The lulling sound of the water lapping against the seawall, the bright moon in the cloudless night, the warm, light breeze coming off the ocean, all made the moment so special. He wondered if his senses were heightened because of the setting or because he was with a woman he hoped to express his love for. It didn't matter, it was all so perfect as they strolled hand in hand along the seawall of Cavite Bay. Along the seawall were low lights, far enough apart as to only cast individual glows along the bay. The young couple, Michael Bradford and Mary Hayden, slowly came to the next light, and without a word from either of them, they stopped and gazed over the bay...
Pointing to a map on the wall of the location of the prison camp, Captain Frod said, "The drop zone is right here," putting his finger next to the camp. He added, "It's important we get as close to the camp as possible, but not on the camp." ... "Drop altitude between 400 and 500 feet, no higher. I don't want my men in the air too long; they can be shot and killed before hitting the ground if they are dropped at a higher altitude," said Ford ... "Oh... and ask your flight crews not to mention the low drop altitude to my men. They will have enough to think about without knowing that, too," said Captain Ford.
The lulling sound of the water lapping against the seawall, the bright moon in the cloudless night, the warm, light breeze coming off the ocean, all made the moment so special. He wondered if his senses were heightened because of the setting or because he was with a woman he hoped to express his love for. It didn't matter, it was all so perfect as they strolled hand in hand along the seawall of Cavite Bay. Along the seawall were low lights, far enough apart as to only cast individual glows along the bay. The young couple, Michael Bradford and Mary Hayden, slowly came to the next light, and without a word from either of them, they stopped and gazed over the bay. The lights were atop miniature lighthouses that were themselves atop the seawall. As Mary stood next to one of the lights, Michael could see how beautiful a woman she was. Thoughts of love, commitment, marriage, children, quickly flooded his mind. Wait a minute! Children? Michael had never thought about having children before; he wondered why he was thinking of them now. He realized it was just another of many thoughts of commitment he'd been guilty of frequently having the past few weeks. Though he had denied the reason before, he knew it was because of love; a combination of feelings, desires, dreams, acceptance, and a multitude of others; it was difficult to find descriptors of what "love" must be. He could barely admit to himself that he was in love, so how could he tell her? He was embarrassed to even admit to himself that he was, well, "giddy," as "giddy" as a high school boy with his first sweetheart, only more so now.
Michael wanted to yell to the world that he was in love, yet he was afraid to even whisper it to her; afraid that it might shatter the dreams he had that moment. Even though he felt he knew her so well, he did not know how she would react to his profession of love. His thoughts drifted back to earlier in the evening at the restaurant when a song by Bea Wain had played on the radio. The song was "Always and Always." How he wished it was the woman he loved singing it to him, how his "love" would tell him she would always be his.
As they stood silently, hand in hand, at the miniature lighthouse, Mary gently squeezed Michael's hand, and they looked into each other's eyes. As he smiled, he noticed she was gently crying. "No, this isn't right," he thought. Perhaps they are tears of joy; yes, they must be tears of joy! She took his other hand, then gently holding both, she looked into his eyes. The words she had spoken took a moment for him to register, then he realized his world was collapsing around him. So many thoughts flooded his mind, so many questions, yet he couldn't utter a word.
Mary was waiting for a response from Michael. She asked him if he had heard what she had said. He told her, "Yes," then repeated what she said moments before. She had told him she was moving back to the States. Michael asked Mary how she could do that; they had known each other for so long. He reminded her that they had attended the University of Michigan where they had met. He also reminded her how she had returned to Manila, in the Philippines, to be with her parents, and how he had followed her. He was now a local banker here, anticipating becoming wealthy in a few short years. Michael again asked Mary how she could move back to the States.
After what seemed to be an eternity of silence, Mary spoke. "I'm moving to Washington State." ...
