Letters From Zephyr
22 July. From J to W.
Dear Wendy,
I have great news. I found something wonderful! I look forward to every morning now, and I hope you will too.
People always say that keeping things bottled up is never a good thing, and the annoying thing about it is that they're usually right.
To suppress an emotion; a feeling; a memory; an urge, is to invite a serpent into your soul. With its venomous fangs it bites its way along your lifestream, enjoying the scenic view. It finally reaches its destination and pierces your heart, forcing the poison to fill you up. Instead of pumping blood you only pump poison, and as all poison does, it begins to taint you. A dirty mass of pulsating yellow: glistening and crying sparkling tears. It soon infects your mind, and left untreated for too long, things begin to unhinge.
The world around you starts to change. The darkness that is usually overcome begins to show, not only in the universe, but in the people you associate yourself with. Good friends become violent enemies. Loved ones reach a cliff and are pushed with great force into the pit of bubbling hate lying at the bottom.
My world birthed itself and I attempted to neglect it. Now it enshrouds me: vomiting out of every available orifice, rushing to infect open wounds, stabbing my back like a two-timing friend.
A two-timing friend...
13 August. From J to W.
How are you, Wendy? You haven't said anything to me since I showed you the surprise... Do you like my cute little puppy Brown? Let's take care of him together.
25 September. From W to J.
"No wonder I haven't said anything to you since you showed me the "surprise". What a surprise. A filthy, disgusting mongrel not even worth the glance of my eyes. How am I doing? How am I doing? How do you think I'm doing, Jennifer? I lie in bed every single day, staring at the same cold ceiling, surrounded by the same stone walls. I hear the other children playing and laughing together. I hear the muffled gossip and rumours exchanged from Meg to Diana, Diana to Eleanor, Eleanor to her bird. And I hear of you and the salivating canine: playing together in the rose garden; rolling together in the fields; finding things together in the forest. You're lucky that I don't tell Mr. Hoffman. You know that you're not supposed to leave the orphanage unless we're on a class trip. But that's just you, isn't it Jennifer? Always too caught up in your own world with your own rules without any regard to anyone else's."
I had a friend who was like that once. She came into my life and gave me hope. She gave me light. She gave me salvation. Like a creature from a fairy-tale, I accidentally stumbled into her realm and we fell in love. Our hearts intertwined and the bond between us could never be broken. The lace string that interconnected everyone's hearts would bow down to the one that connected ours: it shone to the sky, it made the rainbow feel dull, it made the sea feel ashamed of its own glisten.
But then she slipped away. And as the bright, colourful, glistening lace string was ripped out of her chest, it ripped out of mine twice as hard and took my heart away with it into the horizon. I was left with nothing. The emptiness was unbearable.
I became so very, very sick.
20 August. From J to W.
My dear Wendy,
This little guy is just so adorable. When I call his name, he comes bounding to me. I know you'll like him too.
25 September. From W to J.
"Oh, I'm your "dear" now? After how many letters?
Isn't that just fantastic? I'm sure the little thing is just an absolute treat. I'm so, so happy that you're having the time of your life while I waste away in this room. It's really good to see that.
Not that you'd care very much, but the pain in my chest is getting worse. Mr. Hoffman says that it could be serious. My cough is back and it's hurting me more and more each day. I hope you come and see me sometime soon, Jennifer. It would be so lovely to infect you with my disease and see how you cope with it. Maybe if they added another bed in the Sickroom, we could be sick together. Wouldn't that just be wonderful? I'll pray for the best. For now, go and have fun with your little parasite. Don't stay out too long: Martha says that it might rain later, and we wouldn't want you to trip and fall in a muddy puddle now would we, filthy Jennifer?"
That was when the serpent made its way to my heart.
The pain wasn't that bad at first. But over time, it grew like a tree: slowly but surely. I dreaded every waking moment, and what made it worse was the fact that I couldn't sleep. Not even my dreams were sweet or pleasant. I could never, ever forget about the pain. It was too much.
I contemplated the worst, but reality, sadly, still had its grip on me.
Sometimes I would stare at the sky to take my mind off things. It was the only beautiful thing in my life: clouds swirling, colours dancing harmoniously, stars dotting a long sheath. The only two people I admired: day and night. They worked so calmly and well together: never bickering, never fighting, and never stopping for anything no matter what it was.
I was day and she was night. But night was always there. Darkness always swallowed everything. Tiny dots of day would seep through, but in the end, a total eclipse engulfed our world, and our kingdom was a fallen one.
Nothing would ever be the same.
24 September. From J to W.
How are you doing, Wendy? Are you alright?
We'll always be friends, and Brown can be our friend too. I know you don't understand, but I can't just abandon him.
The aristocracy has fallen.
There's nothing I can do.
Where I go now is anybody's guess.
Let's see what my serpent has to offer.
Let's see if the poison will boil over.
Let's see, Jennifer, how far my serpent will go to bite you.
Goodbye, Jennifer. You will regret choosing that dog over me.