So Close, No Matter How Far
Angela sitting alone in her room starring outside her
window. Listening to Justin Bieber she misses her boyfriend, who had gone to
see his grandparents in Atlanta. As she thinks she goes deeper in her memory,
digging the past, where she spent beautiful moments with him, there was one
time when she was waiting for him at the park. He couldn’t make it because he
got stuck at work, apparently his colleague called in sick so he had to fill in
for him. Angela was so mad she decided not to see him ever again but his love
changed her mind very quickly. That night Arthur stood outside her house until she
changed her mind about him. This incident made their love even deeper.
Suddenly her attention is diverted by a speeding car, tires
screeching and then with a BAM! It hits another car parked in front of a house.
People hearing this noise came out of their houses, Angela’s brother, Jack,
also got out to inquire, Angela was curious to see who was in the car but also
she didn’t want to go outside. She asked Jack about the driver, he replied “Probably
some drunk guy”. After some time police arrived there, the driver was carried
into the ambulance and rushed to the nearest hospital as the driver’s condition
was critical. After sometime everyone went back to their homes. Angela also
decided to go to bed.
The next morning was pretty exciting for Angela because
Arthur was returning home and she could see him after a whole week. She wore
her best outfit and when she was satisfied that she was looking beautiful
enough to see him, she left the house. They had planned to meet after the
school, she tried his number but got no answer. In the hallway she met her best
friend Linda, who was looking very sad. Angela asked her what was the matter,
she looked at her surprisingly and asked “Don’t you know anything about what
happened last night?” She replied “No”. Linda said we should go somewhere quiet,
they sat on a bench outside the school. Linda took her hand and started slowly
as her voice stammered, she told her last night Arthur came back from his
grandparents one day earlier to surprise you. When he reached your
neighborhood, he was so excited to see you, he drove madly and lost control
over the car and crashed into another car. He is now in ICU.
Angela couldn’t understand what she should do. She rushed to
the hospital, the whole incident was repeating in her mind. She couldn’t
believe that she saw the accident herself but couldn’t know it was her beloved.
When she reached hospital she asked the nurse about Arthur, nurse pointed at a
man sitting on the bench in the hall saying he is the relative. She knew him,
he was Arthur’s father Mr. Chow, she met him many times with Arthur, then she
walked to her, he looked up and quickly recognized her. He started crying on
her shoulder, he said “my son left me alone, I can’t believe my son left me
alone”. Angela couldn’t think anything except she wept quietly. Tears roll down
her beautiful cheek, all the world whirled around her eye as she walked towards
the room where Arthur’s body was lying, cold. She looked through the window, he
was looking so peaceful.
It’s been two weeks after the funeral and Angela hasn’t left
her room since then. Her parents started to worry about her. They talked her in
going back to school, but she said, “I see Arthur in everything, the hallways
seemed to haunt me”. But her parents forced her to go to the school. Next day
she got ready for school, she didn’t dress up much. She thought to herself, for
whom should I look pretty now. I’m better the way I am. When she got to the bus
stop she saw the bus stop sign and remembered that Arthur always said something
funny about this sign. Mostly he would made a joke that this sign should be
like “Hey bus, stop here” or something like that every day. Bus arrived and she
left her thoughts there and got into the bus.
On reaching school, she walked down the hallway where she
first saw him starring at her. At first she thought of him as some random guy
goofing around. Eventually he started to get interesting. She couldn’t seem to
pass a day without seeing him joking around with his friends. It was 5th
of May when she finally decided to talk to him. She was very nervous. She
walked to him, he was alone getting stuff from his locker, and He turned around
and saw Angela.
His voice stammered “Hey Angela, how are you?”
Angela answered in a stammering voice “good, how are you?”
Arthur “so, what are you doing these days.”
Angela “Actually I was wondering if we could go out sometime.”
Arthur “yeah, I was thinking that too.”
Angela “Are you free on Friday?”
Arthur “yeah, Friday sounds nice. I’ll pick u up at 8:00pm,
if it’s ok?”
Angela “ok. No problem, See you then.”
Arthur “ok. I guess I’ll see you on Friday then.”
Angela “bye”
Arthur exclaimed with joy when she left. He couldn’t believe
that his crush asked him out herself. That was the best day for both of them. That
was how they first talked. After that they started going out and fell in love.
They often gift each other presents as a gesture of their true love.
One day, Mr. Chow called Angela and asked that if she could
come to his house. She went to his home that afternoon. He was very happy to
see her. He invited her in, he offered her tea and they sat down and started
talking about Arthur, Mr. Chow said that the last words he heard from Arthur
were “Angela I am back.” Angela went to his room, she saw all her gifts placed
very carefully on his shelf. He remembered all those things. Mr. Chow showed
her a shirt, which she quickly remembered it was the same shirt she gave him
for their first valentine, and said he was wearing this shirt when got in the
accident. She took that shirt in her hands and she burst into tears. It was the
only valentine they could spent together. Mr. Chow said that she can take all
the gifts with her. She was happy that all the memories of her beloved could be
with her for the rest of her life, she thanked Mr. Chow and said that she would
treasure them.
She came home and she displayed all the gifts on her shelf
so they could be in front of her eyes and she could remember Arthur. It got
late while she finished her homework. She peered out of the window and she
remembered the accident. She also remembered how he stood in front of her
window when she was mad at him.
While she was lost in her thoughts she saw a shadow walking
towards her house and stopped right where Arthur stood. The man starred at the
ground for a minute and then slowly lift his head up towards her window. She
got scared because it was Arthur, whom she moaned for about 2 weeks. She
thought I’m in a dream. But soon she realized it was not a dream, when she
heard her mother calling her downstairs. She turned her head around and
answered “be right there”. When she looked down the window, no one was there…
