Daffodils' lament

9 mai 2007

Daffodils' lament

J'ai malheureusement beaucoup de travail en ce moment ce qui m'empèche tout simplement de poster donc pour vous ( enfin quand je dis vous je suis généreuses avec moi-même parce que vous n'êtes pas tant que ça enfin bref ...) faire gentillement patienter, je vous mets en ligne une nouvelle que j'ai écrite il y a fort longtemps. J'espère que vous aimerez, je crois que j'ai vraiment été inspirée par les muses quand je l'ai écrite...
PS : menace si vous ne postez pas je ne poste pas lol

t was a cold, rainy evening; I was in a carriage bringing me to that awful orphanage. I was looking at the landscape by the window and thinking about how all happened: my parents’ death in that horrible accident, my tears during the funerals. All happened so fast… But the vision of that huge black building suddenly brought me back to reality. It was an enormous, old, gloomy mansion that was common to see in Hampshire during the 18^th century. The frightening wooden doors suddenly opened and I saw the orphanage directors Mr and Mrs Krapt waiting for us in the creepy hall.
         Mr Krapt was a very small, bold man ; terrifying with his long dark moustache and his tiny mean swine like eyes animated with a strange and startling flame which gave me the impression that his gaze was taking fire. I was so petrified when I first saw him that I didn’t notice his wife at first.
         As far as she was concerned, she was a tall, thin terse woman that I abhorred at first sight. She gave off so much coldness !! Then they introduced themselves and wrote me down in an enormous old register covered with dust and which fell to pieces. After having filled up all the administration papers, the two men who were with me left me with my new tutors. I felt abandoned once again, I was so desperate: I didn’t want them to leave ; I didn’t want to stay here in that frightening mansion with unknown people. I wanted to join my parents , I wanted to die. And I started crying my heart out, sobbing and cursing God for my awful destiny. Mrs Krapt coldly told me to follow her, we walked through the big hall, all was so quiet, we just heard the noise of our steps on the tiles; we kept walking through a thousand corridors and we finally arrived in front of my room. We entered it; all was so dark and scary, I remembered my nice room at home and it made me sad. Mrs Krapt told me all the rules I had to follow and left the room. I was alone, I sat and I cried. But suddenly, I got the impression that somebody was looking at me. I quickly stood up, and I saw a boy who was smiling at me and said:
_”Hello my name is Edward, Edward Okliss so you are a new student here, aren’t you?” he asked breathlessly.
_”Yes”, I answered while finishing drying my tears. “I didn’t hear you come in.”. In fact I was so engrossed in my thoughts that the world could have collapsed on my head, I wouldn’t have realized it. “ How long have you been in the room ? ” I asked sounding rather embarrassed.
_ “Not for a long time… But what’s you name ?” he said, pretending not to see my tears.
_ “Oh, sorry ! My name is Nicholas Springle, I’ve just arrived this evening. What about you? How long have you been here ?”
_ “I’ve been here for ages !! For … I don’t remember how many years exactly : I lost my parents so long ago! I don’t have any memory of them .”
_ “I’m sorry for you… You must be able to tell me what life is like here ?”
_”Yes, I’m afraid you won’t like it . Make sure you follow all the rules, you’re new here and Mr and Mrs Krapt are not really the lenient type.”
_” You mean that we get punishments ?…”
      At that precise moment, I heard steps in the corridor and I was scared. I turned to Edward but he wasn’t there anymore ; he must have left as he had come : silently. Thus I went downstairs and joined Mrs Krapt who brought me to the huge dining hall where about fifty pupils were sitting and eating noiselessly. She introduced me and I sat down among them. They were all thin, horribly thin and mute ; I had never seen as inanimate a dinner as that one. It looked like a funeral dinner : nobody was speaking, I felt lost. I tried to find Edward but couldn’t see him . I tried to remember what he was like : tall, thin, pallid, yes…very pallid; but I didn’t really remember his features. I tried so hard, but the room was so dark when I saw him. I kept thinking about him while eating; the silence then added to my sadness.
      After dinner we all stood up and went out of the dining room, I joined my room through the corridors and there, started to arrange my clothes and belongings in the cupboards. I put a picture of my parents on my bedside table, they looked so happy... I stayed in my room, silent, listening to all the sounds of the night and of a community falling asleep. I felt so lonely ...And I fell asleep.
         The day after, I awoke early and went downstairs to meet my classmates. They looked exhausted. I felt like getting closer to them and learning to know them better. In fact, they were all pale and thin as if they were starving. Moreover, they were not very chatty and looked withdrawn and scared, especially when Mr or Mrs Krapt were in the vicinity. They were then weak and worn out ; I didn’t really know why. I also noticed that they were all wearing long shirts and brown trousers as uniforms. But one day, as I was trying to speak with one of the boys, I saw bruises on one of his arms. He tried unsuccessfully to hide them; at that moment, I realized that they were probably ill treated which could explain the fact that they were wearing long, very long shirts to hide their contusions.

