Sylvia's gaze shimmered with gentle light as she looked at Magdalen. “Magdalen, thank you.”
Magdalen replied cheerfully, “As long as you don’t mind me being a bit nosy! And don’t forget about us when you make new friends over there.”
Sylvia smiled. “Of course I won’t!”
That evening, Sylvia returned to the place she used to live.
She hadn’t been back since the family reunion, and a fine layer of dust had settled over the room.
A man’s shirt was draped over the sofa—the same one that, after that night, the dry cleaners had picked up, cleaned, and returned.
Sylvia placed the shirt back in the closet. Looking at the row of men’s shirts, she felt a rush of complicated emotions. Once she calmed down, a wave of emptiness set in.
She packed a few things she intended to take with her, then walked out onto the balcony. The two books from before and the postcard given by the girl at the old town bookstore were still on the table.
She picked up one of the books and opened to the title page, where the man’s handwriting was boldly pressed into the paper:
Sylvia
February 3rd, Hoaw Town
She put the book down and looked out into the night, recalling her first day in J City, and all the days and nights that followed. So many times, she had stood here, silently watching the city’s nightscape.
Sometimes it was peaceful, sometimes bustling, sometimes rainy and gray, sometimes dazzling and bright—yet through it all, she always felt like an outsider: quiet, detached.
Not until he appeared did those nights begin to carry new, complicated feelings.
A thought seemed to flicker through her mind, but it slipped away before she could hold on to it.
Her frowning reflection appeared in the glass—she looked like someone trapped inside a glass dome, wrestling with how to break free from her own prison.
Would leaving be her way out?
VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Find me in your labyrinth (Stella and Jonathan)