Entry for Category 2: Prompt word RIBBON Tie A Yellow Ribbonby The Bard of New MexicoThe young red-headed soldier wrapped his arms around his sobbing wife. Next to them, a little boy and a little girl cried and fidgeted, holding on tightly to their daddy's legs. “Don't go, Daddy,” their little voices begged him. He looked down at the kids, his wife still clinging to him. “I have to. They need me.” He turned to his wife. “It's okay, honey, you and the kids don't have to come to the base to see me off.” “Y-you don't want us there?” his wife stammered through her tears. “ Of course I want you there.” He didn't explain further, but hoped that his wife would understand that he didn't want to upset them more. He shrugged off his wife's embrace, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a yellow ribbon. “Now guys,” he said to the kids. “You know those old oak trees? Tie this around one and we'll take it off when I get back.”
“That song was about a guy coming home from prison, you know,” his wife whispered. The soldier half smiled and marveled that his wife could say something so random at a time like that. He left his wife's arms and whistled Tony Orlando's “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” as he strolled down the oak-lined lane.
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