A Letter by the Lake
Maggie was sitting on the shore of the great lake, her mother's last letter clutched in her hand. She wanted to be alone to read it, there was to much noise in the castle. She wanted to open it in a quiet moment, a moment where the letter wouldn't be tossed aside after a quick read through, rejected for some passing distraction.
She carefully broke the wax seal, pulling out the letter with care. She ran her hand over the page, relishing in the indents of her cramped, swirly writing. She took in the scent of fresh parchment mixed with the smell of the sea from the lake before beginning to read.
Maggie was teary eyed by the end of the letter. She suddenly missed her mother with everything in her heart, wishing nothing but to be wrapped in her embrace again, feeling, looking up into her tender brown eyes with her mismatched ones. It was all she wanted in the whole world at that moment.๐๐ฎ๐ช๐ป ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ,
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ผ๐น๐ต๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ต๐ ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ธ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ญ๐ผ ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ญ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ต. ๐'๐ถ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ป๐ป๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ท'๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ๐ป, ๐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ช๐๐ฏ๐พ๐ต๐ต๐ ๐ซ๐พ๐ผ๐. ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ต๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ๐ต๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐'๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ด๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช๐ซ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฝ!
๐'๐ถ ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ต ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ช๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐ท๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ธ๐ต, ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐'๐ถ ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ป๐ช๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐พ๐ต ๐๐ธ๐พ'๐ป๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ผ. ๐ ๐ด๐ท๐ธ๐ ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ ๐๐ช๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ช๐ท๐ฝ ๐ช๐ซ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ธ๐ต, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ช๐ผ ๐ต๐ธ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ๐ผ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฑ๐ช๐น๐น๐, ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ต ๐ช๐ต๐๐ช๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐พ๐น๐น๐ธ๐ป๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ. ๐๐ธ๐ ๐ญ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ผ, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ท๐ธ๐ฝ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ท๐ ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฝ๐ป๐ธ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ผ? ๐๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ผ ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ญ๐ญ. ๐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท'๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ช๐ท๐ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ผ ๐ต๐ช๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ต๐, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐'๐ต๐ต ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐พ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ญ๐ธ. ๐'๐ถ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ธ๐พ'๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ธ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ช๐ป๐ด๐ผ, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ป๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ป๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป๐ผ๐ฎ๐ต๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ธ, ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ช ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฌ๐ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ธ๐ป๐ด.
๐'๐ต๐ต ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐พ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ช ๐น๐ช๐ฒ๐ป ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ท๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป, ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ถ๐ช๐๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ช ๐น๐ช๐ฌ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐น๐ฎ๐ท๐ผ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐น๐ฎ๐ท๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ต๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ธ. ๐จ๐ธ๐พ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ช๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป. ๐'๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ญ ๐ช๐ซ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐น๐ธ๐ป๐ฝ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช๐ซ๐ธ๐พ๐ฝ, ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ถ๐พ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ซ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฎ, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐ ๐ญ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฐ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ผ ๐ช ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐พ๐ต๐ธ๐พ๐ผ.
๐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท'๐ฝ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ช๐ป๐ญ ๐ช๐ท๐๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ป๐ธ๐ถ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ป, ๐ซ๐พ๐ฝ ๐'๐ถ ๐ผ๐พ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ฎ'๐ต๐ต ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐ผ๐ธ๐ธ๐ท. ๐จ๐ธ๐พ ๐ด๐ท๐ธ๐ ๐ฑ๐ธ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฝ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฝ. ๐ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ผ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ช๐๐ฏ๐พ๐ต๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐พ๐ฌ๐ฑ ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ, ๐ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ช๐ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐ซ๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ด ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฌ๐ต๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ท ๐ถ๐ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ช๐ป. ๐ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐๐ธ๐พ ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ธ๐ธ๐ท ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐ซ๐ช๐ฌ๐ด.
๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ต ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ,
๐จ๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐๐ธ๐ถ.
The tears started spilling, dripping gently on the letter she was holding in shakey hands. A muffled sob escaped her, and she was suddenly very glad she wasn't in the great hall or her dormitory, so she could have this moment all to herself. She hugged the letter to her chest, feeling more like a kid than she had in years, wishing for her mom. She still was a kid, but she was smart so people tended to forget that. Another sob wracked her body as she sat on the shore, a crying child, looking out at the lake.
She was out there for about an hour more before she had finally calmed down. She looked at her reflection in the lake, wiping furiously at her face, trying to get rid of the tear tracts. After she had fixed herself with the reflection, she tucked the letter in her cloak pocket and got up, walking calmly back to the castle.
Am I too soft or is the world too cruel?
A Letter by the Lake
Irma was rubbing her finger over her lips in her nervous habit. The nice-looking girlโwhoever she wasโwas right in front of her AGAIN.
Sheโd lost her the first time but there she was again, by the lake. Maybe it was a signโฆ not that she believed in those. But then, she hadnโt believed in magic until a few days back. To Irma, anything was possible right now.
Irma watched her walk back to the castle. She hesitated. Should she go?
She ended up running after her.
By the time she caught up, she was pantingโbreathless not only from running, but from excitement too.
Irma grabbed her elbow. โWait!โ She winced inwardly, wondering what this would look like to her. Sheโd followed the girl around persistently andโฆ maybe she shouldโve left her alone the first time she lost her. Still, she gathered up her nerves and spoke loudly.
โYouโฆ dropped your quill!โ She fished around inside her satchel and brought out her own quill. โThis is yours, right?โ
Irma glanced at her face. โHaveโฆ you been crying?โ She felt a wave of embarrassment. Of course she was intruding. Couldnโt fit in, could she? She stepped back in shock, still holding the quill. โOh, itโs probably not yours. Sorry.โ Why couldnโt she do anything right? She wouldโve run away but she felt like she should say somethingโฆ.
Sheโd lost her the first time but there she was again, by the lake. Maybe it was a signโฆ not that she believed in those. But then, she hadnโt believed in magic until a few days back. To Irma, anything was possible right now.
Irma watched her walk back to the castle. She hesitated. Should she go?
She ended up running after her.
By the time she caught up, she was pantingโbreathless not only from running, but from excitement too.
Irma grabbed her elbow. โWait!โ She winced inwardly, wondering what this would look like to her. Sheโd followed the girl around persistently andโฆ maybe she shouldโve left her alone the first time she lost her. Still, she gathered up her nerves and spoke loudly.
โYouโฆ dropped your quill!โ She fished around inside her satchel and brought out her own quill. โThis is yours, right?โ
Irma glanced at her face. โHaveโฆ you been crying?โ She felt a wave of embarrassment. Of course she was intruding. Couldnโt fit in, could she? She stepped back in shock, still holding the quill. โOh, itโs probably not yours. Sorry.โ Why couldnโt she do anything right? She wouldโve run away but she felt like she should say somethingโฆ.