1889

A Story by Nekoanamae

A Disease Riddled City. An Infectious girl. And A cupboard full of memories

1889 || Short Story

The foggy city is covered with dread and despair. Children, women and men mourning the loss of close friends or family members, as well as fearing that they would be the next victim of the Dreaded Disease. An Ambulance's siren sounds round the corner, the only sound that has been heard for months. The lights on the Ambulance cover the grey and black city. The only colour on the once colourful streets; Once a city of life. But Now, it’s the city of the dead.

Inside a grey and black house, similar to the ones around it. Hides a young girl by the name of Alenia Byrne. Her dark brown hair is now heavy on her shoulders. She hugs her knees closer and cradles herself next to a pink spotted lounge. Tears falling onto her bare cold knees. Her eyes looked off into the distance. She lowers her head into her knees wishing the world would revert to normal; back to the days with her brother. Back when life was way more simple, when she was just a small child.

‘1889. What a terrible year. If you`re not fighting for food in the streets. You`re at home trying to keep safe.. Hoping not to catch the virus, Cowering in fear.. This Virus does not wish to save anyone’. Alenia coughs out loud. The freezing floor underneath her, practically inviting her to be one with it.

Alenia takes her freezing hands and puts them together and breathes heavily into them. Trying to warm them up. She reaches into her dress pocket and pulls out a photograph. A man, A woman and two children standing all tight together beside the shore. Three droplets of water fall onto the piece of paper. “...” The silence pounds against her ears,Getting louder and louder with every waking moment, making her headache worse.

She drops the photograph and covers her ears. She feels her temples beating like a heart against her folded fingers. She feels her body begin to warm up and then a wave of nausea washes over her. She freezes. “Sick?..” She breathes into the silence. She very weakly stands. She places both of her hands on her thighs, trying to regain her balance. She regains her strength and walks over to the kitchen. Her feet cross over freezing black and white tiles and wood. A little piece of her hair slides in front of her face. She doesn't bother moving it. Alenia staggers over to the little brown cupboard. She sighs deeply and falls to the floor making it groan beneath her. she winces at the noise.

She takes her small freezing hand and places it around the handle. Breathing and wheezing deeply, her tongue touches the back of her throat, hoping to dampen it and make it stop throbbing. She pulls the draw open. Thousands upon thousands of memories fill the draw. Tears fall onto her blue and white checkered dress. She clenches her hands together and places them on her chest over her heart. She lets out a scream, Just as the tears start pouring out, making her condition worse. She had finally done it. She lowers herself to the ground embracing the cold feeling of the floor. Everyone that she knew was gone. Her brother, Her mother and her father. She was all alone in this cruel world. She smiles, letting a single teardrop to the floor. She holds the photograph of her family by the shore up to her face “Dear God. If you are real.. Please grant my wish…. Save us.” Alenia drops her hand onto the cold floor. She feels her body start to relax. She feels at ease. She feels her consciousness start to fade ‘I`m tired..” She whispers into the cool night air of her home. She closes her eyes, letting her exhaustion overcome her.

And just like that. Alenia Byrne succumbed to her illness of the Glandular fever.