teCholin
TheyknewthatLouiseMallardhadaweakheart。Sotheybrokethebadnewssoftly。Herhusband,Brently,wasdead。
"Therewasatrainaccident,Louise,
"saidhersisterJosehine。Richardsbroughtthenews,butJosehinetoldthestory。Shesokeinbrokensentences。
"Richards。。。wasatthenewsaeroffice。Newsoftheaccidentcame。Louise。。。Louise,Brently&aos;snamewasonthelist。Brentlywaskilled,Louise。
"
Louisedidnothearthestorycoldly,assomewomenwould。Shecouldnotclosehermindorherhearttothenews。Likeasuddenstorm,hertearsbrokeout。Shecriedloudlyinhersister&aos;sarms。Then,justassuddenly,thetearsstoed。Shewenttoherroomalone。Shewantednoonewithher。Infrontofthewindowstoodanemtychair。Shesatdownandlookedoutthewindow。Shewastiredafterhertears。Herbodyfeltcold,hermindandheartwereemty。
Outsideherwindowshecouldseethetrees。Theairsmelledlikesringrain。Shecouldhearsomeonesingingfaraway。Birdssangnearthehouse。Blueskyshowedbetweentheclouds。Sherested。
Shesatquietly,butafewweaktearsstillfell。Shehadayoung,strongface。Butnowhereyesshowednothing。Shelookedoutthewindowatthebluesky。Shewasnotthinking,orseeing。Shewaswaiting。
Therewassomethingcomingtoher。Shewaswaitingforitwithfear。Whatwasit?Shedidnotknow;shecouldnotgiveitaname。Butshefeltitcomingoutfromthesky。Itreachedherthroughthesound,thesmell,thecoloroftheair。
Slowlyshebecameexcited。Herbreathcamefast,herheartbeatfaster。Shebegantoseethisthing。
Itwantedtofindherandtakeher。Shetriedtofightagainstit。Butshecouldnot。Hermindwasasweakashertwosmallwhitehands。Thenshestoedfightingagainstit。Alittlewordbrokefromherlis。
"Free,
"shesaid,
"Free,free,free!
"Theemtinessandfearlefther。Hereyesshowedherexcitement。Herheartbeatfast,andthebloodwarmedherbody。Asuddenfeelingofjoyexcitedher。
Shedidnotstotoaskifherjoywaswrong。Shesawherfreedomclearly。Shecouldnotstotothinkofsmallerthings。
Sheknewthetearswouldcomeagainwhenshesawherhusband&aos;sbody。Thekindhands,nowdeadandstill。Thelovingface,nowstillandgray。Butshelookedintothefuture。Shesawmanylongyearstocomethatwouldbelongtoheralone。Andnowsheoenedherarmstothoseyearsinwelcome。
Therewouldbenooneelsetoliveforduringhoseyears。Shewouldliveforherselfalone。Therewouldbenostrongmindabovehers。Menandwomenalwaysbelievetheycantellotherswhattodoandhowtothink。SuddenlyLouiseunderstoodhatthiswaswrong。Shecouldbreakawayandbefreeofit。
Andyet,shelovedhim-sometimes。Oftenshedidnot。Whatdidlovemeannow?Nowsheunderstoodthatfreedomisstrongerthanlove。
"Free!Bodyandmindfree!
"shesaidagain。
HersisterJosehinewaswaitingoutsidethedoor。
"Pleaseoenthedoor,
"Josehinecried,
"Youwillmakeyourselfsick。Whatareyoudoingthere,Louise?Please,lease,letmein!
"
"Goaway。Iamnotsick。
"No,shewasdrinkinginlifethroughthatoenwindow。
Shethoughtjoyfullyofallthosedaysbeforeher。Sringdays,summerdays。Allkindsofdaysthatwouldbeherown。Shebegantohoelifewouldbelong。Andjustyesterday,lifeseemedsolong!Afterawhileshegotuandoenedthedoor。
Hereyeswerebright,hercheekswerered。Shedidn&aos;tknowhowstrongandwellshelooked-sofullofjoy。Theywentdownstairs,whereRichardswaswaiting。
Amanwasoeningthedoor。ItwasBrenfiy。Hewasdirty,andtired。Hecarriedasuitcaseandanumbrella。Hewasnotkilledinthetrainaccident。Hedidn&aos;tevenknowtherewasanaccident。HewassurrisedatJosehine&aos;ssuddencry。Hedidn&aos;tunderstandwhyRichardsmovedsuddenlybetweenthem,tohideLouisefromherhusband。
ButRichardwastoolate。
Whenthedoctorscame,theysaiditwasherweakbadheart。Theysaidshediedofjoy-ofjoythatkills。