The Sprout

Short Story: The Valentines Card

Posted by Faymondo:) from Cardiff - Published on 22/07/2010 at 14:33
2 comments » - Tagged as Creative Writing

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This short story has been entered in theSprout Short Story Competition.

I blinked my eyes open, yawning while stretching my arms out over my head. My eyes focused on my surroundings. There were shadows looming across the floor. I seemed to be very high up, with lots of identical objects surrounding me, which I found very peculiar.

The distant sound of a storm echoed through the gloomy room, sending shivers down my spine. The sound of tapping echoed around my ears. I peered over in the direction of the noise, noticing a black object with lots of colourful wires coming from its back.

That’s when I saw the colossal, looming figure sitting behind the black box. The light from the black box created sinister shadows that outlined its eyes. The figure had long dark hair, flowing onto its shoulders, but this didn’t help the fact that I was literally shocked to the spot. Panic shot through me like a bullet. I tried to breathe deeply in and out, staying very still.

Suddenly the gargantuan giant got up, making thunderous steps across the room towards me. My breath quickened, sweat was running down my face. Rain collided heavily with the glass windows, a steady beat following the giant’s footsteps. I closed my eyes, praying that the ferocious giant wouldn’t notice me. Just as I closed my eyes, the footsteps stopped. I peeked open my eyes and was hit with a dazzling bright light that absorbed all the darkness, sucking all the shadows up, leaving the room luminously lit. My heartbeat quickened and then slowed as I realized there was no danger. I smiled at my luckiness.

I looked down, feeling something loosely gripped in my hands. I flicked my eyes down to the object. An even bigger smile was spreading across my lips. A beautiful bouquet of ruby red roses was in my hands, held together with a silky soft, velvet claret ribbon. A giggle escaped my lips. They were exquisite; I hardly felt worthy enough to even hold them. A diamond tear slid down my face as they made me feel special. I brought the roses up to my face. A sickly sweet smell reached my nostrils, of crisp, garden-fresh nature.

As I was marvelling over the roses, I heard a jingling noise. It was the wind chime above the door. A chill breeze escaped into the room, a shiver shook through my body. Weighty footsteps echoed through the room. I inhaled deeply, my eyes squinting round the room, trying to focus on the object making the noise. An immense form walked into the room. This giant looked more masculine than the person behind the box, who looked petite compared to this huge figure. The man’s eyes were wide, as if they couldn’t take enough in. He sauntered off to the left first, towards the petite woman behind the onyx box. The lady at the desk looked up and smiled at the man. She didn’t look half as scary when she smiled.

“Hello Sir. Can I help you?” the lady questioned. The man looked in the direction of the woman’s voice.

“Um, yeah. I’m looking for a Valentines card. A really special one. It’s for my wife you see and it’s our first anniversary. So yeah, if you could point me in the right direction…”

“Okay, well the Valentine’s cards are over there on the right. Come and get me if you need me.” The lady smiled at him. The man nodded in thanks.

I looked around at all the other objects. They were moving, as if they were getting into position. They were pouting and prancing, putting themselves in the most flattering pose. My natural instinct took over, telling me what to do. My arms instantly came together, placing the roses in front of me. I crossed my legs, one curled over the other. My eyes opened wide, my lips curled up at the sides, and a warm glow swam through me. For some reason, I wanted this man to notice me, to pick me. I wasn’t going to be the insipid one, the one that didn’t get noticed. I willed the man to look at me; my eyelashes were fluttering, my cheeks were glowing.

It seemed like ages before the man finally reached me. His eyes swept over me at first, and then he glanced back, his chocolate eyes resting on me. His face lit up, and his hands picked me up gingerly. He lifted the red envelope that was behind me and placed it beneath me which felt like he was protecting me from the floor below. With an assuaged smile, he strolled over to the lovely lady, who no longer looked scary. With a flourish of his hand he presented me to her.

“I’ve found it, it’s the perfect card. It says all the right things”, he pronounced.

“Okay, well that’ll be four ninety-nine then sir.”

The man gave the lady the money, and strode over to the door. He firmly grasped the handle and pushed it open. The tinkling wind chime sang above me. Little did I know, that would be the last gentle noise I would hear for a while…

From then on, all I heard were deafening noises. The man entered a blue box that was on wheels and shut himself and me within it. A piercing thunderous noise shuddered through the box, followed by a loud crank and suddenly we were flying.

We’d been flying for a couple of minutes and already the scenery outside had changed a million times. Emerald green leaves on the trees were speeding by into a blur. Their shape was undefined, as was everything else that went past. The large brick boxes big and small stood still proudly, claiming their property, with little boxes like the one I was travelling in outside them. I closed my eyes, sang myself a tune and tried to block out the phantasmagorical sights and sounds that were trying to haunt my dreams.

My eyes flashed open to the sound of ‘ding, dong’. The man was holding me, as he waited for…what I didn’t know. Then I heard brisk and yet almost dance-like footsteps that seemed to be coming closer and closer. Panic rushed through me as my hands went clammy and my heart-beat raced.

Then, the door opened and another of the giant figures opened the door and my heart-beat slowed down. The woman had long, golden locks that flowed effortlessly across her shoulders. Her smile was radiant, as she embraced passionately with the man who was holding me. I looked up at him, and instantly I felt safe. I felt happier than I had ever felt before. Finally, I knew what my purpose in life was. I was going to be with this couple through thick and thin. I would put a smile on the lady’s face. I beamed up at them as they gazed longingly into each other’s eyes. Then the man lifted me up and presented me to his wife. Gracefully, she took me in her feminine hands. A tear danced down her face as she read what I had to say.

“Oh Tom. Do you really mean it? This is the most beautiful, stunning card I have ever seen. The teddy bear’s so cute. Look at her eyes, their shining at me, as if she knows who I am. It’s gorgeous.” She whispered. She smiled, Tom smiled, and I smiled with them. Then, big, fat balls of water started to fall down and we all rushed inside, sat by orange dancing flames, and finally, I closed my eyes, as sleep rushed over me as I finally felt a part of something special.