>OP ain't adding shit but fuck it
"Zeke gave me this," Teddy explained to the little girl. He was in the fifth grade, two more years in the schoolhouse before he took up the plough or the hammer or went to the big school like Zeke. A slight breeze was in the air, making him wear a blue cap not unlike the boys he saw on the newsreel, hollering from streetcorners as they sold newspapers.

"It's a ship," her curly dark brown hair was tied with a red ribbon. "My dad used to work on those, steamships. They sail up the river to pick up smokes." She watched as Teddy gently placed the little toy in the river.

"It floats," Teddy looked in awe as the wheel moved on its own like the mill at the far side of town. They walked alongside the riverbank, Teddy's blue eyes watching as a little fish jumped away from the mysterious craft now bothering its home. "This is cool," he said as it got caught in a little rock, red leaves passing it as autumn gave way to winter.

As he reset it, he thought about Zeke. Mom was sad, Dad looked worried as his big brother got on his knees and handed him a gift, wrapped in a homemade cloth spun to show lions and tigers. Zeke had smiled and rubbed Teddy's scruffy blonde hair, "I'll be back soon," he had said.

"When will he be back?" The little girl, three years his junior, balanced herself on a rock as she leaned over and gently lifted the little boat.

Teddy shrugged, "I don't know. They say it will be over by the holidays, the dumb war." He smiled, "said he'll bring me a toy from one of those fancy big cities... And a girl." He remembered his brother's cheeky grin as Mom spazzed out and Dad giving an amused chuckle as he got onto the train. As they continued to play, he still thought about Zeke. When he went home, he thought about him, when Zeke didn't come home and his Mom turned white at the scarred man holding his hat on his chest, he still thought of him.

Even as an old man Theodore thought about him.