yet another one i found interesting..

A young man sat in the dark room, his head cupped in his hands. A notebook lay open on the ground next to him, a few words scattered through the fluttering pages, as if the writer could not find the perfect words to describe his subject. A solitary window was open, letting in a cool breeze.

As the sun rose slowly outside, a pair of sparrows landed on the powerlines outside the house, and began to sing.

The young man jolted awake at the sudden noise, and scowled when he saw where it was coming from. With a grunted curse, he went to the window and fastened it shut.

Kicking at the notebook on the floor, he headed towards the bedroom, his drawn, tight face softening involuntarily.

Peering in, he saw a young woman sitting up on the bed, staring out of the window. Jay approached her and sat beside her, his hand finding and grasping hers.

‘Look at those trees,’ she whispered, ‘how beautiful autumn is.’ Her eyes followed a single red leaf as it gracefully left its branch and descended to the ground.

‘I hate autumn,’ Jay said bitterly, ‘the leaves die, and after they’re gone the tree will have to survive winter alone.’ His hand tightened on her little one.

‘Everything must die someday, although it’s so hard when you have so much to leave behind.’ She trembled, ‘but death is a part of life, and it can be beautiful.’

Jay turned away so she wouldn’t see his trembling lips, and tried to believe her words.

‘Take me outside,’ she said, holding out her hands. Jay noticed for the first time that she was wearing her favourite white dress, the one she had on when he had first met her, two summers ago.

Heart aching, he carried her outside and, at her request set her gently down. She leant on him for a minute while she steadied her legs, and when she had gotten a hold of herself started off into the big sunflower fields near their house. She could’ve been a spirit, so pale and transparent as she was. Jay’s heart swelled with love as he watched her, and he feared it would overflow and sweep away his ability to be strong for the inevitable moment when he would have to let her go.

She had stopped and was waving to him, ‘Come on!’ she called, laughing.

They went to the old swing set. She swung quietly for a while, wishing that somehow her troubles would fly away. Jay sat with his back to her. He couldn’t bear to watch the thin white hands cling onto the swing, just like it was clinging at the life it loved so much. He couldn’t watch those eyes, for once dropping their forced cheerfulness and opening a window to the tortured soul within.

They walked, hand-in-hand, neither saying a word. After what seemed like a year, but in reality was only a few minutes, they arrived at an old, abandoned house. Jay remembered that it used to belong to an old couple who had lived together all their lives, and yet again he grew angry at God, or whoever was up there, for depriving him of that blessing.

He suddenly noticed she wasn’t holding his hand anymore; she had gone up to the old house and was looking at the small tree in the front yard, which was laden with white blossoms.

‘Isn’t it lovely?’ she exclaimed softly as Jay came to join her.

‘The man who lived here planted it for his wife. He said the blossoms reminded him of her. They’re called Qi Li Xiang, or Orange Jasmine.’

‘Qi Li Xiang,’ she breathed, ‘what a beautiful name.’

She sat down on the front porch and gazed up at the pure white flowers. ‘Sit with me, Jay.’

As soon as Jay sat down, a strong gust of wind hit the tree and hundreds of white petals rained down upon them.

Jay looked at her and saw her fear of death fading, as if the soft petals had washed it away. He felt comforted and began to feel as if he could, perhaps, let her go.

On the way home he caught her hand and whispered in her ear, ‘I really do love you, my little Orange Jasmine.’

He wrote her poem that night.

She left him in the morning.