Alright lads, gather round. Tonight I shall tell you a true tale of truer love.
It was a cold winter night, just like this, and I was huddled together with the other street urchins in order to stay warm. The year, if I recall correctly, was nineteentwenty seven , and probably the most significant day of my life. Packed together like twigs on a broom we sat, trying to stay warm. I had found the group a few dry twigs which we were burning for a bit of extra warmth, but we were all shivering nonetheless. I was about to throw the last twigs on the small fire when I saw her. She was a newcomer to the streets by the looks of her, but apart from the obvious lack of dirt on her face, there were two things about her that stood out from the rest of us. The first was a light blue dress under her coat, clearly expensive, and probably worth more than a years worth of begging. The second thing, or things rather, were her eyes. Filled with a deep blue color, leaving quite an impression on a eleven year old me. Those eyes made me want to take off my coat and give it to her for warmth, even if it would mean freezing to death myself. I immediately made my way through the group towards her. Silently, I sat down next to her. I tried looking her way without being noticed, but to no avail. She instantly met my gaze and startled the entire group with a loud 'What?'. With a face as red as the fire in front of us, I looked down, thinking of what to say. I decided to simply introduce myself. 'I'm Gregory. Who are you?' The girl looked at me with a thoughtful look in her eyes. 'Today I am.... Green.' She said, looking rather content with the name. 'That's a weird name.' I commented, being the awkward child I was back then. The girl ignored my remark, but stood up from her place by the fire. 'Follow me.' She said, as if I would obey without question. And of course I did exactly that. Let me tell you boys, when a beautiful girl or asks you to follow her somewhere private, you do just that.
Green led me through the old factory and onto the railway tracks. There she walked, balancing on the rails, her arms stretched to the sides for balance, tempting me to do the same. Before I knew it, I found myself walking parallel to hear, watching her every step more carefully than my own. She had dropped her coat along the way, leaving her beautiful dress, which was now fully visible, fully revealed. It moved along with her as she swayed to the sides whenever she lost her balance, nearly tripping her on several occasions. Then, as if God himself had arranged it, I watched her fall. Slowly toppling towards me, I remember only a blur between me stepping off the rail and her lying in my arms. Her long hair nearly touched the ground, and her deep blue eyes looked up at me in surprise, and then she suddenly freed herself from my arms and ran away laughing. I tried to catch up to her for nearly half an hour before finally losing her, upon which I realized that I was completely lost in a part of town I shouldn't be.
It was a year later when I saw her again. I was running errands for mister Fletcher when I saw her crossing the street from the corner of my eye. Immediately I forgot the task my employer had set me and ran after her. When I caught up with her I noticed that there were tears in the corners of her eyes. I reached down my pocket and produced a small handkerchief, which I kept there for just an occasion like this. Mister Fletcher had taught me that a true gentleman never left home without his hat, his manners and most importantly, his handkerchief.
She quickly wiped away the tears with the simple cloth before returning it to me. 'It's been so long!' I exclaimed.' Where have you been, Green?' She looked at me as if she were about to burst into tears again. 'Today I am Red.' She said.'Not Green.' I nodded, pretending to know exactly what she meant.
Suddenly she took my hand, forcing an unnatural amount of blood to fill my cheeks and dragging me along behind her. This time we found ourselves by the docks, watching the fishermen return with the catch of the day and the harbor master patrolling the dock as if he were expecting a raid. From my pouch I retrieved a small piece of cheese, which we shared while watching all of the commotion.
Suddenly she leaned against my shoulder, nearly causing me to fall of the wall on which we sat. Awkwardly, I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, holding her as ship after ship entered the harbor. It was nearly dark when she got up kissed me on the cheek and ran off again, leaving me paralyzed on the small brick wall, wondering if my heart would ever stop pounding.
From that day on she would come to me almost every month, each time with a new name, always leading me someplace new. Sometimes we talked about the city for hours, sometimes we just sat and watched our surrounding, or each other, or nothing at all. Every time she would leave in the evening, saying goodbye with that kiss on the cheek. I never got used to that, but I looked forward to every last one. But nothing lasts forever. It was years later, I had become an official assistant in mister Fletcher's shop, whose health was failing, and she grew more beautiful every time we met. By then, I had just reached my seventeenth birthday, when she came to find me. She was wearing a dress decorated with all kinds of shapes and fabrics. Out of the blue, she jumped into me and wrapped her arms around my chest. When she looked up I could see that she had been crying again.
For a few minutes we just stood there, in the middle of the shop, while James, my colleague, helped the customers. I tried to convince her to let me stay for a while longer, but James assured me that he could handle things on his own. Together we walked towards the public gardens, one of our favorite places to meet. She looked at me with so much saddens that I nearly burst out in tears myself.
'Today I am Blue, my sweet knight.' She told me, still with that sadness in her eyes. 'Soon, you will be stolen from me, as all things I care for must.' The meaning of her words alluded me, because in that moment I saw how much she had grown. It had over five years since our first encounter, but only now did I see that there was no longer a girl next to me, but someone who had been a woman for quite some time now. I tried to cheer her up by leading us past her favorite flowers, but to no avail.
I couldn't take away the sadness, but when the time came to leave, she stood before me a little longer than usual, staring at me as if she wanted nothing more than to stay. Then the harsh reality reappeared in those deep oceans. She could never stay. With that final decision, she leaned forward, her lips nearing my cheek, when she suddenly froze. A small flash of rebellion appeared in her eyes, and suddenly she turned her head to the side, placing the kiss originally meant for my cheek on my more than surprised lips. While I was till frozen from shock, she gently placed one hand on my shoulder and just as I was about to pull her a little closer, fearing that any movement might break this moment, she pushed herself back, smiled at me, and ran away. After a few seconds I too walked away, knowing that chasing her wouldn't help. With the warmth of her lips still burning on mine, I returned to the shop. Every customer had left already except for a small elderly lady, who was busy talking to James. 'Have you heard? The price of fish has gone up again! And you know Ellie, the bakers daughter, right? Well she ran off with some scoundrel from the farmlands.' For some reason people always told James the latest gossip. Before she left, the woman had one more thing to share.'Oh and before I forget, I'll need a new necklace for next week. Our very own Countess of Ipsbridge is getting married to some high lord next week!' I heard they're leaving for their honeymoon right after, they even reserved an entire train for themselves.'
