Photo Credit: BabyBankie

[𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥: 𝟜𝟡𝟡𝟘𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤]

Sheehan Elena Shiva hummed to the tune of 'Life at its Pace' by Scooger Breagt that played from her car radio as she drove out of the village. Young children were at the stream swimming, a man was in a tractor pulling a plough as he made furrows, some children were picking apples from the orchards, some were in the field playing group games like skipping with old ropes that they had found laying on the ground, some were throwing seeds they had found on the ground to the goats which kept ignoring their feeds, and went looking for more grass, while the other children who couldn't be seen, were the more privileged ones who had a chance to go to a community public school at the edge of the country.

If there was any description that could be used to describe the country, it was that it was very peaceful.

Sheehan Shiva, a career woman, drove proudly to the community hospital, her place of work, that was situated at the edge of the city in her green fading old saloon. She was a career woman, not because she wanted to, but because she couldn't not be. She was thirty-nine, she was single, and it wasn't her fault because she couldn't force someone to love her.

The road was empty since Elena was one of the few who had cars, and one of the very few who went to work in the city. She disliked the city people for their arrogant, boastful attitude, and the city itself for the roads which was always filled with cars, and caused traffic jams regularly. Elena blared her horns as if that would make the cars move. Sheehan's phone rang, and without looking to see the caller ID, she immediately picked the call.

"Savannah, I'm behind the wheels. Call back later," she said and dropped her phone. The phone didn't ring again, but the caller dropped a message.

Out of irritation, she picked up her phone and saw that her sister, Savannah Aniko Shiva had dropped her a message. The message read, 'Sheehan, it's about my wedding tomorrow. Please buy a nice wedding cake from the city.'

Sheehan dropped her phone proudly, and blared her horn one more time at the rows of cars that was delaying her. Slowly, the cars began to move and Sheehan followed slowly.

Sheehan finally arrived at the community hospital ten minutes after nine. She didn't manage to find a car space, and after much driving and revising, she ended up parking her car beside a very small shop, made of corrugated iron sheets, that sold provisions.

Sheehan climbed out of her car not hurriedly but proudly as she always has been. The community hospital was made up of three separate plastered bungalows, whose plasters were peeling off, enclosed in a fence. The first two buildings had an inscription 'Ward House' which was where the main hospital was situated, and the last bungalow, the one which Sheehan walked into, had the inscription 'Administrator's Block'. At the front of the fence was an old fountain that was no longer pumping water out.

On getting to the building, Sheehan opened the entrance door and walked inside. She met the receptionist, a rather unkind boastful woman, who, without saying a word to Sheehan, gave her the attendance book. Sheehan marked and signed her signature on the book as proof that she came to work.

Her boss, a fat bald head, middle-aged man, in a black suit, and a pair of black loafers, came into the reception and stared at Sheehan disgustedly. He first looked at her brown hair that was made in a French pleat, then to her dark brown eyes, her coral lips, her slight plump light brown-skinned body that wore a white long-sleeved blouse, a skirt that stopped two inches below her knees, and her old-fashioned kitten heels, before he opened his mouth and said one word to Sheehan, "Late."

"Traffic jam," Sheehan replied rather unconcerned. She was tired of explaining to her boss, Mr. Paul Jade Pewter, why she was always late, especially since he knew that the city always had traffic jams. "Get to work, Mrs. Shiva," he said. She looked at the man disgustingly. He didn't believe that women older than thirty-five years could be single, and as such described women within that age as 'Mrs', something that made Sheehan angry.

"Alright, sir. But it's Miss Shiva to you," she hissed and walked to her office. Sheehan Shiva was not scared of the boss or him getting her fired, because he never did, and he never would have. He loved to have Sheehan at his place of work partly because she worked devotedly and wasn't among the city women who cheated in the business by lying about statistical records to get themselves profit, and partly because she was a country woman and he could tease her all day for being old-fashioned. Sheehan was used to it, and she didn't complain about it, as it gave her the liberty to be disrespectful to her boss as well.

Sheehan's office wasn't just Sheehan's office. It belonged to her and three other women who always kept the room in a mess. Their four different tables were kept at the four different corners of the room, and in the middle was a large multi-purpose photocopier. There was a waste-paper basket at the edge of the room between two tables that belonged to the first two women, but for some reason not known to Sheehan, they chose to ignore the waste-paper basket, and threw their rubbish on the ground.

