A Silent Memory
A pale hand dipped into a polished wooden drawer and withdrew a royal blue, satin covered box; two silver shooting stars leaving glittery trails from right to left as they curved down towards the bottom left corner.
A peal of laughter echoed from the back garden, causing the blonde haired woman to take a couple of short steps to her right and peer out of the large arched window.
Dusk red eyes scanned for the source among the giant firs protruding from a smooth green sea of grass, but the pair she was looking for must have been further up the garden.
Probably by the pool, the blonde thought as she gave up straining her eyes for a glimpse of movement aside from the stirring of dark green branches beneath the turquoise sky. Alicia's been very keen on swimming recently with the yearly Education Talent Festival around the corner.
A smile stirred on her face and she glanced down at the box she was holding; her red pupils stirred alive by the memories of the things within.
Fragments of our past.
Walking over to the large double bed with its fluffy white quilt and feather pillows, all patterned with green stems and cherry pink flowers, she turned and sat down; sinking into the embrace of the quilt. Then she flicked open the sliver catch on the front of the box. The box itself had been a gift from her wife's parents many years ago, one of a number of wedding gifts from them.
But then they always have been so generous. I guess it runs in her family.
Inside the box, that was a couple of hand lengths long and wide, were a jumble of papers and photos from long ago. Most were from Earth, where the technology had yet to reach that of the worlds they had come to reside on.
Yet there's still something very special and sacred about writing on paper. Maybe that's simply nostalgia though.
She began picking her way through the bundle: Photos of school friends from the past, most long since out of touch; school reports; notes between them; a photo of them with their adopted first daughter. She placed a photo to one side, showing her and her wife to be one Christmas facing the camera and embracing with the brunette sticking her fingers forward in a peace sign and winking. Then her hand returned to the box and picked up a slightly crumpled A5 sheet of paper; cream background headed with a scattering of pink hearts. Her hand lifted it up slowly as her mind plunged back to the day she read it:
"Open it later kay?"
She had nodded, blushing because her friend was: They'd always given each other Valentines gifts as a custom so she didn't understand why her friend, her best friend, was suddenly acting so awkwardly. Her friend laughed hurriedly, scratched her hair in another fit of nervousness and said hurriedly 'I'll see you tomorrow kay." Then with a wave her friend headed for her home, with black hair ribbons fluttering in a light breeze.
It was only after exchanging hurried greetings with her mum, rushing upstairs and opening the box of seashell chocolates that she discovered the reason for her friends blush; for that piece of paper had lain on the top of the wavy black cover for the chocolates beneath the lid of the box. And as she read the now faded and childish handwriting she, just as she had back then, felt pools well up to fill the rims of her eyes.
Fate,
I couldn't think of the right way to say how I feel about you, then in Japanese we had that lesson about using poetry to express true emotions from the heart so I thought I'd try...
Sunrise eyes,
Reflect deep warmth,
Speak a thousand words to me,
Bring me endless smiles.
Gold flowing hair,
The colour of her heart,
Soft lips call my name,
Fill me with joy.
Strong and dependable,
Saved and my Saviour,
Soulmate and bestest of friends,
I love you and will evermore.
Your Valentine,
~ Nanoha Takamachi xxx