Jamie

The Letter

it was Saturday.
A breath of wind rustled through the deep red leaves of the maple tree that stood calmly in front of Elinors bedroom window. The sun had already made her way to the tree top but the sky was still painted in light autumn hues.
A few stray sun rays found their way through the half-opened curtains, bathing Elinor's bedroom in a warm light. She slowly opened her eyes, blinking tensely to adjust them to the light.

After a quick glance at her watch that was laying neatly on her nightstand, her brows furrowed. It was 8am, way earlier than she usually woke up.

„Why am i up so early?! It's Saturday!", she thought, burying her head back under her covers. Suddenly, chills ran down her spine and she realized what tore her out of sleep...it was freezing cold. No way she could go back to sleep while her bedroom was refrigerator.

With a resigned sigh Elinor threw her legs over the edge of the bed, her bare feet coming to rest on the wooden floorboards, and she passed a hand through her brown tresses in a tired gesture. She closed the window that she had left open the night before and turned the heater all the way up. Then she walked up to her closet that was standing next to her bed. Brushing through the racks of clothing, she searched for her favorite forest green sweater to match her grey-checkered sleeping pants. When she finally found it she finished her lazy look with some wooly socks and made her way to her kitchen at the end of the hallway.

it was a small one, but well-lit and incredibly cozy. Elinor yawned as she put on some coffee. While waiting for it to stir she took a look out of the window that allowed her a perfect view onto the park right across the street. Her apartment was in the third floor of a common residence and was crested with a small balcony attached to her living room. Only a few minutes passed until the kitchen was fully filled with a pleasing yet tender coffee aroma.

While sipping her still hot coffee, Elinor felt a deep rumble in her stomach. She knew it demanded for food, and so did she. Strolling towards the refrigerator she sighed as she found it empty except for some leftovers and half filled up lemon juice. She forgot she used all her ingredients up for last nights dinner.

Disappointed, with a still not satisfied stomach she decided to go on a little trip to the bakery. She changed her sleeping pants into some loose suit pants which she fastened around her waist with a black belt and took her dark brown coat that was hanging from the hall tree right next to the entrance. After she quickly tamed her hair and ensured that she had her wallet and keys with her, she exited her apartment and descended the stairs.

The bakery wasn't that far away. Elinor turned around the corner and soon enough, she could smell the freshly baked bread and pastries that were only a few feet away. Entering the small shop followed by a loud *cling* of the doorbell, the elderly woman behind the counter looked up.

„Good morning young lady! What's it to be?", the baker's wife asked nicely.

„the usual", Elinor answered friendly.

„i see",The woman nodded smilingly while she packed two pretzels and a doughnut into a paper bag. Elinor paid, and left the store.

She was just back around the corner when she saw the postman standing right in front of her mailbox. He was busy with rummaging around in his bag.

„Is there anything for me?", Elinor asked as she got closer to him. „Mrs Wright? Yes...here is a letter from London." he said, handing her a beige-colored envelope.

Elinor thanked him and it wasn't before he was gone that she allowed herself to take a closer look of it. Suddenly her eyes were fixed onto the addressor, incredulous of what was written there...it was her friend...Anna Harris.

It's been forever since she last heard about her old friend and former classmate. She remembered her all too well. Anna, her best friend that could always be found carrying her beloved violin case. She could talk to her about everything and anything, trusted her with all her heart and remembered how heart broken she was when she told her about her big plans in London. Elinor opened the big entrance door and went up the long staircase, still occupied in thought.

It was the day of the graduation ceremony. After getting the testimonials she told you about how she finally knew which career path she wanted to take. She was admitted into London College of Music and would soon leave. Elinor had known she wanted to be happy for her friend. Supporting had been her first priority...Anna was a really talented violinist, it even was you who always ensured her how special she was, she had something you never heard before, her vibrato technique was powerful...yet not oppressive, her delicate and agile movements on the fingerboard... or was it the perfect contact point of bow and string at any times? Nobody knew what made her every piece so extraordinary and recognizable that...if you heard her violin, you could undoubtably say that this was her, Anna.

But still, Elinor had always the feeling that she would be left behind. Not because she thought of her friend as being selfish or arrogant, but for the simple reason that unlike Anna, she herself had no particular idea of which path to take. She felt useless, without any prospects. After Anna had moved to London, Elinor was on her own. She had decided to give her friend some space; no letters or pictures were send, which she managed to have they both agreed to that. Elinor did not want to be the one who kept Anna from following her dreams in any way and she knew that if they kept up with each other, she would only stood in Anna's way...that was how they disassociated themselves from each other over the years. But it also gave her time to reflect her own self, to find the right direction and to learn how to stand on her own two feet.

Elinor rummaged around her coat pockets until she found the right keys. After a quick turn, she rashly walked into her apartment, threw the pastries onto a near table and let herself down onto the couch. Then she fetched the letter out of her pocket again, slowly opening the yellowy envelope:

Dear Elinor,
i hope you are doing well. It's been a while since we last seen or heard of each other and i've missed you dearly over the past three years. I know we agreed to give each other some space, but i think time has passed and we both developed a sort of understanding of life and our position in it. We've both grown out of our teenage years and i think we've matured too.
I'm really proud to celebrate my solo debut in Cadogan Hall soon and it would mean so so much to me if you could be part of it. I left you a train ticket straight to London Kings Cross station and i hope you consider taking it.
I will wait for you there..

best wishes,
your best friend Anna