell rang.

"Julia!" she called. "That's probably Donny!"

"Coming!" she heard her daughter reply, then her quick footsteps running to the door. June put the pie on a cooling rack and looked at the table again to make sure it was presentable. It was good enough she figured and went to greet Donny.

He and Julia were in the foyer talking. At her entrance, he held out a box to her.

"Thank you so much for inviting me. I brought some rolls. I can't cook, so they're from the bakery down the street."

"That's fine. Most of this meal is from there. Thank you so much for bringing them. Come on in and sit down," she told him. During their courtship, her husband hadn't brought anything when he had come to dinner. As she led the way into the dinning room, she whispered to Julia, "he's a keeper."

"Ma!" Julia's face was red. June shrugged.

"I've just got to grab a bowl for the rolls, but you guys can sit down," she said when they reached the dining room. The couple sat down and June returned a moment later. They dug into the meal before them. June wasn't known for being the best cook in the world, but the good company made the food taste like it was baked by a professional French chef. They talked until the sun went down in the sky, each one of them thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"So this guy is trying to tell me that-" Donny was telling a story when a loud 'bang' cut him off.

"What was that?" June wondered. Julia got up and looked out the window. Another bang rang out.

"Oh," she laughed. "It was just the city setting off some fireworks. Donny, what-" She stopped talking when she saw Donny. His head was hunched over his plate and his hand was gripping his fork tightly. Tremors ran through his body. "Donny?" Julia asked conceredly. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He flinched. "Talk to me." A sob escaped him. Every time a firework went off he shook. Julia looked at her mom with a pleading look. June nodded and left the room. "Donny, I'm here. Just take a deep breath." She heard him inhale. "Now let it out." After doing that for another minute, she said, "Talk to me."

"I'm back there." His words rushed out of his mouth followed by a shaky inhale. "I'm in the trench and they're all there, dying and I can't do anything and-" Then, he was overtaken by another sob. With every bang of the fireworks, Donny flinched as if he'd been shot.

Julia got up. "I'm still here Donny, I'm just going to close the windows and turn on the radio, ok?" She quickly went about her task and made sure the radio was on at full volume. The soothing sounds if Mozart didn't completely hide the sounds of the fireworks, but it muted them a bit. Meanwhile, Donny had dropped to the ground on his hand and knees. Julia rushed towards him. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder and pulled him towards her so his head was resting on her neck. She stroked his hair gently, talking to him all the while. "Just breathe, Donny. The fireworks will be over soon. I'm right here. Stay with me." They sat there on the floor like that, Julia holding him, for a half an hour. Finally, the bombardment of the fireworks stopped. A minute later, Donny raised his head from her shoulder.

"Can I use your piano?" he asked. His eyes were red from crying and he looked exhausted.

"Of course." Julia watched as he made his way into the next room. As he played, she cleared the table. After she was done, she stood in the kitchen, alone, listening to Donny. She wanted to go to him, take this pain away from him, but she knew that wasn't possible, that he would carry this burden the rest of his life and all she could do was watch powerless to stop it.

I stand here helpless, my arms extended, knowing full well, darling, your war's not ended...