So Far In Between

The next day

I woke up to the sound of birds and the bright light of sunshine on my face. I gently pulled myself up and rubbed my eyes, my head was spinning. And then I remembered falling, Theo's voice and the strange smell.

"Elizabeth, you're awake." My Mother said smiling at me as she walked into my room, she kissed me on my head and softly sat on my bed. "You guys us a fright last night love when we found out you fainted." My Mother said looking concerned. "Do you think you know why you fainted sweetie?" My Mother's light blonde hair fell from behind her ear and she quickly pushed her hair back.

"No, I don't really remember much," I said as I moved to get out of bed, my feet silently tapping the wooden floor. "Okay Lizzy, go and have some breakfast. I have to go or else I'll be late for work, but I'll see you tonight, okay?." My Mother kissed my cheek and I smiled at her. "I'm fine, I promise," I said as she smiled and walked out of my room.

I walked over to my wardrobe and got my dressing gown. It was white with little pink flowers on it, and I walked into the kitchen. I made a cup of tea and I sat stirring the tea bag in hot water waiting for some kind of sign. All I could think was what happened to Theo? And why did I fall into complete darkness and his voice was all that could wake me up?

I went into the fridge and grabbed the milk. And I watched myself half dazed as the black liquid mixed with the white milk. Something started changing color, I rubbed my eyes bewildered and shocked. As the milk which once was white was now turning violet, no dark green. The liquid in the cup started to settle so I could see clearer.

The colors merged to perfectly together and there was a black circle in the middle which sparked far too bright. The colors almost looked alive...

And then the color vanished like it had never been there at all. And just a lukewarm, milky cup of tea sat sadly on the bench. It took me a few minutes to pull myself together and I poured the now cold tea into the sink. As I was pouring the tea down the sink, something white fell out of the bottom. It lay tired and crumpled on the bottom of the silver sink, I gently picked it up.

It was what used to be a white piece of paper I assumed, and it was folded into a very small square shape. The small piece of paper was dripping with water, so I decided to put it on the window sill to dry. I carefully unfolded the paper, trying not to rip the wet paper. The paper folded out into a small square, and even though it was wet I got the scent of wood and something I couldn't explain. The thought of Theo echoed in my mind, so I looked down at the paper in a desperate attempt to forget. On the paper was a faded ink running drawing of some sort. Or perhaps it was a symbol of some sort. It was only very small but it looked like a knot.

A knot of 3 tiny leaves overlapping around a circle. It looked intricate and strangely magical. I put down the piece of paper and quickly walked down the hall into my room. The sun shone in through the window as if it was smiling at me. I walked over to my bedside table and grabbed my little brown journal and a pen. I loved writing down my thoughts, stories, drawings, anything that came to mind inside the dusty pages of the book.

The book used to be my Grandfathers, there were still some of his drawings and ideas in the pages. I kept it as a reminder of him, and it made writing in it a lot more meaningful. As it felt like as I touched the paper with my pen he was up in heaven or wherever he was reading it too.

With the small book in my hand, I walked back into the kitchen and over to the window sill. The paper had already started to dry, as the hot sun beamed through the window. I opened the book looking through the paper to find an empty page, and I carefully copied the drawing into the book. Once I had finished I placed the book down on the bench and looked in the fridge to find something to eat. I decided on plain yogurt and raspberries and I put them both into a bowl. grabbed the book from the bench and sat down at the table.

As I ate I flicked through the old pages, it even smelled like him. My Grandfather used to be in the army, until he got injured, and was never the same again. Well, that's what my Mother said, but I had only known him for how he was after. And I always thought he was the best person in the world. I had read his words and looked at the drawings so many times, but as I got to the last page that he had written in. I saw a picture of my Grandmother and Grandfather when they were younger. They were smiling as they stood in front of a flower-filled field.

The corner of the picture had half come off the page and I pulled it off so I could glue it on again. On the back of the picture, there were words written in black ink.

'Look beyond what you know it to be' - May 13th, 1952

And in the corner drawn in pencil, was a drawing. My heart felt like it had stopped beating. It was the drawing just like the one on the note.

A knot of three tiny leaf shapes overlapping around a circle...