Anne with an e- a new version of the story

Part 46- A touch of freedom

ANNE

Free. That's how Anne felt, as she walked to school on yet another cold winter morning. Finally, she had freed herself from all the negative feelings that still separated her from Gilbert, she felt so light almost as if she could float and reach infinity.

She looked at the trees of the forest almost devoid of leaves and punished by the harsh winter they never seemed so beautiful to her, because they showed themselves in the clear even at their most vulnerable moment, but kept their soul intact and pure, which would renew themselves in the spring revealing their true beauty.

Thinking of herself at that moment, Anne compared herself to them, for she also had to hide in order to fit the standards, so as not to hurt people, so as not to hurt herself, but now she was free, "free," she screamed to full lungs, marveling at the sound of the word that danced in the air in the breeze of the wind. And this newfound freedom was due to the fact that she saw Ruby Gillis as a hoax, a fraud, a despicable human being and proved it to her when she told her what she thought of Anne's origins, offending her for being an orphan.

Deep down, she had always known the truth about Ruby, turned the signs, the attitudes, but she refused to believe, because she always clung to the best of people, or what she believed to be the best of people, and was blind to anything that was contrary to what she thought. Gilbert had warned her, but she did not hear him. Cole had told her that Ruby was manipulating her and Anne recognized that, and the worst thing was that she had let herself be manipulated. Only now dids he realize that even when she told Gilbert that she loved him, she felt as if she was stealing something from someone.

This is for her loyalty,  it charged her a high price,she had left behind, the one that mattered most to the other person to be happy,she  had been faithful to her principles, and nearly lost the boy she loved, because she put their friendship in front of everything, and at the end she  discovered that, like a house of cards it all was destroyed in a second, because, to Ruby, it never was true, she had used Anne to get what she wanted, but  what she didn't know was that Anne would  take away blindfold off, see her true face.

She could not deny that She was disappointed, but not as much as she expected, it was enough just to admit her mistake and understand that she had done the best she could so that she no longer thought about it, because she had been wrong because she believed that people could change, but now she understood that in some cases maybe change was not possible.

Now all this was behind her. Life opened up for her in a whole new way. She could not only see the beauty of the world but also feel it in her skin, she no longer felt alone or abandoned. The weight she had carried by being an orphan was gone and she would never feel diminished or different because of it. It was her story, her origin, and all the suffering she had gone through was worth it, for it brought in a maturation that made it possible to understand what had happened between her and Ruby. She no longer had to cry in hiding, lament for what she did not have, for now she had everything she deserved to have, and above all she had herself.

Suddenly she felt an immense desire to see Gilbert,s he needed to see him, touch him, smell his delicious scent of lemon, feel the warmth of his embrace that was her favorite place to be, feel the love he had for her overflowing through all her pores, needed him like she had never needed before. And then, she started to run, she felt the wind messing her hair, but she didn't care, she felt young, full of life, she felt free.

She reached the school gate totally breathless. She passed her hands through her hair and realized that the ribbon she had put to hold them was gone,  as well as the new hat she had just won, she would have to explain this to Marilla later, but she did not care, because everything was so small in front of what she was feeling. She looked everywhere looking for Gilbert, and her eyes find him sitting on a bench in the courtyard, reading a book while he was waiting for her. Anne went towards him, anxious to be with him, to embrace him and feel his comforting warmth.