My Diana

I saw her first on a cold December day. One memory, I guess, that will be etched onto my memory forever. I woke up early that day, no idea why! Maybe it was destiny. I quickly got up from my bed and glanced at the clock. Five-twenty. Shit! What was I up to? I never woke up before seven usually. I stared at the bed for a while. No, I couldn’t go to sleep again. So I decided that the best thing to do would be to finish my holiday homework. So I sat by the window, books scattered before me. It was extremely cold outside. I must have been concentrating on my paper because when I looked up at the clock again, forty-five minutes had passed already.

Then, something broke the stillness outside. A car stopped in front of the house next opposite. A man got down first whom I recognised to be Greg. And then I saw her. You know when you see someone at times, you feel like you’ve known them for so long. That was the exact feeling I had then. In the few seconds it took her to get inside her house, I tried to get as many details as possible. She appeared younger than me, probably in her fifteens. And she was perfect, that’s all I could have said. She wore a pale coloured shirt and blue jeans which suited her perfectly. She had long hair, but I couldn’t make out its colour from the distance. I kept staring at the door even long after she had disappeared behind it. I had no idea Greg had a sister-he never told me before.

Well, that was it. And I couldn’t return to homework, not after that. So, I had a shower, dressed up in my usual t-shirt and jeans. I grabbed a jacket in the last minute noticing the chilling whether outside. I tiptoed across the living room, careful not to wake up mum or dad. When I opened the door, I had no idea what I’d see. There she was, in front of our house, pressing the snow onto the snowman I made yesterday. I also noticed that he had cherries as his eyes now…I used buttons. She saw me and quickly retrieved her hand back.

“Oh! Hi! I saw your snowman…from my window…er…just thought,” she mouthed her words slowly. “I guess the wind blew away whatever you’ve used as eyes before.”

Now that was too much me. I was in a trance. Was this really happening? But I knew I wasn’t dreaming. There she was, right in front of me. She stared into my eyes and I stared into hers. Those honey coloured eyes and small delicate lips were just perfect. The faint perfume she wore was tantalizing. I tried to speak but my lips wouldn’t budge.

“ I’m sorry…I’m…my name’s Diana,” she said.

“And…you…are?” she added after noticing my silence.

“J-James,” I stuttered.

“Nice to meet you, James! You don’t mind my cherries, do you?”

“No…no…” was all I could muster.

“Right! So…guess I’d see you around then. They’ll be worrying about me, I gotta go now.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled. “Sure.”

As she was retreating to the house, I realized I had to act fast.

“HEY!” I called out. “You Jacob’s sister?”

She giggled. “No. I’m his cousin.”

“Here for the vacation?”

“What else do you expect?” she eyed me and started towards her house again.

Just when I was about to turn around, she turned around.

“Hey are you free this evening?” she asked.

I didn’t know what to say. I nodded my head.

“Then will you show me around? Jacob’s least interested.”

Perfect, I thought. Though I was not sure of her intentions.

“Sure,” I yelled back.

And that was the beginning of a new life. We became friends very soon. I realized what a wonderful person Diana actually is. One thing was for sure, I never had such wonderful holidays before and after that. We used to hang out almost every day. And I was sure she liked me too. But everything had to end, and so were the holidays. Diana had to return to New York. The parting wasn’t that hard at all because Diana promised me that she would call me every day. And that was more than what I was hoping for. She kept her promise. But after a few months, the calls suddenly stopped. No one answered when I called her either.

So I thought she must have moved on with her life. But nothing prepared me for the numbness I felt without her. But I moved on too. And soon she was just a distant memory.

I am turning sixty-three this August. Just a week ago, I received a letter from Diana that she’s going to come visit me. I was shocked. She was coming out of the depths of my memory. It was surprising, because she never called or wrote to me after our breakup-I’m not sure if I can call it that. I waited in the porch, dressed in my best outfit that I didn’t wear since my wife had died. And then I saw it. The red car which stopped in front of our house. Eerily, my hands and legs started to shiver. It had been so long!

The woman that stepped out of the car was without a doubt Diana-my Diana! I was amazed how beautiful she looked even in her sixties. I walked towards her as fast as I could. She was just as amazing, just as beautiful, and just as lovely as the Diana I remember. She threw her arms around me as soon as I approached her. I pressed her tightly towards me. It was a longing I felt in her and myself too. I realized she had tears in her eyes.

“Hey Diana,” I muttered. “Please don’t.”

“Will you ever excuse me for what I’ve done?” she sobbed.

“Of course…I’m sure you must have done what you felt was right at that time.”

“Oh James…I was a stupid.”

“You really are!”

She smiled. I hugged her again.

“Promise me one thing,” I whispered. “That you’ll never part with me again.”

“I promise James…forever.”

That was enough for me.



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