REUNION

this exercise was to create a short descriptive piece - not a complete story. I used a scene from an episode of the excellent BBC drama 'Normal People'

REUNION

The awkwardness of her high-school days had evolved into elegance. The girl without school friends was now the most popular in her university social group. Peer approval, however, hadn't healed the scars of vulnerability and self-doubt - the result of an abusive childhood in an unloving home.

A series of ill-judged relationships had reinforced her sense of worthlessness, but she was skilled in her ability to hide these feelings. Perhaps it was her innocence and shyness that her friends found so appealing, assisted by her soft-spoken Irish brogue.

She was a petite 5' 4” with dark shoulder length hair, a slight bobble on her nose and a small dimple on her chin. These were perhaps not the requisite elements of classical beauty, but she possessed an aura which seemed to pull people into her orbit. The key to her charisma was her soft brown eyes which were capable of melting the hardest of hearts.

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He hadn't seen her for several months, although a not a day had gone by in all that time when she hadn't been in his thoughts. When he arrived at the holiday house he quickly made his way through to the kitchen, exchanging brief pleasantries with her friends. He didn't intend to stop until he found her.

The door to the garden was open. As he walked into the sunlight, there she was on the lawn – pegging out the laundry with her back to him. The sun illuminated her loosely tied hair. At that moment he thought that he'd never seen anything so achingly beautiful.

She was lost in her own thoughts but a sixth sense made her turn around. There was the briefest of pauses before her mouth betrayed just a hint of a smile and, with a slight inclination of her head, she simply said “Hello”.

He was overcome with emotion. Both of them stood there fighting back the tears.