Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The envelope

*Rough Draft* For my creative writing class, we were given 5 words (Green, Envelope, Drawer, waited and curious) and asked to construct a story within 15 minutes... this was my attempt.


The Envelope

Standing beside the stage door of the Olympia Theatre, Louise shivered wearing her Husbands black jacket, woolly green hat and matching gloves. The weather forecast that morning has said it would be cold and they weren't wrong. The matinee had ended ten minutes ago and she stood alone by the doorway which was lit up by an exit only fluorescent sign. It was coming up to 5pm and already quite dark but having made the journey up from Portlaoise that morning, she was going to wait by the door until it opened. 

The doorknob rattled and Louise stood back waiting for the door to open out but no-one did. She peered behind her, seeing the main road street lights cast shadows down the alley and took a closer look at the graffiti tag on the wall beside her which made absolute no sense, but the same could be said about impulsive journey up to Dublin today.

Louise pulled an envelope from her pocket, smoothing out any new wrinkles; looking intently at the already opened envelope, focusing on the words 'For my Daughter' which were clearly marked in black ink and signed off with a dot just like her Mam always did. The envelope had been found in her Mam's bedroom, in the bottom drawer of her wardrobe when cleaning out her belongings two weeks ago after the funeral. 

A raindrop on the envelope makes Louise look up, bringing her back to reality; A raindrop evolving into a drizzle of rain prompting her to move closer to the stage door, taking a step up to try get some shelter under the no-exit sign, her jacket and hat no longer a defence when the rain becomes a sudden downpour. The envelope she holds becomes damp and the words in ink begins to double up becoming an indecipherable mess. The now crumpled letter is stuffed into her pocket and she pleads silently that the doorway opens soon so she can give this letter to its intended owner.

When she had found the envelope bearing the words "For my Daughter"; She had assumed the letter it contained was for her and would possibly be a heartfelt letter from the grave with perhaps instructions for her belongings or even a declaration of motherly love but the letter was not intended for her, it was for her older sister; a sister she was unaware up to then even existed. 










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