Sheehan walked to her own table which was tidied unlike the three women. On her table was a typewriter, and beside it, a stack of A-4 papers. Sheehan dropped her black peeling leather handbag beside one of the table legs, opened a file, and began to work on it, making edits and corrections.

"Sheehan, the boss said to meet him after work," one of the women at one corner of the room said. Whether the woman said it or not, Sheehan already knew. At the end of every week, Sheehan received her wages which was basically fifteen euros, excluding additions and deductions. It wasn't a small amount for Sheehan, since she had other sources of incomes as she was a careerwoman.

"Okay," Sheehan agreed calmly not wanting to start her day with any troubles whatsoever, and continued working on the documents in her hand.

After work, which was by 3:00p.m., Sheehan went to her boss' office for her weekly payment. His office was a plastered small stuffy room that smelled of sweat. At the side of his office was a wooden shelf that held different dusty folders which contained files. Her boss sat on a wooden chair at the middle of the office, opposite a medium-sized mahogany desk which was filled with different files and documents scattered all over.

"Sir," Sheehan called her boss' attention and got closer to the table. The boss sighted her, and sighed. He brought out a used brown envelop from his drawer, and emptied its content, which was a letter, on his table. He dipped his hands into his pocket, and brought out a stack of 'five euro' notes. He counted out twenty euros from the stack, dropped the rest back in his pocket, put the money he had counted into the envelope roughly, and extended his right hand, handing the envelope to Sheehan who collected it immediately.

"If not for any other thing Mr. Paul, at least let the payments be arranged beforehand, or at least, formally," Sheehan hissed as she pointed this out.

"You've gotten your weekly payments, now get out, you country bumpkin," he said, and faced Sheehan, waiting for a reply from her. Obviously, the both of them were used to insulting themselves.

"It's better than being one of those half-headed city slickers like the one I'm talking to right now," Sheehan hissed, walked out of the door, and banged the door which never closed since the door latch was broken.

Sheehan walked to her green saloon, got in, and started the engine. First, Sheehan had to buy a nice wedding dress for her sister using the measurements given to her, then she had to buy balloons and ribbons for decorations, and a weeding cake, and then she had to buy some snacks and desert for the children, not because she had to, but because she felt compelled to.

Sheehan had to go further into the city, because the city was the best place to get quality products. Avoiding roads that were known for traffic jams, and making slow amateur turns, Sheehan finally arrived at an area of the city that sold a lot of goods. Sheehan parked her car beside a kerb, and got out of it. As Sheehan walked through the alley in the market, she observed the women and men who sold their goods in stalls, ranging from provisions, fruits and bottles of water, to phone cases, chargers, accessories and music discs.

Sheehan arrived at a small cloth shop painted in white, and came in to meet only one woman who was making amendments on a small sleeveless dress. Sheehan croaked her throat to get the woman's attention who, replying to Sheehan's croak, turned around and observed the country woman's old-fashioned dressing. The brown-skinned woman who was in her late twenties had her jet-black hair packed in a rough bun, and wore a nice blue T-shirt, a denim trouser, and an ash pair of trainers.

"Good day," the woman greeted, "how may I help you?" Sheehan dipped her right hand into her handbag, and brought out a small piece of paper.

"Use the measurements on this paper to get me a nice decent wedding gown," Sheehan said and handed the paper to the woman in front of her.

The woman looked at the paper, and then to Sheehan, "Okay...?" She stretched the word 'okay' and went into a room. Sheehan spotted a long wooden seat at the edge of the shop, and sat. The woman came out few minutes later with a baker's dozen of white wedding dresses of different designs. She pushed the dress she was amending to the other side of the wooden table, and placed the wedding gowns on the table. Sheehan walked to the tables, and the woman separated the gowns for a better look. Sheehan ignored all the sleeveless 'empire' gowns that the woman kept persuading Sheehan to buy, and picked up a simple sheath short-sleeved white wedding dress.

"How much does this cost?" Sheehan asked as she raised the gown up as if checking for errors or tears. The woman collected the gown, and checked its brand name. She opened a book, and began going through it, trying to match the name with the price on her book. Finding what she was looking for, she closed the book and told Sheehan, "Thirty euros." 

Sheehan raised the gown up, and turned it around, taking notes of the seams and designs. "This gown. Thirty euros?" Sheehan asked. 

