Captured in Letters

Prologue

"This wasn't the end, it was only just the beginning."

***

He sat on the edge of the pavement. Ignoring the bicycles and passers-by. His eyes searching for a blonde head. In the short time that he'd known her, he grew to like her. She hadn't told him her name, or where she lived. She had just come up to him one fine day and offered him sweets. Of course he had taken up the offer. After all, he was merely a little boy who always had close to nothing to eat.

The day she had given him sweets, he had hastily stuffed half of them into his mouth and then he had run to his mother to feed her. He hadn't expected her to come back with more the next day, and he certainly hadn't foreseen that she'd come and feed him everyday for the next three months.

All his life, which was only ten years, he had been subjected to hardships and loathing. The men and women walking, would always keep a good distance away from him. If anything got stolen, all suspicions were on him. Just because he wasn't a Nobleman's son. Just because he lived on the streets most of the days. Just because people thought that he wasn't educated enough, mannered enough.

This practice had grown to such and extent that he had begun to think that perhaps he was at fault. Perhaps something was wrong with him.

Then, she came. Like a little ray of sunshine. She filled his lifeless life with hope and well, life. That beautiful nameless little girl. She certainly wasn't older than him. She was probably two or three years younger than him.

He imagined her growing up to be a beautiful reputed lady. Getting married to some Lord or perhaps a King. She would grow up to be like those countless ladies he had seen. But not quite. She would still be different from them. Very different. For, he had never seen someone so pure, so sweet, so divine. She was different.

She wasn't like all those other girls, constantly whining. No, she cared about others, she felt others pain. He'd seen it in her eyes when she offered him the sweets for the first time. She noticed when people suffered.

It wasn't only him that she had helped. He'd seen her help so many others, while everyone else walked past them, not caring.

In the time that he'd known her, she had never said anything. She'd just smile and give him some food. It had become and unspoken agreement between them that everyday, they would walk to the park in silence and sit under a specific tree. She would hum while he would eat.

He always talked to her. He told her about his mother, his very few friends and about some foolish trick he had played the other day. Meanwhile, she would look at him with a flicker of amusement and a small smile plastered to her face.

But never once had either of them mentioned their names.They were so close, yet so distant. He always wanted her to talk. He would ask her questions but she would just laugh or smile and ignore his question. He soon deduced that she didn't want to talk about herself. So he would go on talking about himself. At first, he couldn't quite figure out if she was enjoying his company or not, but soon he realized that those occasional smiles were genuine.

The people walking past them would find this an odd sight, a poor young boy in rags with an even younger but upper-class girl sitting under the shade of a tree. One talking, with the other listening intently.

Those who were curious never asked, thinking it could be an aristocratic young girl with her playmate who just so happened to be her nanny's son.

Even though three months had passed since the first day of seeing her, he couldn't quite name their relationship. Were they just friend, or just acquaintances?