A Short Story

Backward Amsterdam

A Short Story

by Kuh_Sian

____________________________

Natalia Black was thinking about Valerie Jacobson again. Valerie was an angel with beautiful long orange hair and eyes the color of emerald gems.

Natalia walked over to the window and reflected on her autumn surroundings. She had always loved Amsterdam with its raspy, relieved rivers. It was a place that encouraged her tendency to feel relaxed.

Then she saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the elegant figure of Valerie Jacobson.

Natalia gulped. She glanced at her own reflection. She looked to have aged overnight, sleep-deprived, tea in hand with rough fingers and lifeless eyes. Her friends saw her for the past few months as plain, distant, and cold. Once, she had done something so horrible she had to move to a new city.

But not even a person like Natalia Black could be prepared for what Valerie had in-store today.

The clouds danced away from the evening sun, making Natalia smile bittersweet. Natalia grabbed a ribbed scarf that had been strewn nearby; she massaged it with her fingers longingly.

As Natalia stepped outside once the door had been hurriedly knocked on and Valerie came closer to her, she could see the guilty glint in her eye.

"I am here because I love you," Valerie bellowed, in a helpful tone. She slammed her fist against Natalia's chest, with the force of 4874 hummingbirds. "I'm in love with you, Natalia Black."

Natalia looked back, even more, saddened by those words and still fingering the ribbed scarf. "Valerie, I can't" she replied with a whisper.

They looked at each other with lonely feelings, like two kindly, knowledgeable kittens playing happily in the countryside, which had country music playing in the background and two bold uncles dancing together to the beat not minding the scornful eyes of the town.

Natalia studied Valerie's angelic face but specifically those emerald green eyes, she wanted to carve them onto her memory so she could never forget her first love. Eventually, she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, but I can't give you love," she explained, in a pitying tone.

Valerie looked shocked to the core by those words, her body raw like a plain, petite piano.

Natalia could actually hear Valerie's body shatter into 5880 pieces. Then her lover hurried away into the distance with tears escaping her beautiful eyes and her emotions unstable.

Right after closing her door, Natalia started to sob uncontrollably as she sat on her kitchen stool holding the scarf closer to herself, her body shaking and aching from the hurt she had caused Valerie over the few months they had known each other.

Not even a cup of tea would calm Natalia's nerves this evening.

THE END.