Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Charectarsketch
Charectarsketch
Elliott Poulley
Herzog
Fiction
The Waiting Game
In 1937, We were born in the same town. She was older than me just by a couple of
months. A beautiful 7 pound baby girl with bright blue eyes and a huge smile the second she
came out of the womb. As soon as she entered the world her bubbly personality touched every
single person that got the pleasure of meeting her. Her parents named her annabelle after her
In 1950, We were classmates. Sitting one seat away from each other, we never said a
word the whole year. Our classes were mostly made up of awkward glances and unsteady
corrections of her silky blonde hair. I knew we had something though. And as the year went on I
was slowly developing a crush. The way I started to feel about her I never felt about anyone
else in my life. One of my biggest regrets was never talking to her that year, it was one of my
only chances. Her laugh made anyone around her immediately cheerful and her positive attitude
was infectious. Annabelles father wasnt around much, business trips all over the world forced
In 1955, I was drafted for the war. The day we left everyone at my school was saying
their goodbyes. I saw her across the courtyard. This is my chance, I whispered to myself. I
walked over to her chest out and head held high. 3 steps away from her, another boy from my
soon to be platoon cuts me off, sweeps her off her feet, and kisses her on her perfect cherry
lips. Shocked, I try not to act too devastated and walk right by.
In 1956, the war was at its peak. Id think of annabelle in the trenches as napalm strikes
would hit my bunker. That way if I died right there, my final thought would be of something I
loved. No one knew of my love for her. Not even that boy who kissed her that day we left. Jack.
He turned out to be my best friend during the war. All the more painful when he would get letters
from her. Every month was the same when he got them, Is that from the old ball and chain, Id
I was desperately in love with her, but I wasnt about to let him know that. Sometimes when he
slept I would creep into his drawers and take some of the old letters. Id sit there for hours
reading the gentle letters on the page pretending she wrote them with me in mind. Id never let
myself think otherwise. Annabelle got me through the war, she gave me a reason to come
In 1958, I came home. I expected a sign in annabelle's hands and a rose behind her ear
waiting for me, like ive waited for her my whole life. Few came home, not even Jack. Being the
last to come off the bus I looked for her, holding out hope. I looked to my left and there she
stood in the most beautiful yellow sun dress. She was the image of beauty, even with the pain of
not reuniting with Jack in her deep blue eyes. Im sorry he didnt come home, I said.
I figured after he stopped writing me back, She replied looking down with tears in her eyes. I
Well I better be getting home. Hopefully I can see you again, Thomas Abernathy.
I never stopped thinking about her after that day but never saw her again, until last year.
I walked up to the door of my house, took out my keys and unlocked it. Walking through, I
looked down at my feet where there was a letter sitting on my rug. As soon as I saw the
lettering, I knew it was her handwriting. I was annabelle. I sat down eagerly to read. In the living
room I tore open the letter, hands shaking. It said she wanted to meet, and that she was
terminally ill with lung cancer. All these years and I never stopped thinking about her. I booked
In 2016, Annabelle died in my arms on march 19 at 2:12 pm. Before she passed, she
whispered to me saying, I love you Thomas Abernathy, I always had, but never had the
I love you too, I repeated back. While I sat there stunned, I couldnt even get angry at myself
for not telling her how I felt earlier. I just sat there cherishing a moment it took me 80 years to
cultivate. I held her for hours until I finally heard the heart rate monitor flatline. Through my tears
I manage to mutter to 8 words I promised myself Id never forget. Hopefully I can see you
Comments:
73