<div class="floatleft">(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S8nWEwDHoLo/VuctPJcFklI/AAAAAAAAZzE/LH_CQD1cWsM-36_em_H4CNSfKPtAAs7xg/s1600/tumblr_napkpgrAjV1qb647qo4_1280.jpg)<br/></div><br/>There once was a woman that the broad-shouldered infantryman had loved.  She was a solemn and peaceful woman with profound brown eyes whose inner strength had carried him past things that he longed to forget.  But she was gone now.  She died on a rainy day in April and Jim buried her body underneath an old cypress tree.  As he walked away from her grave, Jim could not help but feel that his love had killed her.  Because if the two had not loved each other, then the man with the rifle would not have tortured her and left her to die in a pool of her blood and intestines.<br/><br/>Jim had lost everything.  And just when he had obtained a small reprieve from hell, the world took that, too.  The world was dark now.  It was unfriendly and ugly.  And although he could recognize that Arlene was beautiful, it had not struck him truly until she kissed him.   When she kissed him, he froze immediately.  Arlene's touch was warm and sweet.  He could feel her energy.  He could feel her presence.  It was aromatic and electric and tantalizing.  It was then that Jim also realized that he had felt so alone.<br/><br/>"... I..." Jim started, but then stopped.  He didn't really know what to say.  His mind was reeling, but he also felt like he couldn't think.  He also couldn't focus on anything that Arlene said.  Her mouth was moving, but he could not hear anything.  His ears were burning and he could feel the veins on his forehead pulsing.<br/><br/>Jim wanted desperately to kiss her.  He wanted to grab her face with his rough hands and kiss her right there on the bow of the ship.  He could think of nothing else.  Every fiber of his being ached when he didn't.  He just stared at Arlene in melancholy.<br/><br/>"Please don't do that again," Jim said softly, sounding as if he was not quite sure that he meant it.