The singing of birds, not a kiss, awakened Nefe from her sleep.
‘My, it is early! But what a lovely way to wake up.’
Nefe laid in her bed a little longer, luxuriously listening to the song birds and feeling the warmth of the rising sun as she watched it begin to wake up.
‘Well, might as well get up and do start my day.’
Nefe tiptoed through her morning routine and started up a cup of tea.
‘Today is the day,’ she thought as she held Pride and Prejudice in her trembling hands.
As she opened the book, her eyes lit up and she quickly entered the world Jane Austen had created.
Although Nefe was still in her pajamas, while reading she imagined herself as a Victorian lady in the latest fashion of the day, lounging on a window sill seat overlooking a picturesque garden.
“Oh,” the sound escaped her mouth as she floated through the book.
‘My dear sweet Lizzie, you are finally coming around!’ Nefe smiled as she witnessed the bumpy love story begin to arrive at its conclusion.
The morning flew by as did the pages. Many cups of tea had been drunk.
Then suddenly, Nefe realized there was only one more page to turn.
Her heart stopped.
Nefe paused for a moment, then her heart picked up its pace as she turned the final page.
Nefe closed the book and held it close to her heart.
There was a knock at the door.
“Yes?”
“Lunch is ready!”
Nefe sighed, “Alright, coming.”
As Nefe descended from her cloud the mortal needs of food gnawed away at her.
Nefe and her family sat around the kitchen table talking about their day thus far, the news and weather, this and that.
Nearing the end of the meal Nefe, who had been quiet, said, “I finished reading the book.”
The book.
“Oh, good,” her mom said. “How was it?”
“It was good.” Nefe’s eyes were glazed over, her mind still afloat.
Although her response was utterly short and simple, the way she said it made it clear that it was indeed a good book - marvelous, lovely, captivating, encompassing, and adjectives of the like piled on.
After lunch, Nefe went on through her day running errands and doing things that needed to be done. Her mind became distracted by worldly thoughts and matters - the gleam of the world she had floated in began to cloud over and she sank down to the earth.
Lizzie and Mr. Darcy waved goodbye as she flew off, Nefe did not notice their departure. Or was it Nefe who had departed?
Soon enough the day had disappeared into thin air.
‘Hm,’ Nefe thought as she eyed her bookcase. ‘I wonder what I shall read next?’
note: This is the seventh, and final, part of a short story for the July 2013 Writing Challenge. Writing prompt of the day was to have the main character lose something and/or someone important to her.
