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Trees For Miles

12/9/2025

“Look, I did all your laundry except for the dry cleaning stuff. You can handle that at home. Listen to me. Home. You lucky dog, going home for Christmas.” Joe smiled, but tears were forming in the corners of his eyes.

“I’ll get you guys on a screen call at the USO, and you can meet my family. How does that sound?” Matt tried to situate his sling, but he just couldn’t get comfortable.

“Sounds like a plan, Matt.” Major Melrose said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ll second that.” Gunny Kohn said. “Get home. Get better. Get back. Have a Merry Christmas in the middle somewhere.”

“Consider it done, Gunny.”

The flight medic took Matt’s bags from Joe. “Let’s get you seated, Corporal. I’ll take good care of him, Marines.” He snapped a sharp salute to the major.

“See that you do.” Melrose returned the salute and led his team away.

“Okay, first things first, Devil Dog. It may be hotter than a snake’s belly button around here, but we’re going someplace where the word winter actually applies.” He set the bags down and opened the duffel. “If we’re any kind of lucky, your friend packed what we need right on top.”

“Sorry, I don’t know your rank insignia.”

“I’m a Senior Airman, but you can just call me Adam if you want.”

“Sounds good. I’m Matt.”

“Bingo. Just what we need.” He pulled two items out of the bag and locked it back up. “Okay, Matt, let’s get you ready for the flight. It’s actually colder than Germany right now, and we’ll be up in the air for about eight hours.”

“So, we’ll reach the hospital around four?”

“Closer to eight. We’re crossing some time zones on the way.” Adam shouldered the bags and led Matt through the gantry to the plane. “Don’t worry. It’s a C-17, not a TARDIS.”

“Figures an Air Force guy would be into sci-fi.”

“If I was super into it, I’d have transferred to the Space Force. I like British TV, mostly.”

“Yeah, they like their mystery shows. I’ll give them that.” Matt followed him to a row of seats.

“You okay with a window seat?”

“I’d prefer it.”

“My man.” Adam smiled and helped Matt get situated. “I’m going to stow this for you. Anything you need before I do? Maybe a novel or an MP3 player or something?”

“Thanks, but no. The meds are making me sleepy. I’ll probably just zone out the whole time.”

“Solid plan, Matt.” Adam took a deep breath. “You want to do the Texas Two-Step?”

“Huh?”

“You do the tough Marine thing where you say you’re not a baby and you don’t need a blanket, and I do the jaded med-tech thing where I tell you that you’re more a patient than a Marine and you’re going to be sorry if you don’t take it.”

Matt shook his head and nestled into the seat. “Nope. Tuck me in, Mom. It’s nap time.”

Adam smiled and pulled a heated blanket from a compartment overhead. “You’re my kind of Marine, Matt. I ought to have you do a PSA for us.”

“I ain’t that nice, Adam. If you get me around other Leathernecks, I’ll deny everything.” He closed his eyes and smirked as the airman draped the warm blanket over him.

“Ha ha, fair enough. Full disclosure here. That arm of yours is likely to throb and ache a bunch. We’ve got a pain management schedule for you, but if it gets bad, let somebody know.”

Matt was already out cold.

As with years and decades before, Gary was out in the cold. Just his tried and proven uniform options, a block’s worth of mail in his satchel and enough grit to grind granite into flour.

‘Do something else? Why would I ever?’

He was grateful for a crisp, clear day at last. It was cold enough to make his teeth hurt, but at least he wasn’t being scourged with damp ice and soaking rain.

‘This is who I am. This is what I do.’

All the familiar sights and smiling faces warmed his heart as much as the steady pace he kept. Families who came and went. Lifers whose kids he watched grow and move out. The constant movement kept him lean and fit.

‘Picture me sitting at a keyboard, doing God knows what.’ He shook his head as he slid envelopes through the slot in the Martins’ front door. He knew he’d be feeling that in his knees this evening, but it was a good excuse to take a nice hot bath.

‘This is what I feel called to do.’ He descended the Elbergs’ front stairs to pull a uey onto the Sandlers’. The middle step was alarmingly spongy. He stepped over it and made a mental note to file an actual note.

“Hi, Gary.” Millie Sandler opened the door.

“Hey, Millie. Nice day, huh?”

“What a lovely change from all that sleet and rain. How’s Teddy?”

“Growing like a weed. I think he’s pushing a new tooth.”

“God bless him. What an adorable boy.”

“Thanks. Say, did you take notice of that middle stair? I’m a little worried for you. Do you think we could get Nick to put a new board on that?”

“He’s out of town on a hunting trip with his friends. I think Missy’s husband might be available. I’ll call her.”

“Please do, Millie. I’d hate to think of you taking a fall because of a bad step.”

“Thank you for reminding me. I meant to call her, but it’s like when you go into the kitchen and forget what you went in for.”

“Ha ha, I do that all the time. It usually results in me having a piece of pie. Abby made a real humdinger. I’m going to wind up looking like Santa Claus, and I’ll have to start delivering your mail through the chimney instead of the front door. Right?”

