WINNER OF THE JOSHUA WEINZWEIG LITERARY MERIT AWARD, GRADE 11
LES YEUX DE L’AMOUR ____________________________________________________________ by Kailey Houle, Grade 11 A weather-beaten bus shelter stands withered in the middle of the town square; an old, three-walled structure. A piece of paper flutters in the corner like a bird stuck in a cage, singing to be released, to spread its wings. Words flow along the bars in a steady, rhythmic sound. It has no purpose here, but perhaps a treasure if found. A middle-aged woman sits beside it. “Should I pick it up?” she wonders to herself. She decides against it. Gripping it with her greasy fingers would feel like a sin. A bus pulls up, brakes screeching like nails on a blackboard, filling the air with its fumes. She sits patiently while tired travellers exit the bus. A young man angrily marches into the bus shelter. His shiny dress shoes click against the sidewalk. He looks at her briefly before absently swiping the top of the bench clean and taking a seat. The paper flutters to the ground. She watches it land in a shallow puddle. The murky water quickly stains the clean, white paper as if trying to erase the words. An anchor of sadness sinks in her stomach. She sighs heavily and rises from the plastic bench. She walks slowly up the steps, finds a spot at the back of the bus, slumps down in a seat. Her body rocks with the movement of the bus. As time passes, the gloomy clouds drift away, exposing a radiant blue sky—a circle of fire that warms the earth. The heat quickly dries the ground, leaving the paper stained and creased in place. A busy, young mom on the phone enters the bus shelter with her toddler wandering not far behind. She plops down on the plastic bench, laying her grocery bags down while the child explores the shelter like a new treasure box. Peering in the corner, the child discovers the paper. He franticly waves it in the air, desperately trying to get his mom’s attention. She ignores him and continues her conversation. The child traces his little finger across the page, following the note’s pattern. The bus arrives. The mother aggressively ends her call. She quickly grabs the child’s wrist, pulling him to the door of the bus, but he secretly holds the paper behind his back. She notices it: what she sees as trash, the child sees as a treasure. She forces the paper out of his hand and tosses it to the ground, freeing the paper before loading the bus. The boy looks out the bus window, heartbroken, and watches the paper twirl in the wind and float over the bus. The last time the boy sees the paper—it is gone. Across the street from the bus stop is a lush, green park filled with families sharing picnics and kids playing on the swings. The paper soars into the park and lands on the ground like a bird. A young girl notices the paper land. She picks it up, crumples it into a ball, and starts tossing it around with her friends. Meanwhile, an elderly man sits down heavily on a wooden bench to rest. He notices the kids laughing and recalls a time when he was their age. He ponders the moments of his life that he did not savour. Everything flew by so fast. Pictures of his family and friends appear in his mind. But one picture is clearer than all the rest. A picture of him and his wife in a wedding photo that he remembers from an old album. The special moments of their time together. The sweet sounds of a classical song play in the background… he holds the love of his life in his arms, they twirl around the freshly polished floor of a church for the first time as a married
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