"Yes ma, this gown was imported directly from..." 

"I don't care where this gown was imported from. But what I do know is that I'm not spending thirty euros on a gown that will be worn only once," Sheehan said. 

"Ma, this gown is of high quality," the woman said. 

"What's your best price?" Sheehan asked. Sheehan knew how to bargain, and she could do wonders with a very small amount of money. 

"Ma, thirty euros is its best price, but for you, I'll sell it at twenty-eight euros," the lady said in a bid to get the woman to buy it.

"And what is the difference between those two amounts? Sorry, but I won't spend more than twenty euros on any gown," Sheehan dropped the gown, and made to leave. Sheehan knew the tricks in bargaining, and she knew the woman would call her bag and agree to sell it her at an acceptable price when the woman would think Sheehan would seriously leave. And it worked.

Before Sheehan left the shop, the woman said, "Wait, I'll sell you the dress for twenty-five euros." Sheehan had done it, she turned around and accepted the price, a warm smile displaying on both their faces. She had to buy the dress. After all, it was her younger sister's wedding, and weddings are one in a lifetime experiences, so she had to make it memorable for her sister.

Sheehan was carrying the two-layer wedding cake she had bought at a bakery, to her car when she saw, or perhaps thought she saw, a figure at the opposite side of the street. He wore a long overcoat that covered his entire body, and a hoodie that made his face difficult to see. It shouldn't have bothered her, but what caught her attention was that a lot of people passed by the man and yet, didn't seem to notice him, and it seemed to her that he was facing no one but her.

Sheehan turned away to see if her eyes were deceiving her, and when she looked back, the male figure was gone. But Sheehan noticed that there was an envelope on the spot the man had been standing, and she was sure the envelope wasn't there before. People passed by, and stepped on the envelope, but no one seemed to take notice of it; it was as if the note was meant for her. The sun was a bit warm, and Sheehan didn't think it was necessary to disturb herself over something that wasn't her business and spoil the cake, so she walked over to her car, gently balanced the cake on her right hand, and opened the passenger's door with her left. She placed the cake on the seat, and went to the driver's seat. Sheehan started the engine, and wanted to leave, but the figure and the note seemed to have had an effect on her.

Sighing loudly, Sheehan walked to her car, and went to the spot where laid the envelope. She dusted it and walked back to her car deciding that she could read it later in the night. After all, she had nothing to lose. She put the card in her handbag, placed the handbag on the floor of the car, and drove out of the city.

It took a while before Sheehan finally reached the country. She followed the regular route, until the little houses in the village became noticeable. Sheehan drove to her home which was the third biggest house in the country, the first being the church, and the second, the school. Her house was a group of three thatched cottages enclosed in a fence, with a gazebo at the middle.

The first cottage had roses around the door, and was for her parents, the second cottage belonged to her and her siblings, but since all her sisters except Savannah had married, it belonged to Savannah, Sheehan and close relations, and the third cottage which was always filled with people, belonged to guests and other people who either had no place to sleep for the night and came to Sheehan, or didn't have a home at all. The thoughts of all the things Sheehan had done, once again brought a smile to her face.

As Sheehan parked her car beside the fence, a lot of children rushed towards it and gathered around the car. They were all screaming, 'Auntie Sheehan' continuously. Sheehan turned off the ignition, and opened the car door.

"Welcome, Auntie Sheehan," the children said as they hurriedly opened the back seat, and brought out the things she had bought. Sheehan opened the passenger's door, and carefully balanced the wedding cake on both her hands.

"Please no one should touch the wedding dress. I'll take it out myself," Sheehan said as she gave the cake to a fifteen year-old girl who gently walked to Sheehan cottage and went in. Sheehan brought out the wedding dress, and her and the children walked into the cottage. The living room was a small room with a brown two-seater sofa, and an occasional table in the middle. The children walked deeper into the house, probably the kitchen, to drop the things they had helped Sheehan to carry. They came out a few minutes later.

"How about we gather at the gazebo tonight? I bought snacks," Sheehan said, brought out five coins of one euro, and gave one euro to each group of five children to share. They jumped happily as they ran out of the cottage tossing the coin, catching it back, and yelling to inform other children to meet at the gazebo. Sheehan gently laid the wedding dress on the two-seater sofa. The girl who had earlier dropped the cake, came out of the kitchen a few minutes later.

