Memories from the Moon
(Autograph Book Story #6. The introduction to this series is here.)
When the moon-beams fall
On the old castle wall
It reminds me of memories true
Of days long ago with you.
Once Audrey has finished the drawing of the castle, she sits back and thinks about Stephen. She pictures his face the first time she saw him as she walked home after school. “You’re Audrey, right? Seen you in class.” She remembers his black hair and his bright blue eyes and the way he smelled of clean laundry. How friendly he’d been. How sweet he’d seemed.
When the Sun shines
It brings me back
As though out of a dream
To realise a sweet unknown theme.
“Ah yes,” Mum had said. “I got like that about boys when I was your age too. Don’t lose your head, Audrey. Be careful.”
But what did she know? Audrey rolled her eyes after Mum walked away. She wasn’t having some silly crush. This was serious. Audrey and Stephen were destined to be together. She knew that as surely as she knew that the sun had risen that morning.
But the night returning
Reminds me again of you
Of days long since gone by
And dreams that were never true.
Audrey would not give Mum the satisfaction of knowing she’d been right. “So where’s that Stephen, then?” Mum asked. “You haven’t mentioned him lately.”
“Don’t know. He’s busy,” Audrey said, shrugging.
That’s what he’d told her after she’d asked him about the dance. Oh, he was busy, all right. With Janice Worth. She’d seen them walking hand in hand to the pictures one night. They’d stood outside the theatre and stared at each other as if the rest of the world around them didn’t exist. Audrey’s throat closed up and her stomach dropped to her knees. And then she ran home, almost unable to see through the tears welling in her eyes.
Audrey’s eyes begin to water again as she finishes writing the last line of the poem. She swallows hard, forcing the emotion back. Even if he can’t see her, she won’t give him the satisfaction of crying over him anymore.
And she will never, ever let herself get that stupid over a boy again.
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