The
Diary, the lock and the Key
By: Neo-Queen
Serenity
E-mail:
serenausako@hotmail.com
Webpage: http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Shrine/6436
This is a love
story. Perhaps it is not so
glamorous and unforgettable like those undying promises of love which happens
once in a millennium, but this one has its own notability in a very unique
way. I wouldn’t call it tragedy
though, because it was more of a little lack of courage and bravery which
resulted the somehow disappointing ending.
There was a boy
and a girl. They were classmates in
the same university. The girl was
an adorable 19 years old, but I wouldn’t call her a beauty. She was cheerful and lively with spirit
and charm. Perhaps, it was her
personality and unique character that exerted such strong attraction. He was totally in love with her, nearly
at first sight. The boy was
plain. He had no special attributes
which would make groups of girls swoon over and talk about all day long. He was too tall, too ordinary, and too
rugged to be called handsome. But
perhaps, the girl found some inner peace and security in those broad shoulders
and his wide forehead.
Though secretly,
in fact, helplessly attracted to each other, they weren’t even friends. The truth is that the girl knew the boy
because her friends had friends which were friends with him! This distance between them made the
whole matter desperate, frustrating, and perhaps...alluring. They weren’t outrageous, daring
creatures who were capable of talking about anything and everything. Both were afraid to speak up and ruin
the silent admiration. However,
they never told each other about their feelings for each other. Stealing glances at each other when
others were not looking, they were excellent players at
hide-and-seek.
The whole charade
went on days, even months after.
Until one day, the boy was hopelessly depressed by the girl’s up-coming
20th birthday. She sent out
invitations to all her friends.
Even though they weren’t so close, he received a card as well. He’d wanted to impress her and grasp
some attention for himself, but he hadn’t known what to give her as a present.
He needed a gift, an appropriate one. He thought about the nearing date, day and
night. Still, he hadn’t a clue at
what to give. Roses? That’d be too ordinary. Some other present? He couldn’t think of anything she liked
in particular. He thought of
getting a little help from her best friends, but decided to go against it since
those girls were major gossips in school.
He was
trapped.
After setting his
foot through every store in town, he finally found one. It was a diary. It was not just any ordinary diary you
can easily pick up in any stores.
This one had exquisite patterns of silver roses and a deep royal-blue
hard cover. Inside, the pages were
perfumed and stained the color of soft lavender. He remembered that it was her favorite
color. The soft and pale color was
a perfect description of herself, tender and sweet. The most special part of this dairy was
that it had a tiny silver lock for secrecy and privacy. To open the lock, two shining gold keys
came along with the entire package.
What he found most amusing and delightful was that on the delicate silver
lock, there engraved the girl’s horoscope. It was, indeed, a very tidy and
neat present.
The boy was once
told that girls love little details and those beautiful, tender, mostly romantic
things. He’d wanted his gift to be
special and unique among numerous other gifts she would, undoubtedly, receive as
well. On the first page of the
diary, he left her a page of his tormenting confession and promise. What he wrote down was passionate and
flaming; and he thought she’d like it.
He wanted to have her understand his feelings, and harbored a hope that
she’d share his hope with him as well.
It was nearly soul-consuming to keep up the whole charade. The more he learned about her, the
deeper his affection for her. He
feared that if he didn’t act out soon, she’d be taken away from him. How dreadful it was to think that she’d
be forever out of his life?
Then, he
hesitated. He knew that she’d open
all birthday gifts in front of her friends, and praise each one of them. That was so much like her, open and
friendly. He couldn’t help but
start wondering, how will she react at the discovery of this diary? Would he embarrass her in front of her
friends? That’d be most likely to
happen if she did not share his feelings; and it’s too painful to consider the
matter that way.
After a night of
tossing back and forth, he decided to lock the diary and keep the keys to
himself. Then when the party is
over, he would find an excuse to stay a little later and give her the keys. That way, he wouldn’t embarrass both of
them.
Her party went on
extremely well, and he couldn’t help but smile at her mesmerizing eyes with fond
admiration. But he shared none of
the merriment like her other friends.
That little gold key weighed heavily in his pocket. She looked phenomenal with that neat
dress of white cotton. Her face
glowed with a healthy pink, and the whole room lightened up whenever she
smiled. He loved the way the light
caught the gold strands in her beautiful hair, making them shine with elegant
beauty. He looked back at the pile
of gifts gathered on her bed, waiting to be opened and examined. He spotted his own and winced at the
image of her response. Torn between
doubt and hesitation, he endured the painful moments until present
time.
She and all her
friends, including him, helped open her gifts one by one. A very tall friend of hers gave her a
beautiful white bear. A soft and
puffy white bear. He didn’t like
the bear. Although it was adorable
and cheerful, he’d thought it flattering and unrealistic. She picked up his diary curiously which
made him draw in an unsteady breath.
Fingering the cool hard cover, she commented about the exquisite
coloring. Everyone else took a look
at it and admitted that it was indeed a very special piece. They were fascinated by the little,
mysterious silver lock and inquired about the missing keys. He made an excuse about leaving the keys
at home and promised to give it to her sometime later. With obvious disappointment, she
agreed.
The boy came back
3 weeks later, after an exchange program out of town. He went straight to the girl,
desperately trying to tell her his feelings for it was painfully tormenting to
his soul to pretend any longer. He
missed her terribly, he had to tell her.
With his mind set, he knocked on her door.
She opened the
door, silence enveloped the room.
It seemed that she had some guest---he was the one who gave her that
white bear 3 weeks ago. Standing
next to the girl, he challenged the boy’s eyes, clearly declaring that she was
his own. The girl stood quietly,
expecting him to explain his surprise visit. He held on to that little gold key so
tightly within his pocket that the boy once more cowered. He had just realized that everything was
now too late. That key had already
lost its meaning and use. Excusing
himself about his sudden intrusion, the boy quickly left. The girl leaned against her door, gazing
after his retreating back with disappointment and longing.
Running nowhere
with blind rage, he ended up by a small water fountain. He stopped and gazed at the splashing
waters. With his hand pulled out
from the pocket, the tiny key landed into the water swiftly, until it touched
the bottom. Watching it, his hope
sank and concluded that she didn’t need him. He made up his mind, he had to forget
about her. Perhaps this was a
mistake ever since from the beginning: a gold key will never be able to open a
silver lock...
Nearly 8 years
later, they were both married and had their own respective family. She had a husband, that boy who had
given her the white bear while he had another woman as a wife. They were mere friends now, greeting and
nodding on the street.
One day, the
girl’s 3 years-old son found an old diary in his mommy’s drawer. While playing with it, he cried and
whined to have it opened. The diary
was locked; and she didn’t have the key. The girl found a hammer and broke
the silver lock. She hadn’t expect
to read the contents in that diary.
On the first page, the diary revealed the boy’s confession that was
delivered 8 years late.
She was shocked
and unbelieving. Why didn’t he give
her the key? Or at least tell her
that he...
She burned the
diary, afterwards. With a new pile
of ashes, she never told him anything about her discovery. Both of them never again mentioned
anything about her birthday present.
The old, silver lock and that sunken gold key were forever buried and
cherish by secret memories...
The
End.
Neo-Queen Serenity's Crystal Tokyo was originally established on August 18th, 1998.
It is owned and operated by Neo-Queen Serenity