Sheehan gave her a euro all to herself, "Here. Have this. All for you."

The girl happily collected it, "Thank you so much." Indeed she was proud, no one had ever given her anything more than ten cents a day. No child ever used more than ten cents a day, as that would mean their daily savings they had gotten from doing odd jobs would finish before a week, so giving her one euro was more than enough for her.

Savannah, Sheehan's younger sister came to the living room, and hugged her sister on seeing her.

"Welcome Sheehan. How was work?"

"Great," Sheehan replied as she handed the gown to Savannah, "just glad that tomorrow's Saturday." Savanah looked at the gown, and smiled satisfactorily.

"Oh my goodness Sheehan, this is so good! How much did you buy it?" Savannah said in excitement and folded the gown neatly.

"I'm glad you liked it. I bought it for twenty-five euros," Sheehan replied.

Savannah was the exact opposite of Sheehan in physical appearance; she had a dark brown eyes, a middle tone brown-skinned slim body, a height of five feet seven, half a feet taller than Sheehan, and she had a long black hair that she always packed in a chignon.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow," Savannah squealed in excitement. She hugged her sister one more time and said, "Thank you so much, Savannah. You're the best sister one can ever have."

"I'm just glad I could make my family proud," Sheehan said smiling. Savannah ran back up, and Sheehan slumped onto the chair to take a rest.

The time was 5:00p.m., and about thirty children were with Sheehan at the gazebo. Sheehan sat on a wooden stool while the rest of the children sat on the floor squeezing themselves together. An occasional table was at the middle of the table, and a carton of ice cream and a tin of cookies was placed on it. All the children had a little cup that was half-filled with ice cream and each of them had at least five cookies in a plate. Occasionally, a child would stand up and take one more cookie and put back in his/her plate. Sheehan smiled as she watched the children within the ages of five and sixteen eat to their fill. She was happy for both herself and the children, and she was glad that she had an important role to play in the lives of these innocent cute little children. She loved them, and they loved her back for her generosity. After few minutes of watching the kids eat, Sheehan stood up from her seat, and made to leave. "I want to go and say hello to my parents. Once you all eat to your fill, make sure to tidy this place up. I wouldn't want to see dirt," Sheehan said and walked gently out of the gazebo, careful not to step on any child. She walked to the first cottage which belonged to her parents and opened the door, "Mum? Dad?" She closed the door, as she walked into the cottage.

Sheehan sat at the edge of her 96.5cm by 203cm bed as she emptied the contents of her bag, and arranged them at their respective places. Sheehan's room was a much smaller room that had a Twin XL bed situated at the middle, and a table fan was placed at a wooden occasional table beside the bed. At the right side of the room was a small wardrobe. There was a window at the left side of the room which gave Sheehan a nice view of the gazebo. The time was 8:00p.m., and Sheehan was just about to sleep. As she tried to placed the handbag on top of the wardrobe, the bag slipped out of her hand, and the envelope Sheehan had picked up earlier in the day, came out of the handbag and fell to the floor. Sheehan picked up both the envelope and the handbag. She dropped the handbag on the bed, and sat at the edge of the bed to view the contents of the letter. The envelope had no stamp. She opened the envelope, and brought out a letter. At the back of the letter was a writing that read, '𝔉𝔬𝔯 𝔈𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔞'. It was a particular family that called Sheehan by her middle name. Brushing off the thought, and saying aloud, 'Elena is a common name', Sheehan hissed. Curiously though, she opened the letter, and began to read it:

'𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕒 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕒,' the heading wrote boldly. Sheehan got scared a bit. Still, she continued.

𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕊𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕒 𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕧𝕒,
     ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔢𝔫 𝔞 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢, ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔞𝔶 𝔟𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔩𝔶 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 𝔪𝔢. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔭 𝔢𝔵𝔞𝔠𝔱𝔩𝔶 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔬𝔴, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔦𝔪 𝔱𝔬 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔶. ℑ 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔩𝔬𝔫𝔤 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢𝔰, 𝔰𝔬 ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔪𝔞𝔨𝔢 𝔦𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔬𝔰𝔰𝔦𝔟𝔩𝔢. 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰𝔢𝔩𝔣 𝔥𝔦𝔤𝔥 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢𝔰, 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔞𝔟𝔩𝔢. 𝔈𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔞, ℑ 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔢𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔩𝔞𝔴𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯𝔰, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲, 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔡𝔦𝔡𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔠𝔩𝔞𝔴𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔣𝔲𝔩 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔴𝔢𝔯𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔲𝔟𝔟𝔬𝔯𝔫. ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔟𝔢𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔴𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔶-𝔢𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝔶𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔠𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔢𝔱 𝔪𝔢, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔠𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡. 𝔗𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔟𝔢𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔦𝔰 𝔪𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔰𝔥, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔬 𝔡𝔦𝔣𝔣𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔱𝔬 𝔟𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔢𝔡. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨𝔢𝔡 𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔟𝔯𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔯𝔢𝔡 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔰 𝔞 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡. 𝔜𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔰𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔩𝔬𝔬𝔨 𝔞𝔱 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔪𝔶 𝔢𝔫𝔡.
     𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔭𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔢 𝔪𝔬𝔰𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔬𝔫𝔩𝔶 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔬𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬𝔡𝔞𝔶, 𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔶 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔰𝔞𝔴 𝔦𝔱 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔶, 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔡 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬𝔬. 𝔄𝔰 𝔪𝔲𝔠𝔥 𝔞𝔰 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔞𝔶, ℑ 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔰 𝔪𝔶 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡. 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔦𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔪𝔞𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔞𝔶, 𝔣𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔫𝔡𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔭 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡. ℑ 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔥𝔞𝔳𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔯𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔞𝔩 𝔪𝔶 𝔦𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔱𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔨𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔥𝔬 ℑ 𝔞𝔪 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔶. ℑ 𝔩𝔞𝔲𝔤𝔥 𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔬-𝔠𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔡 𝔤𝔢𝔫𝔢𝔯𝔬𝔰𝔦𝔱𝔶, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 𝔰𝔱𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢.
     ℑ'𝔩𝔩 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔭 𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔞𝔩𝔩 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔰𝔢, 𝔟𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 ℑ 𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡 𝔱𝔬 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔫𝔬𝔱𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔱 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔠𝔬𝔬𝔩. 𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔩𝔦𝔨𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲, ℑ 𝔨𝔢𝔢𝔭 𝔪𝔶 𝔭𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔦𝔰𝔢𝔰, 𝔰𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔲𝔩𝔡 𝔫𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔡𝔬. 𝔅𝔲𝔱 𝔟𝔢𝔞𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔡, 𝔈𝔩𝔢𝔫𝔞, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔯𝔢 𝔪𝔦𝔫𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔫𝔬 𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔢𝔩𝔰𝔢'𝔰. 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔬𝔬𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔩𝔩 𝔯𝔲𝔫 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔱𝔬 𝔪𝔢, 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔤𝔢𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔢𝔫𝔰𝔢𝔰. 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔪𝔢, 𝔟𝔲𝔱 ℑ 𝔢𝔵𝔭𝔢𝔠𝔱 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔬𝔪 𝔶𝔬𝔲. 𝔅𝔢𝔠𝔞𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩 𝔟𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔫 𝔩𝔬𝔳𝔢, 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔫 𝔞𝔣𝔱𝔢𝔯 ℑ 𝔥𝔞𝔡 𝔡𝔦𝔢𝔡 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔰𝔞𝔨𝔢.
𝕃𝕠𝕥𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞,
𝓨𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓬𝓻𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓭𝓶𝓲𝓻𝓮𝓻!

 Sheehan was shocked with what she read. She walked to the window and rested her hand on the window pane. She wanted to believe that it was a prank, but she couldn't. No one in the city knew her as Elena, and no one knew about her being a friend with anybody. However, the letter did trigger some past events. If truly, this was no joke, then the person who had written this was Cheker Frederick Wilkason. Cheker was one of those lucky kids who was enrolled in the country school. His parents worked full time in the city, and as such, they all lived there even though his parents were from the country. Cheker had to go to the country every weekday, and it was in the school that he had met Sheehan. He was two years older than Sheehan. Sheehan and Cheker later became best of friends when Sheehan turned eleven. Sheehan had a flashback of what took Cheker's life at such a young age of sixteen.

