Bright Eyes
Author's Note: This story was inspired by the song "Bright Eyes" by Declan Galbraith. I hope you like it :)
She was like another granddaughter to him.
She carried all the same mannerisms as her. She was sweet, soft-spoken and of course, musically gifted. Both possessed an intense love for music and playing the piano, whether it was just for themselves or for entertaining others. However, one thing stood out to him more than anything else: her glowing crystal eyes.
Beth also possessed an uncanny resemblance to her. She had the same long dark hair, pulled back in ribbons and pale porcelain skin. Her eyes were the most striking thing about her and were what reminded Mr. Laurence of his granddaughter the most.
Her eyes would light up when she smiled and blazed like burning embers when she was sad. It was rare for either one of the girls to get angry and they were often timid and shy around strangers.
"Are you the musical girl?" Mr. James Laurence asked Beth one evening when he was by the March's.
"Yes," the little girl had nodded back. "I love it dearly."
After that, he had invited her to come over whenever she wished, to play the grand piano and promised that nobody would disturb her. Every day, he made sure that one of the servants would leave out new music sheets on the piano for the little girl to play when she came by.
Nobody ever saw her come in or leave but they heard the music through the entire mansion. Mr. Laurence could hear the music Beth played from his study; the piano notes bounced off the walls and floated up the staircases and filled the rooms with its beautiful melody.
It was like his granddaughter was alive again and was playing the piano like she used to. He left out an old booklet of song sheets that belonged to her and were his granddaughter's favorites for Beth to play. Beth was very talented at such a young age just as his granddaughter had been.
"You know," Mr. Laurence said to her one day. "I had a granddaughter like you once, she had those same eyes."
"Really?" Beth smiled, her eyes lighting up once again. "Exactly like mine?"
"Yes, exactly like yours."
He called her "Bright Eyes" after that, the same nickname he had given to his granddaughter when she was alive. Eventually he decided to give Beth, his little Bright Eyes, his granddaughter's old piano as a gift to her, after she made him the purple slippers as a gift for letting her play. She rushed over to thank him right after for the very generous gift, her eyes shining brighter than before, like fire, as she smiled and hugged him while she said her thanks.
Even though after she didn't come by to play the piano anymore, he could still hear her playing from the open windows in his study or when he was outside in the garden. The March's left their windows open during the day when she was playing and the notes floated up through the windows and bounced around outside and the soft melody could be heard from inside their mansion.
However, there was one negative thing that both Beth and his granddaughter possessed, their poor health. Both of them were often ill and were bed ridden for weeks at a time. These illnesses were what eventually led to his granddaughter's death and he worried about Beth, hoping that she wouldn't end up the same.
Unfortunately, she continued to get worse, and the illness was taking a toll on her. Soon she was too weak to play the piano anymore or play with her dolls and had to stay in bed most of the time.
Still, he didn't give up on her and hoped and prayed that his little Bright Eyes would get better, but she never did. The illness won it's battle and took Beth away, the same way it did to his granddaughter. They both had died at the same age from the same disease, and the music had died right along with them.
The piano melodies no longer floated up to his window, her smile no longer greeted him when he came to visit and her quiet presence was no longer there. Everything was now silent once again. She was no longer "Bright Eyes" and would never be again; her eyes have gone dull.
