HIS EYES (Gilbert Blyth - Anne with an E)

Ch 11: Her Eyes

When she closes her eyes. What is it she sees. Gilbert pondered that this was a fact that he would never know. But oh, how much he wanted to know. His ship ritual had rooted itself in Gilbert's mond as he thought of Anne Shirley. The thought of her made his heart clench. He was getting a taste of her magic and shine.

It smelt sweet. Like a dew drop morning. No. It smelt like apples ready for picking. Perhaps it was the sweet smell of the ocean. The crisp winter air and the thick summer wind. The taste was everything and nothing at the same time. In many ways she was a thundering storm, bellowing down hell to all that lived below it. It was strange to spend so much time thinking about a single person, someone who he knew very little about. Turning on his side he stared out of his window. His eyes adjusting to the glare of the bright full moon.

In many ways the moon felt safe to him, even in the middle of unknown lands and the center of the ocean, the moon kept him company like an old friend. It didn't remind him of the responsibilities he had to keep up his family farm or to his diseased father. Instead it reminded him that dispite how very alone he was and often felt, he was not alone.

Anne was alone.

The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks. She had always been alone, until now. Until her frail frame, red tipped nose and bright eyes walked into Avonlea, she had been alone. Perhaps that was it. Blyths brain concluded, she had fainted him so much, the very idea that she had so little in her life, and yet so much to give. It felt aspirational. He wanted to be like that, to be helpful to people and to be a change in this world. He had lost so much, and he felt tiered of being a loser in his life. He wanted to change.

To grasp life by the reins and stir it into the moonlight. Perhaps that was why he mindlessly found himself gazing back at Anne in classes. In once second he would be focused on mathematical calculations and the next he was looking right at her. She was the most intreeguing when she was fully focused on tasks at hand. She was the most amusing to observe while reading books. While Mr Phillips had students read aloud he would notice how Anne's fingers always seemed to be edging to flip to the next page. She seemed so intertwined in the text that she would try move faster but restrain herself. Ever so often she would glance at Diana Barry to see where she was at. Anne Shirley had done this often enough for Gilbert to find himself anticipating it.

With them at, what seemed to be, a neutral spot in their ever changing relationship. Gilbert tried to think of more ways to get her attention. His first attempt at pulling her hair was idiotic at best. Especially now with her hair very short. He knew that subtly would be required as he wouldn't want her to disagree with him anymore. These days the class seemed to be emerged in preparing for the Christmas panto. Classhes had halted art lunch time and their slates had been replaced by scripts and dances.

It seemed that magical islands attend fairies were agreeable subjects for Anne, as she oozed with excitement. When she closes her eyes, is that what she sees. Imaginary lands and happy endings. Perhaps, since she had been confined to a childhood of solitude and reading, it seemed likely enough. Thankfully he had missed out on casting the roles, and so set about helping the stage take form. Being on the stage was nor something that bothered him, but was definitely not something Gilbert would volenteer for. With everyone focused on their tasks, it seemed that no one was in the particular mood to bother their newest classmate. Gilbert's consists fell calm as he worked on the rope to the sound of laughter and discussions. At least the antics of his day would provide great conversation  as he looked forward to telling Sebastian about the crazy Mrs Lynd. Who seemed to be running around like a headless chicken, muttering about how much work everyone required. Mr Phillips was another charter,  in this instance the man did not have the manner to keep his relations with his student Prissy Andrews to himself. The man could not be anymore forthcoming in his attempts to spend more time with the girl, and act out his affections. The girl was still young and barely out of school, and the older man had already set his eyes on her. The idea of an older gentleman courting a much younger woman was not irregular or uncommon, however the fact that they were student and teacher did not sit right with Gilbert. In fact, her attachment to the man only tied her more down to the restrictiveness of Prince Edward Island, a fact that did not seem a pealing to Gilbert. One should set their sights far, see new places, encounter new people - then they could decide. He wondered if she even knew what she were to look for in a husband if she were to aquire one herself. Tightening the rope, Gilbert sighed to himself. Who was he to judge, when he had barely understood his own heart and mind. Especially when a certain someone kept interfering with the sanktity oft his mind. There it happened again, Anne's insurable ability to invade his thoughts set Gilbert's mind lose. It was not normal to think of someone so. He was irrational to spend so little thought of himself and so much on her. Here he was exclaiming how idiotic Prissy Andrews and Mr Phillips were, when the very thought of acting on his emotions made Gilbert very sick to the core.

Gilbert Blyth was an apple. Fallen onto the ground. Nessled by the foot of a tree. Helpless and purposeless. At lest until someone were to pick it up. 

Someone kind.

Someone who would value the act of protecting the apple from the birds and wasps.

Someone like Anne.

"Damn it" he muttered under his breath.

So I guess he has decided then. Next chapter we return to the episode storyline. Enjoy!