Disclaimer: I own everyone in this story except for Matthew. Disney owns
him. You'll eventually find out who he is (he, he(). I didn't use Newsy
talk in this story since there would really be only one person who would be
talking like that. Please R&R! Now enjoy "Clara's Letters to Leah"
**
~Deep in the earth my love is lying
And I must weep alone. ~
(["Deep In The Earth"]
Edgar Allan Poe)
The carriage came to a sudden stop on the muddy road. The door slowly opened to reveal a crisp autumn day in the Appalachian Mountains of New York to the young man inside of the old carriage. As he stepped outside, he pulled his worn coat closer to him. It did little to keep him warm.
The harsh breeze rustled his brown hair. Ice cold air wrapped around his lungs as he drew in a long slow breath. He raised his handkerchief up to his mouth to cough, making sure to wipe away the small trace of blood in the corner of his mouth.
It was that same cough that had brought him to this death filled place. He should be in Manhattan right now with his friends selling papes, experiencing life, finding his true love, instead of here, a place that reeked of the helpless and dying. He was only sixteen and yet he had been sent here to die before he could experience the one thing he had never experienced before, true love. A feeling he would never be able to experience.
He was perfectly fine a few months ago during the strike, but then he developed the cough. He had tried to play it off as just a simple cold and fatigue, but it only worked for a couple of weeks. Soon he was spending most of his nights up coughing or sweating do to the fever, and with what little sleep he did get, he would wake up in the morning to a blood soaked pillow. During the day he would nearly pass out form lack of energy until one day he did in Central Park. He awoke to find himself back in the Lodging House surround by a doctor and his friends. The doctor told him was slowly dying and that it might be best to send him to The Cottages and quarantine his friends. His friends thought it was a better idea than to sit and watch him wither away, and so here he was, at The Cottages, his deathbed in the mountains.
"Mr. Keller I presume." The voice jostled him from his thoughts. An elderly lady walked over to Matthew pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders as the wind picked up. "I'm Mrs. Shepherd and I run The Cottages. Let me take your bag and show you to your cottage." He gave the small tattered bag that contained all his worldly possessions to the old lady and followed her to the first cottage. Two people in cotton pajamas with thin blankets wrapped around them, sat on the porch staring at Matthew as he entered the cottage. "You'll be sharing the cottage with three other people and a nurse-maid."
"Where's the other person?" Matthew asked.
"She's over by the fire place, more than likely writing." Mrs. Shepherd spoke in a less than enthusiastic tone. "Poor thing won't do anything that might help her get better. There is a pair of uniformed clothing on your bed. Sitting is almost over with and dinner will be served in the main cottage immediately after." Matthew's eyes had been wandering over the simple cabin frequently stopping on the girl by the fireplace when Mrs. Shepherd's words caught his attention.
"Sitting?"
"Sitting in the two hours a day where you sit outside. Now where was I? Oh yes. Lights out is at nine…" Mrs. Shepherd continued on as Matthew's mind drifted back to the girl in front of the dwindling fire. The dull light created a mysterious aura around her as she wrote in her journal, oblivious to the world around her. "I believe that is everything. Do you have any questions?" How could he have any questions? He'd been so busy trying to figure out the girl that he didn't hear a thing Mrs. Shepherd said. All he remembered was something about ice baths and bricks on your chest.
"No ma'am. None that I can think of now."
"Good. If you think of any questions, I'm sure Eric or Ashley will be happy to answer them for you. I'll leave you to change and I will see you at dinner. Eric and Ashley will show you to the main cottage." And with that, Mrs. Shepherd left the cottage.
Matthew's brown eyes reluctantly left the girl and landed on the place he would be sleeping. He carefully picked up the gray uniformed clothing and examined them. They were a lot thinner than what he usually wore during the winter back in Manhattan.
