It has been two and a half years since Daniel enlisted in the army. Over the course of that time, Daniel and I have exchanged many letters, several that I have not sent him because they . . . Those letters are from my heart, expressing some things to him, but I am not ready to let him know what that is yet. God is still working on the both of us, and at times I feel that if I were to let Daniel know those things, I would be going against the friendship we have formed.

I am at the post office, mailing a letter to my mother. She is trying to make plans to come down next week and visit, with her fiancée. It is kind of weird to think that my mom is getting married after so many years of being alone.

"I would like two books of stamps, please," I say to the girl at the counter. "And an additional stamp for this letter."

I place my letter on the counter and start rummaging through my bag for my wallet.

"Coming right up," the girl replies, tapping at the computer screen, but she is staring at me with intent eyes. "Oh, now I know who you are! You are Heather Diaz. We went to high school together."

"Really?" I ask, examining her, trying to spark my recognition.

She is a very tall, well shaped young woman. Her ash-blond hair is in a pony-tail, but it still comes down to her waist.

"You do look familiar, but I am unable to put a name to your face. Please forgive me."

"That's alright," she says, shaking her head. "$12.50; we rarely spoke, so I do not expect you to remember me. I'm Kathy; I asked to sign your initials on a note to some hottie."

"Oh, wow!" I say, smiling. "How are you? You look fantastic!"

Kathy smiles, "So do you," she nods once, clearing her throat as she puts the stamp on my letter and tosses it into a box behind her. "I am doing well, I guess. I wish I could say the same for you. Word on the street is that you have had quite a crazy turn of events after high school. I heard little about it, but I am glad to see that you are walking without any trouble."

"Yeah," I nod, "It was a major wake up call. God granted me mercy and I am grateful He did."

"Daniel Harden was witness, right?" Kathy asks, turning the subject down a different route. "I cannot imagine what he must have been thinking at that moment. Risking his last moments of life like that."

"He was at peace in the end," I explain, ignoring the fact that she might be thinking Daniel is dead. "Why God allowed that to happen is a little bit of a mystery, but slowly it has been revealed and everything turned out according to God's perfect plan."

"Fate just kept trying to have the two of you cross paths."

I nod; this conversation, by no means, will go where I am trying to turn. Kathy does not want to hear it.

"Well, it was good to see you," I say finally. "God bless you."

I start walking towards the exit, stopping just before reaching the door. I am not planning to come back for a while. I may as well take this chance to check my mailbox. I turn and head over to the hundreds of mailboxes, all lined in numeral order, along the walls of the post office.

I have only one letter, and the return address is from the army base, where Daniel is stationed. The envelope does not have Daniel's name on it, and I am not expecting his next letter for a while. I sent him a letter just last week. . . My mind is going to the worse case result.

"Oh no," I whisper to myself.

I put the letter in my bag and start heading home.

As I pass by Daniel's parents' house, three blocks away from home, I stop. I look at the front door for a while, contemplating whether to keep going, or to knock. I pull out the letter; after looking at it for a few moments, I approach the door.

"Heather," Sarah says in surprise when she answers the door, but she is smiling. "I was just going to call you. I wanted to-"

"This just came," I say, cutting her off, holding out the letter. "My mind is going to the worst-case scenario and I don't understand why it came to me and not to your parents."

"Okay, don't get all worked up. It is probably from Daniel and he forgot to put his name in the return address."

I cannot help smiling. "Why do you always know what to say?" I ask as I enter the house.

"It's the Harden family charm," Sarah replies, winking. "Open the letter; I am sure Daniel has something extra interesting to tell you."

I exhale and slit the envelope, taking out the letter. I do not even finish reading the first sentence when I let the letter fall to the floor. Cringing in distress, I lean against the wall as I sit on the floor, hiding my face in my hands. Sarah picks up the letter and starts to read it aloud.

"Miss Diaz," her voice breaks, but she keeps reading. "We regret to inform you that as of August nineteenth, at fourteen-hundred hours, Lt. Daniel Harden has not been sighted, nor has he made any appearance on base. We have conducted a search party, but as of this moment, Lt. Daniel Harden has been classified as MIA. We shall be contacting his family personally."

"Why?" I ask, repeating the same question I did when I first learned that Daniel had enlisted in the army. "Why did he have to go? Why is this happening?"

I feel Sarah sitting next to me as she takes me hands.

"Let's say a prayer for him," she whispers; I nod and she starts to pray. "Heavenly Father, we come before you to lift up a special prayer for Daniel. You see him, and You know where he is, Lord. Only You have the power to bring him home. Protect Daniel with Your mighty hand, O God. I pray that You would come in this moment and relieve us of this distress we feel . We know that You are in control, and we ask that You would give us peace. It is in Your Son's precious name that we ask these things, amen."

I keep my eyes closed, meditating on Sarah's prayer, and repeating it over in my mind.

"Feel a little better?"

I nod slowly, my eyes still closed.

"God is watching over Daniel," Sarah says, "and He will bring him home."

"I know," I whisper, not trusting my voice. "I am just in shock. Stress-paralyzed, if you will."

"Be at peace, my sister. I know that the Lord has heard our prayer. Now, what we must do is trust and believe that He will bring it to pass."

I attempt to smile, but the tears begin to fall. Sarah pulls me into a hug. How is she managing to remain so calm? And Daniel is her blood relation. I am just an occupant of space, one who can't seem to stay away.

"Let's take a walk," Sarah goes on as she releases me from her arms. "My mom always says that fresh air lifts the downed spirits of a grave heart."

I nod and rise to my feet. Sarah smiles softly and wipes my cheeks with the hem of her sleeve. I offer a pained smile and follow her to through the house to the back door.