She put a hand over her mouth as she giggled. “You’re a card, Gary. I’m going to call Missy right now so I don’t forget again.”

“Okay. See you, Millie.” He stepped over the drooping stair on his way down. ‘Boy, I hope she calls Missy. A broken ankle or hip would probably be the end of her.’

“Hey, Matt, we’re about to land. Hang tight. I’ll be back to unbuckle you, and we’ll get you on the shuttle to the hospital.”

Matt nodded as he looked out the window at something he hadn’t seen in over a year. The base twinkled like some futuristic city nestled in a dark, ancient forest. Fir trees, not the kind you put on your desk to remind you of home, actual fir trees in their thousands spreading off into the distance. Had they skipped Germany and flown straight through to Pennswald?

The engines gunned as the plane touched down. The armatures around the jet engines closed behind the exhaust to reverse the thrust and slow the plane. It was a modern marvel, but he was captivated by the expanse of trees.

Not sand. Not dust. Not wind-sculpted rock faces.

Actual grass. Lakes and ponds. Creeks and rivers. Trees for miles.

‘Merry Christmas, Corporal Jozsa.’ He winced at the ache that came from trying to shift in his seat. “Hey, Adam. You around?”

“Be right with you, big guy.”

“Hey, is it safe to hit the head? I don’t think I’m going to last through the shuttle ride.”

“Stay put until we’re done taxiing. I’ll take you back as soon as the ground crew sets the chocks. Fair?”

“Roger that. Might as well distract me if you can. What’s the deal here?”

Adam continued making his rounds with the other patients. “Like I said, we’ll get you on the shuttle to the hospital. They’ve got your paperwork, and they’ll get you squared away. Probably an x-ray and what all before they put you up for the night.”

“That sounds alright. I guess I’ll have to buzz my folks and let them know I’m on the way.”

“Don’t sweat it, Matt. Your major will have made the call as soon as he got back to his office. Don’t worry about a thing. We do this for a living. Right?”

“I hear you. Any guesses how soon I’ll be stateside?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Matt. I wear a stethoscope, not a wizard hat.”

“What’s this about an explosion?” Gary pulled a blanket up over his legs and raised his footrest.

“One of our bases got attacked by local militants somewhere in Africa yesterday.” Abby put a coaster down for his mug of cocoa.

“Yesterday? How’d I miss it?”

“You were worn out.” She sat Teddy on his lap.

“Was anybody hurt?”

“I don’t know. I hope not, but if there was an explosion…”

He cradled the sleeping child in his lap and flipped a corner of the blanket over him. “I’ll keep them in my prayers and Mrs. Sandler, too.”

“What’s the matter with Mrs. Sandler? She’s so sweet. I’d hate for anything to happen to her.”

“She’s got a bad stair, and she keeps forgetting to call her kids to have someone fix it. If it doesn’t get repaired, she’s likely to fall right through.”

“Maybe you should call Nick to be sure he gets the message.”

“He’s out hunting. She was going to call Missy.”

“Oh, let me check.” Abby pulled her phone out and began pecking away.

“Faith in action?”

“Prayers are good, but sometimes you just need to talk to people.” She set the phone down. “Just like you did. If you hadn’t stopped to ask her about it, she could have gotten really hurt.”

“That’s part of the reason I’m resistant to retiring. I don’t think God’s done with me. When the time is right, I’ll step away.”

“I guess you had a good day at work today?”

“It’s definitely better when I’m not taking an ice-bucket shower all day long. I’m used to being out in every condition God has ever brought to Pine Hollow, but it’s not as easy anymore.”

“If it was easy, anybody could do it. I think you have to be really organized to do what you do.”

“Among other things. I can’t even imagine what else I would do that could give me such a sense of fulfillment and peace.”

Abby knelt beside the chair and ran a finger over Teddy’s cheek. He stirred and nestled back into Gary’s lap. “If it gives you fulfillment and peace, why did you have a panic attack? That doesn’t come out of nowhere, Dad.”

“It was just a chain of unrelated problems that all landed at once. Fulfillment and peace is most of the time, but this was an extreme exception.”

“You were ruminating.”

“I do that a lot, but it usually resolves while I’m walking my loops. By the time I get back to the truck to refill my bag, whatever I was grinding on is over.”

“Unless it’s some guy with green eyes like Teddy’s. Dad, you really have to let that go. When he turns up is when this all gets fixed.”

“Fixed?” He reached for his cocoa.

“When Teddy’s dad turns up, God will make everything right.”

Gary closed his eyes and breathed deeply before taking a drink. He let the rich chocolate linger a moment on his tongue and drank it down. “I don’t know, hon.”

“I know it, Dad. I know it.”

“The guy’s been out of the picture the whole time, Abby. If he knows about Teddy and is staying away, he’ll probably never turn up. If he doesn’t know about Teddy, it’s going to be quite a shock. Guys can respond pretty badly to that kind of news.”

She scooped Teddy up and held him to her chest. “Do you think I haven’t prayed about this until my knees were ready to break, Dad? Well, I have, and I know that when his dad comes, it will not be like that.” She hurried off to her bedroom and slammed the door.