Jane Leah

• Skye Mcdiarmid, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2022

Dear Audrey, my dearest friend,

How right you were that I too would fall in love someday.

It had started with her eyes.

Those Autumn eyes that gazed into my winter ones. When I watched those soft eyes weep it broke my brittle heart to pieces- how I loathe the pain her tears would bring me. But then she would laugh and all the soreness in my heart would vanish and a new feeling would erupt. And like a sunflower basking in the golden sun: I relish her laughter. A laugh that seemed so warm and full, it could make even a stone man falter.

Then it was her smile.

A smile so gentle a withering flower would bloom at the very sight of it. The way her coral lips would upturn made a thousand sparks jump inside my chest, only to turn to needles when that smile would fall. Yet she would make even a frown look gorgeous. And the way her bronzed freckles stood out on her milky skin could make anyones heart jump. Every intricate detail, each gifted from god. If only she knew the power of her beauty. With her, I am a fool; trapped within a pit of my own affections. But perhaps I like it that way.

It was just like you said: I have found her. My dream in a world of nightmares. I have found the love you promised I would find, and her name is Jane Leah.

But I write to you on two accounts.

When you told me that love came with a great cost I never really took into consideration the severity of your words. My love for Jane had made me feel free: like every bound that had chained me down was lifted. But as mounts of autumn leaves turned to winter snow, I fell ill. And that cursed sickness had cut me down and made me a flightless bird.

The hospital room is cold – chilling even. And every moment I spend away from Jane only makes it colder. But when she’s not sewing away in her tailors shop, she is sitting beside my bed, her fingers elegantly stroking my hair. And as the days grow colder and I become more weary, she stays by my side. Though I’m dying I know in my heart this is the perfect way to go.

I love you now and always,

Annabelle Jean.