Monday, March 26, 2018

Prologue




She let out a sigh as she closed her book, leaning against the bed's headboard. She just finished that novel but could have very well spent her time doing something else. The reading hadn't been that great, it mostly reused some clichés and not in the best way; nonetheless, out of all the books she hadn't read yet in this bedroom, it was the one that could be termed as best in term of summaries. It was a pity that recently no one was sending any book to her anymore.

Still not feeling well enough to get up, Lyanna just let the document on the edge of the bed which didn't prevent her from somewhat expecting the thing to magically transported itself back to the small library in her chamber. Staring at her for two seconds though, it had yet to move, not that she was really believing it would anyway.

The noiseless room was so calm that it could come as annoying. As the years passed, she had less tolerance for staying here. These days, no one visited anymore. She was already fifteen, there must certainly have been a time when she hadn't been in this big chamber but for the life of her, she couldn't remember when.

Daughter of a broken marriage that didn't even last a year, she never saw her father and couldn't even recognize him if he presented himself in front of her. It had been her mother who brought her back to her family's home and certainly, the woman did really care for her but she still was fast to remarry and her ever sickly daughter couldn't very well travel by her side to live with the new family in the harsh cold country they chose to live in. Lyanna had thus been left to the care of her grandfather.

The man was sweet and patient with her, no matter what, be it her being mischievous or suddenly sick.  As she grew and her unnamed and unidentified illness grew even quicker than her, he was her first teacher. Going to school had bee proven impossible she had once been recounted by the man. By three, she still had trouble standing on her feet, she was already vomiting blood out of nowhere and the many hospitals they went in could do nothing. Hearing nothing new nowhere, he had brought her home under the supervision of experts he employed rather than let her be subjected to haphazardly done tests. She really couldn't remember all that, she just knew from her memories that her grandfather would always smile at her and say "it's alright, the pain will disappear,". Her mother and her husband when coming home sometimes would distract from her pain and all was well.

In the end, she studied at home and continued on the internet where she passed her exams and was now following the courses of high school. Life in this chamber really had never seemed that bad to her, until recently. A little after her fourteen's birthday, her sweet grandfather breathed his last. For a couple of years, her mother hadn't come back; Actually, since their first kid, her mother and stepfather scarcely had the time to come, and now that they had four, it was less easy. Most of the time, it was via video call or posting services that she would receive presents.

"Books," she remembered once saying to her grandfather after a seizure, "I like them best 'cause I'm always bored. Not an e-book or anything like that, I want the hard copy, the paper material, anything that takes my eyes off of a screen!"

At that time he had a comforting smile as he patted her head, "does it still hurt? I can-"

"No" she cut, "it's fine, the medicine is working fine, I'm just bored you know."

He hadn't answered, just that, even though he kept a smiling face, his eyes grew incredibly sad.

Now though, she had this big house just for herself. No family near, only maids and nurses around. On top of being bored she was getting more and more lonely for those people rarely talked conversely with her. It was either greeting, asking her what the menu for the week would be, asking her permission to give her a bath or helping her to the toilets.

Lyanna turned her head to the side, looking through the window, gazing at the faraway big wheel of the roller coaster with longing. She smiled, imagining how it must feel to be on it, the thrill of the speed, the scare of the height, the wind on your skin and hair as you release earth-shattering cries. What freedom and complete health felt like, it should be things along these lines right. She let out a sigh, knowing that the chances for her to go out were as slim as were the chances of her getting healthy.

A sudden sensation traversed her and she gripped the blanket, waiting for it to pass. 'Bored', she told herself her eyes closed, 'I'm just bored, I'll just read and my brain would be satiated'. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to lift the blanket. She couldn't walk straight by herself and had to, all the time, use canes. The latter was by her bedhead. Straightening her hand, she grasped them and put pressure on one of them to stand. Holding them firmly, she directed herself to the library in the room. 

Bearing with the sensation, she kept on with her mantra in her head. She needed to chase away the boredom, she told herself.

Reading the titles on the covers, she found that nothing was new to her. The second row too. And the third... let it be, she took one book randomly.

Yet, the moment she turned around, she could deny the pain no longer. Her hands lost strength, her feet gave way and in an instant she was sitting awkwardly on the carpet, one cane falling over her head. Blood started flowing out of her nose and she had to crouch down, letting herself lie in a fetal position, her stomach was torturing her. That was new she thought vaguely as she let out soft moans, intense stomach pain had never been one of her symptoms. 

Ah, the whole day had been so agonizing, no matter which one of her prescriptions she followed, nothing worked and she ended up chasing everyone out of her room to breathe and now this... Was it finally her time?... As she lost consciousness she thought, 'grandfather, seeing you again, I'll confess how boring it was without you here and this time you have to believe it 'cause it was true... ah, how I wish to see you quickly.'

Under the bookshelf, long forgotten by its owner was a thick book. Its name, written in bold and golden characters glowed brightly, shiningly presenting the words ‘In the name of Love’ before returning to normal afterwardThe book then disappeared as Lyanna breathed her last.



1 comment:

  1. Is bored her way of saying that she is in pain? How sad, how very sad ����

    ReplyDelete

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