I only saw Edward some times at night in my room but never at noon. I could never find him. And each time I tried to speak about him to the others, they remained silent and stared at me as if I were a fool. Every evening, we got the never-ending mute dinner in the creepy dining-hall which always reminded me of my parents’ funeral dinner. I was struck by the fact that ten-year-old children never spoke or played during the day. They looked like ghosts. That is why I was quite astonished when, as soon as I went through the door, a boy I hadn’t really noticed during the dinner, came close to me and whispered to me to meet him in an hour in the hall and wait for him in a dark corner. Then he went away and left me alone. I walked back to my room .
         An hour later, I went out soundlessly and started to tiptoe along the pitch-dark corridors. Then I arrived in the huge hall but suddenly, I felt somebody was taking my arm, putting his hand on my mouth to prevent me from shouting and drawing me into a shady corner. Then, I turned round… it was Edward :
_ “You’ve given me the creeps!” I said in a whisper not to make noise.
_ “Sorry, I was sure I would find you here. Where were you going ?” he answered noiselessly.
_ “To an appointment. A boy I don’t know who told me to join him here. But how did you know I would be here ?”
         Unexpectedly we heard steps in the hall: it was the boy I was supposed to meet but he wasn’t alone. A man was following him who didn’t seem to have good intentions. I wanted to warn him but Edward thwarted me_ and in fact I would not have had enough time _ the man just swooped down on the boy who started to struggle like the very devil and to shout. I was petrified just as if my blood was frozen in my veins; I couldn’t stop staring at the scene, I was mesmerized and I remained still. Meanwhile their struggle continued…. The boy kept fighting against the man.
      But finally, the man dragged him away and the hall, which had been so noisy, resumed silent. After one or two minutes, I turned to Edward, I was still struck by that scene but I managed to ask him a question :
_ “Wh….What….What happened ?”I stammered
_ ”You’ve perfectly seen.” he answered
_ “Yes, b…but why?”
He did as if he hadn’t heard my question.
_ “You should go to bed, it’s late.” he said
I didn’t answer.
_ “Do you want me to go with you? he asked sympathetically.
_ “Sure, I think I won’t be able to find my bearings alone; and I’m so tired !”
      So, we walked together back to my room . I don’t remember for how long. I was so exhausted! We finally reached it , I laid down on my bed, worn out and fell asleep.
      The next morning I awoke with a terrible headache, not being sure that all that had happened was only a nightmare. I got dressed and went down to have breakfast. But the boy of the former night was not there. As I asked to the others about him, they remained again silent, avoiding my eyes. The day passed in the same way as the others ; we had lessons during the whole morning and part of the afternoon. We did our homework in the evening, ate and went to bed.
         When I arrived in my room, I saw Edward sitting on my bed. His presence had always been a comfort to me. I was then very pleased to see him even if I always met him in unexpected and peculiar places. Thus, he was sitting and dreaming. And I told him :
_ “Hello Edward. What are you doing here?” I asked
_ “Nothing, I was just waiting for you.” he replied
_ “So I’m here ! What do you want ?” I enquired
_ “ I was just wondering whether you wanted to come with me tonight. I just want to show you something .” he said mysteriously.
_ “Why not, but are you sure there is no problem with Mr & Mrs Krapt ; if they catch us, we are bound for the whip !” I had learnt this to my cost that it was one of the Krapts’ favourite punishments and I did not want to be whipped again.
_ “No problem.” he answered “Just stay here, I’ll come back soon.”
         In spite of my fear of the punishment, I just waited for him . He came back to fetch me and we ventured into the shadowy light of the numerous corridors. He brought me through one of the building aisles which was unknown to me. We walked for more than one hour in the passages only lit by the dim light of the moon .We finally reached a door hidden by a great curtain, which made the door almost invisible for unaccustomed eyes. We went out and I saw a huge storehouse. I walked behind Edward’s heels ; I would have preferred to stay in my bed but the fact that he seemed to know every pebble in the path just put my mind at ease. We spied through the dirty windows of the warehouse where all my comrades were very busy. I could not really see what they were doing so Edward took my arm and led me to a place where I could see better what was happening in the room. I was thunderstruck, they were all working in that huge building which was in fact a manufacture. The boys were exploited at night.
         I watched again in the room and I saw Mr and Mrs Krapt doing what they enjoyed most : whipping one of the boys and shouting at the others. I was shocked and scared at the same time but fortunately Edward was there. We left as soon as I recovered from this sight. We followed the same corridors. I was on the look-out, attentive to every little noise which made me turn back at each step.

We attained a crossroad where a gigantic mirror was hanging on the wall. I caught this opportunity to check if no one was following us. I watched then anxious and saw, what I did not realize at first, that I was totally alone in the passage. Nevertheless, I followed my course and arrived in my room with no other problem. Without caring about Edward who was not there anymore, I laid down in my bed and fell asleep.

On the next morning, I woke up at the first sunray ; I dressed up and tip toed out of the orphanage. I was walking in the country during the first moments of dawn. It was spring and the day promised to be shiny. I finally arrived in the village and went straight to the Police office. The policemen were very kind to me ( I was a new orphan ) and, when I told them what I had seen during the past night, they decided to come along with me on the spot. They had had doubts for quite a long time and I had no problem convincing them of what was happening in the orphanage : The children’s exploitation, and the fact that they were ill- treated.
We left through the fields, under the sun. When we arrived, we found the Krapts in great discussion with an administration officer who turned towards me when he learnt that I was Nicholas Springle. He said that my uncle who lives in Canada had just come back to England and learnt about my parents’ death. He was quite wealthy and he had decided to take me along with him. I was as blissful as I could be and I came to a decision to find Edward to tell him the good news. But before doing that, I turned over to the Krapts and asked them why they hadn’t enlisted me at the very beginning when I arrived. They answered me spitefully that they had sought me for hours without success and that they were still wondering what I might have done for them not to find me.
Meanwhile, the Police had arrested the Krapts, I searched for Edward in the whole orphanage without success and all the surroundings . Finally, my steps brought me to the village church. He was not there either so I went to the desert graveyard. Since my parents’ death, I had got used to going there to gather my thoughts. My feet led me there unconsciously , I walked through the alleys while dreaming and arrived in front of a tomb covered with moss, at the end of one of the paths under an old cherry tree in flowers. The light wind made the flowers snowing gently. Little daffodils were growing around the grave. I bent on it and read :