Hey dear readers. This is a short story I written by yours truly as a final requirement in English "Academic Reading".
This was adapted from Pete Hammil's "Yellow Ribbon."
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He sat quietly and patiently in the terminal waiting for the bus that would take him back where he left half of his heart. He was in the heart of London, miles away from the town he was born in. He leaned his head back and covered his face by his hat.
Moments quickly passed, and the big, red, metallic structure was already standing in front of him. Several people stood up. When they got in, he followed. As he set his feet on the inside, people seemed faceless, they had no reaction. He was carrying a big algae-green bag, wearing a camouflage uniform and combat boots, so he expected people would stare at him, but he was wrong. They ignored him, yet he was happy about that.
He found empty seats in the middle and sat just beside the window. He took off his hat, revealing his brownish brown curly locks.
The Big Ben, the green fields, all was eye-appetizing, yet what caught his attention the most was the sunflower field. It was spring and the flowers were in full bloom. Their yellow petals swayed as the wind had blown. The sight of the yellow flowers made him smile but it was just a split of seconds when his face turned into a scowl. The yellow hue reminded him of her, his very first love.
He couldn’t picture her smiling at the sight of him. He couldn’t imagine her hugging him after all what he had did to her. When they were three, they promised to be best friends forever. They were eight when she failed to go with him in the summer camp because he accidentally fractured her right foot. She refused to talk to him because she thought he purposely did it. When he came back, he went immediately to their favorite place. He found her trying her very best to climb up the tree. She was holding a yellow ribbon and she jumped in shock as he called her name.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
She looked at the ground as she stretched her little arm to him. “Take this ribbon. I forgive you.”
And it was like a tradition. Whenever he made mistakes, she’ll just give him a yellow ribbon indicating he was forgiven. But things went different. They were eighteen when they confessed their feelings to each other. The feeling was mutual and they said they were keeping it since time immemorial. Their young love and desires enveloped their relationship. They were happy, but it soon faded away. People, their fate, and even their dreams, his dreams came in their way. When he received a call of duty, he hesitated at first, but accepted it as he saw no reason to stay. He too went and faded away.
“HARRY EDWARD STYLES!” a squeaky girly voice reached his eardrums. He was taken aback from the flashback of his life by the little girl by his side.
“Yes? What can I do for you, Miss…?” he stopped, not knowing her name.
“Hallerry…” she continued. “My mom told me once that my father’s name was Harry. But I—I don’t know. I think I misheard her and what she said was Harold.” She giggled and looked at him. He saw other people were staring at the girl. The looks on their faces suggested that the girl was somehow crazy for talking to someone she didn’t know.“Are you a soldier Mr. Styles?”
“Ex-soldier.” He stared at the girl’s features. She was like seven or eight. Her nose, her lips, her skin color, reminded him of her except from the eyes which were a shade of green, just like his. Her hair was ebony black, just like hers, but the difference was Hallerry’s hair was curly. Suddenly, the girl waved her little hand in front of his face. He shook his head and convinced himself what he was thinking was just a foolish idea.
