It all started on one dusk of August, 1962. It was a hot evening, and I still remember the taste of Mom’s cheesecake on my mouth, just out of the refrigerator.

It had been a tiring day for all of us, and we were only getting bad news from the war over in Vietnam. My neighbor’s brothers had already been drafted, and I didn’t know what to do.

I was sure that Dad was going to get drafted…I couldn’t let him go, of course. But what was I to do? Become a scape goat? Why I couldn’t let him go? Simply for the reason that I don’t want my Dad to die. Isn’t it logical?

Point is, he wouldn’t survive in the battlefield for less than a minute. I don’t know what I was thinking. But, my thoughts stopped when there was a knock on the door.

Hope got up from the couch, and ran to answer the door. She opened it only to see a man sternly holding out an envelope.

Her skin crawled.

The letter had finally arrived.