It was a Saturday, and Cheker's parents had decided to go to the coast with Sheehan. Cheker and Sheehan collected shells at the beach while Cheker's parents were at the the other side of the beach enjoying the sun. A lot of older kids swam together by the bay, careful not to go deep into the sea. "Look, Cheker, I found another one," fourteen year-old Sheehan said as she waved a shell to Cheker. "Wow. It's beautiful," Cheker said, "just like you." "Aw. Thanks Cheker," Sheehan said, "now let's go find more shells." Cheker held Sheehan's hand, and made her face him. "I have a question for you Elena. Have you ever thought of...you know, getting married someday?" Cheker said. Sheehan removed her hand from Cheker's grip, and said proudly, "Cheker Frederick Wilkason, do you ever think of anything besides adult stuff? You know what, I'm going to swim in the sea." Cheker held Sheehan's hand and said, "No, Elena, the sea is not like the stream. You might drown. You know I don't know how to swim." "Well, I do," Sheehan said proudly. Cheker kept dragging Sheehan back, and Sheehan kept trying to go. Out of anger and irritation, Sheehan pushed Cheker forcefully, that he entered the sea, many feet away from the bay. Cheker tried to stay afloat, but as he brought his head out, he went back in continuously. He shouted to get the attention of people, while Sheehan was dumbstruck with fear. It took awhile before people realized what was going on, and by then, Cheker was tired of struggling. The lifeguards had told all the children to evacuate the place, as they tried to find Cheker, so Sheehan and the rest of the children had to leave. The next time Sheehan set her eyes on Cheker was a week after, during his funeral before he was buried, and she had fainted at the sight of his corpse. That was the last time Sheehan ever saw Cheker.

A tear came out of Sheehan's left eye as she recalled the moment. It was all her fault Cheker had died, and she never cared. Sheehan faced the gazebo through the window when she saw the male figure again. He stood for a second, at the middle of the gazebo, and the next second, he was gone. At the spot he stood was another envelope. Curiously, Sheehan ran down to the gazebo, picked the envelop up, and opened it. The letter in it was a very short note. Way to short to have any meaning, and yet its meaning was much. The note read:

𝓞𝓷 𝓪 𝓹𝓮𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓪 𝓫𝓻𝓲𝓭𝓮-𝓽𝓸-𝓫𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓻,
𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓽'𝓼 𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮𝓬𝓪𝓾𝓼𝓮 𝓫𝓮𝓪𝓾𝓽𝓲𝓯𝓾𝓵 𝓔𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓪, 𝓻𝓮𝓯𝓾𝓼𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓸 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓶𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓪 𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓻!

"Savannah!" Sheehan yelled immediately she understood the letter's encryption. She dropped the letter on the floor, ran back to her cottage, and went to her sister's door hoping she was not too late. With fear and curiosity, Sheehan gently opened her door to see her sister in front of a full-length mirror admiring the wedding dress she would wear tomorrow. Sheehan heaved a long sigh of relief, "Great. You're not a simmer." "Huh?" Savannah said and faced her sister. Sheehan was not a person who kept things to herself. She loved to let people know if anything was troubling her. She sat her sister on her bed which was just like Sheehan's and began, "Cheker. You know Cheker. Cheker Frederick Wilkason. He...he's here. I know it's crazy because he's dead, but you have to believe me. I don't know if he's trying to pass a message to me, I don't know what he's doing, but he's here." Savannah chuckled, and hugged her sister, "I know you miss Cheker, but please don't let it play games with your mind." "It...it's not a game. Come, I'll show you," Sheehan said, dragged her sister to her room to show her the letter, but when she got there, it wasn't there. She dragged Savannah to the gazebo to get the note, but it wasn't there either. "Believe me, Savannah, it was there," Sheehan said, but Savannah chuckled, and hugged her sister again. "Calm down, Savannah. All these are in your mind. Either that, or this is just a prank played on you. Look, you need to have some rest for my wedding tomorrow," Savannah said. Sheehan and Savannah walked back into the cottage.

The time was 10:00a.m., and Sheehan's compound was filled with a lot of people. Savannah and her husband sat on a two-seater sofa that was placed in the gazebo. They had just finished the wedding at the church, and were now having a wedding reception to celebrate Savannah's wedding. People went in and out of the gazebo giving Sheehan and her husband gifts to congratulate them. Sheehan wore a long red short-sleeved dress, and she served food and drinks to the guests. The thought of Cheker still filled her mind, but she couldn't do anything about it. As she wanted to give a man a plate, she saw the male figure standing beside her gate. The next second, he was gone, and in his place laid an envelope. Sheehan ignored it, she chose to. Sheehan knew this was real and wasn't a prank, but she believed it was a prank. Sheehan gave the man the plate, and went back into the cottage ignoring everything.

That way, Sheehan would always be the bridesmaid but never the bride. She would have admirers, but never a husband.

𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔼ℕ𝔻