She sat in his room awaiting his return. At first the bed seemed a perfect seat, but the sheets were all tucked in, the pillows fluffed and the comforter folded. It would be a shame to disturb such order. Sitting on this bed was the teddy bear she had given him. Its left eye was slightly askew and she smiled, remembering how it happened.

So she took the chair in the corner of the room, under a large color poster of a plane. He loved planes. She remembered one birthday when she had given him a model plane set and four small glass jars of paint. With a tube of glue, a cup of water, two brushes, a plate of cookies, and two tall glasses of milk, they set out to assemble it.

He accidentally glued the wing on upside-down and by the time she noticed, the glue was already dry. He said it didn't matter; he was sure it would fly just fine anyway. She glanced up. Attached to a short length of fishing line, the plane flew. Its propeller was missing. As they were putting the finishing touches on the plane his dog came to visit, and swallowed it in one lick. Billy was his name. He was fascinated by the plane, and would sit under it wagging his tail. Perhaps he wanted the rest of it. Billy now rested in the backyard under the shade of a weeping willow; he died an old but happy dog. She got up and walked over to the window. The tree was still there, still weeping in the wind.

That tree used to be their hideout. Before his dad died he had built a tree house. It was their castle. She was the queen and he was her most trusted soldier. Sometimes when a fierce battle was taking place below, they would sleep in it to guard the royal vault. It was not so much a vault as a small wooden box he had found in the attic. In it was a wooden nickel, a piece of blue glass they discovered on the beach, two broken shells that shimmered in the sunlight, a small red plastic airplane, a magnifying glass and a crinkled five dollar bill.

The money came from his barber as a wedding present. "Now don't spend it all on candy" he had said. She was very indignant about the whole affair, being a married woman now, having no need for such mundane things as candy. His mom laughed when she heard the story, patted her on the head and assured her she'd make a beautiful bride one day. She didn't bother trying to explain they had just gotten married in front of the willow. She couldn't remember how many times they had gotten married under that tree. Sometimes his bear or her stuffed dragon or both attended the ceremony. Sometimes their friends came, but they always had to leave early to be home in time for dinner. One time the nice old man who sat on the corner and gave sweets to children came, and after wiping the tears from his eyes, told her it was the most beautiful wedding he'd ever witnessed.

Their wedding bands came from crackerjack boxes. His was blue and had a fruit of some sort on it. Hers was red with a heart. They had exchanged rings on her birthday before he took her out for dinner. After their meal, he proudly gave her a wrapped box. He had wrapped it himself. Tape was holding the paper together in all the awkward places. On end had barely enough paper to cover it, the other was folded several times over and taped many more times. It was a camera. Just what she always wanted. How did he know? Then thought about it. He always knew what she wanted. It must have cost him his wages for a month.

She picked up a picture in the wooden frame she had made him. It was of them at the local beach. How long ago was it? Two years? Three years? It felt just like yesterday. But then it always did, didn't it? On the cabinet next to the picture was a tall jar of pennies, their earnings from a summer of selling lemonade. He said he couldn't bear to spend it, that it reminded him of her. She picked up a penny and ran her fingers over its surface. Putting it in her pocket she slowly turned around and walked out of the room pausing to close the door behind her.