"They're supposed to be thin. Allows the cold air to get to you." Matthew turned around to see a boy and girl, the same two that sat on the porch, enter into the cottage. "Hi. I'm Eric and this is my sister…"
"Ashley. Nice to meet you." Ashley stuck her hand out which Matthew took as her brother rolled his eyes.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Matthew, but my friends back home call me…"
**
~Deep in the earth my love is lying
And I must weep alone. ~
(["Deep In The Earth"]
Edgar Allan Poe)
The carriage came to a sudden stop on the muddy road. The door slowly opened to reveal a crisp autumn day in the Appalachian Mountains of New York to the young man inside of the old carriage. As he stepped outside, he pulled his worn coat closer to him. It did little to keep him warm.
The harsh breeze rustled his brown hair. Ice cold air wrapped around his lungs as he drew in a long slow breath. He raised his handkerchief up to his mouth to cough, making sure to wipe away the small trace of blood in the corner of his mouth.
It was that same cough that had brought him to this death filled place. He should be in Manhattan right now with his friends selling papes, experiencing life, finding his true love, instead of here, a place that reeked of the helpless and dying. He was only sixteen and yet he had been sent here to die before he could experience the one thing he had never experienced before, true love. A feeling he would never be able to experience.
He was perfectly fine a few months ago during the strike, but then he developed the cough. He had tried to play it off as just a simple cold and fatigue, but it only worked for a couple of weeks. Soon he was spending most of his nights up coughing or sweating do to the fever, and with what little sleep he did get, he would wake up in the morning to a blood soaked pillow. During the day he would nearly pass out form lack of energy until one day he did in Central Park. He awoke to find himself back in the Lodging House surround by a doctor and his friends. The doctor told him was slowly dying and that it might be best to send him to The Cottages and quarantine his friends. His friends thought it was a better idea than to sit and watch him wither away, and so here he was, at The Cottages, his deathbed in the mountains.
"Mr. Keller I presume." The voice jostled him from his thoughts. An elderly lady walked over to Matthew pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders as the wind picked up. "I'm Mrs. Shepherd and I run The Cottages. Let me take your bag and show you to your cottage." He gave the small tattered bag that contained all his worldly possessions to the old lady and followed her to the first cottage. Two people in cotton pajamas with thin blankets wrapped around them, sat on the porch staring at Matthew as he entered the cottage. "You'll be sharing the cottage with three other people and a nurse-maid."
"Where's the other person?" Matthew asked.
"She's over by the fire place, more than likely writing." Mrs. Shepherd spoke in a less than enthusiastic tone. "Poor thing won't do anything that might help her get better. There is a pair of uniformed clothing on your bed. Sitting is almost over with and dinner will be served in the main cottage immediately after." Matthew's eyes had been wandering over the simple cabin frequently stopping on the girl by the fireplace when Mrs. Shepherd's words caught his attention.
"Sitting?"
"Sitting in the two hours a day where you sit outside. Now where was I? Oh yes. Lights out is at nine…" Mrs. Shepherd continued on as Matthew's mind drifted back to the girl in front of the dwindling fire. The dull light created a mysterious aura around her as she wrote in her journal, oblivious to the world around her. "I believe that is everything. Do you have any questions?" How could he have any questions? He'd been so busy trying to figure out the girl that he didn't hear a thing Mrs. Shepherd said. All he remembered was something about ice baths and bricks on your chest.
"No ma'am. None that I can think of now."
"Good. If you think of any questions, I'm sure Eric or Ashley will be happy to answer them for you. I'll leave you to change and I will see you at dinner. Eric and Ashley will show you to the main cottage." And with that, Mrs. Shepherd left the cottage.
Matthew's brown eyes reluctantly left the girl and landed on the place he would be sleeping. He carefully picked up the gray uniformed clothing and examined them. They were a lot thinner than what he usually wore during the winter back in Manhattan.
"They're supposed to be thin. Allows the cold air to get to you." Matthew turned around to see a boy and girl, the same two that sat on the porch, enter into the cottage. "Hi. I'm Eric and this is my sister…"
"Ashley. Nice to meet you." Ashley stuck her hand out which Matthew took as her brother rolled his eyes.
"Nice to meet you both. I'm Matthew, but my friends back home call me…"