29 August 2012
One day, during winter, a girl and a boy sat on a bench. They were both rapped up in scarfs and hand-knitted hats. The girl was beautiful in a not-so-obvious way. That evening he told her he loved her, it went something like this: "Lacey…" "Mmhh?" "Why do you do that?" "Do what?" "Scrunch up your nose when you smile." "Do I?" "Yeah, like when your being silly you smile, weirdly!" "Oh!" Lacey put her hand over her nose defensively. "Oh no! I think it's cute!" "What?" "I-I, it's cute! It's- it's really cute!" "I-I heard it's just, well I didn't think you thought that!" "Really?" Lacey nodded. "Ever since I saw you I've thought you were really pretty!" "I wouldn't take it that far!" "I'm serious, your gorgeous!" Lacey smiled, bashfully." Lacey." "Yeah?" She looked up nervously. "I love you." And so they shared their first kiss. Just as they kissed it began to snow. The two rushed back to Lacey's house and sat on her sofa drinking hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up.
The two had been together for three years when Lacey found she was pregnant. Two months before the baby was due, Kyle went out to his night course at uni. An hour or so later Lacey received a call from a number she didn't know. It was the local hospital Kyle's car had been crashed into and Kyle was in a coma. Lacey rushed to the hospital in a taxi. When she got there she was showed to the room Kyle was in. She hadn't believed it had really happened until she got there and saw him stayed with him all that night. The next day she went home and packed a bag to stay in a hotel. A month later Kyle died. Lacey was devastated but was also worried about paying for the funeral. Kyle's parent both died when he was a kid and Lacey only worked part time. Lacey paid for what she could and her parents paid the rest. Twelve years later she told her daughter what had happened to Kyle. Lacey was engaged to Ralph and was also pregnant. But after telling her daughter what happened it brought back all the memories of Kyle. And marrying Ralph would be like the wedding they had never had. Lacey couldn't bring herself to go any further with Ralph and so she called off the wedding. She said she needed time to think, some space. But during that time her daughter and her packed up and moved house. Away from places important to Kyle and away from Ralph. That house was everything she had ever worked for and she felt guilty about running away. She knew however, she couldn't stay there any longer. If she did she would be trapped. When her daughter and her reached somewhere new and had settled down Lacey went and got an abortion. She knew she would always feel guilty about it but she would never regret it. And so thirty years later Lacey moved back to her birth place. She sat on the bench where Kyle had told he loved her. She spoke to him, quietly. And then she visited his grave. Something she hadn't seen in years. It read: here lies Kyle Mcue loving father, cousin, nephew and boyfriend and Christie Mcue beautiful daughter of Kyle Mcue and Lacey Mits.
One Day • Opuss № I