Chatterbox: Inkwell

A story!!!!!

I'm not sure where to put this, but okay!

She sat in her soft, cushy couch, her feet propped up on a low coffee table. Her nose was buried deep in a good book and to her the outside world seemed very distant. A spot of sunshine slowly moved across the page, highlighting the intriguing words. A phone call disturbed her reading trance and she unwillingly got up to get it. She grabbed the phone and brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"This is James," said the person on the phone, who is her best friend.

"Oh! Hi!" she responded happily.

"Meet at the tree. It's important." His voice was serious and strained.

"Why?" she asked, but he had already hung up. "Mom! I'm going to the tree really quick!!!" Her mom gave a blatant grunt in reply. "Kay!! Love you!!" She grabbed her coat on the way out the door and set to running. Since she neglected to put on shoes she had to navigate her feet away from and sharp objects.

A young man stood against a large tree. His feet dug into crevices in the large roots. The thoughts in his head were distant, and soon interrupted by the pounding of footsteps. Anne came running over the grassy fields, focusing on where her feet were landing. James pushed himself off the tree and moved to the flat ground. Anne slowed to a walk and looked up at him with a smile, but it soon faded at the sight of his grave expression. "James? What is wrong?"

"Anne...," he said, grasping her hands between his. He looked her in the eye and took a deep breath. "I just got back from the doctor. He told me I have cancer." Anne opened her mouth to speak but James silenced her with a look. "I'm leaving tomorrow to go to a special hospital. Anne, my chances are slim."

Anne took this all in and gasped. "No..."

"Anne, I'm dying." 

"No!!" Anne shouted and freed herself from his grasp. She hit his chest and let out another heartbroken cry. "No..."

He pulled her into a hug and held her tight, resting his head upon hers. Her cries turned into sobs and her shoulders heaved with each one. "Anne...would it hurt if I kissed you? Can I?"

"James...no, you can't."

He pulled her closer and met her eye. "Too bad." And, with complete disregard for her promise ring, he kissed her. He gave her a small kiss on the lips, and then turned away, "I'm sorry Anne... I promise that if I make it, I will come back."

She let out another sob and hugged him again. "I have to go," he whispered in her ear. He hugged her tighter and then let go. He turned and ran, as fast as his feet would carry him. He held the ring tight in his hand that would leave a delicate imprint. 

Anne fell to her knees and sobbed into her sweaty hands. She sobbed out her heart to the tree and after a while a word formed on her lips, which were damp with tears. She took a shaky breath and spoke the word out into the world. It's a word she would often say when thinking of this moment. A word she would often think. A word that would haunt her. "Why?"