Tender

Tender

E. M. Areson

The girl coughed terribly, and her couching put out the match. She shivered as she tried to light another. That time she had saw a choir and wanted to sing with them; the only thing she managed to do was cough. The time before then she had seen a feast, but the match had gone out before she could eat any of the wonderful food. The ally was cold, but home was colder, and here she wouldn’t be punished for not selling any matches. The match finally lit, and she held it close. She closed her eyes for a second.

          Death appeared in the second her eyes closed. It turned down the ally and quietly approached the girl huddled in rags. Her life had been harder then most. She hadn’t given up on her dreams yet, a sure sign she didn’t want to die. Death stood over her; it could feel she was ready, but still unwilling. Death didn’t want to take a girl so vibrant, mainly since she would try and fight. Death hated when people fought. Death reached down but she opened her eyes again. Death changed form.

“Grandma?” She whispered. “This match is the best, I saw a choir, and a feast, and a fireplace. But seeing you is best.”

Grandma smiled. Grandma was the only one to ever lover her, the only one who cared. She had died over two years ago, but she looked fine. But then Grandma stood up and kissed her forehead. The girl looked down and realized her match had almost burned out.

“Don’t go, please!” she lit every match she had, and Grandma set back down. “Oh, Grandma… Thank you… I hope the matches never die… I love you.”

          Death listened, the girl talked in short stutters as the cold waned away her strength. She would die soon, but still she didn’t give up. She must have known she was freezing to death but still she kept hope. Death looked at her matches only two were still burning. Her time was running out. Death felt another person walking down the street. Any second they would pass the ally. Death blew on the matches just enough, for a second they grew even bright then fizzled out.

          The person looked down the ally and despite the dim light saw the girl huddled in the snow; thought the person didn’t see Death. The person, a young man not much older then the girl, turned and ran down the ally. Death made itself invisible to him.

“Miss? Miss are you okay?” The boy shook the girl’s shoulders. “Miss! Miss wake up!”

          Death watched as the boy picked her up and carried her down the ally, all the wile talking to her. Death followed, her time still might come. The boy expanded he was taking her to his house, so his mother could call a doctor. Death tried to remember the boy, it was sure it’d seen him. Death remembered. The boy had been there when his grandfather died, that’s where Death knew him from. Death remembered because it had been on the boy’s fifteenth birthday, only last year.

“Okay miss, we’re almost there just hang on. Can you do that?” Death knew she could.

“Look miss there it is. Mother! Come here!” He ran up to the house and tried to open the door, but couldn’t with the girl in his arms. “Mother!”

Death watched as the door opened, and the boy’s mother came out. She did not appear happy, but her attituded changed when she saw what he was carrying.

“Goodness! What happened? Get inside, she looks like she’s frozen!”

“I think she is.”

          Death followed them in and into a small bedroom that it was once the grandfathers room. The laid the girl on the bed and the boy’s mother sent him to boil some water and get rags so she could wash the girl. The mother herself went, to what Death assumed was her own room, and got some clothes for the girl. Once the boy brought the water and rags his mother sent him to call a doctor.

          The mother washed the girl with the rags and warm water then dressed her in her own clothes. The girl still hadn’t woken when the boy returned with the doctor. The doctor, a stuffy old man, barely looked at her then said to keep her warm and feed her nothing but hot soup for two days. The doctor was paid, and he left. Finally, the mother went to bed, but the boy stayed in the room with the girl.

“I never introduced myself. I’m Senell,” He did a bit of a bow from his chair. “I hope it doesn’t make you too uncomfortable, but I think I’ll sleep in this chair tonight. You did give mother and I quite a scare for a while. What’s your name…not to talkative? That’s okay.”

If Death laughed it would have.

“Doesn’t feel right having a nameless houseguest though. Hmm, what to call you? I mean, I’m sure you’ve got a name but until you wake up we need something to call you. Found you with a bunch of matches. But Match isn’t a good name, even if it is temporary. I know! My grandfather used to call match boxes tender boxes, he said that’s what people used before matches. So, I’ll call you Tender.” He laughed.

“Tender?” A voice whispered.

Senell jumped up and ran to the side of the bed, “You’re awake?”

“Who…?”

“I’m Senell. I found you freezing to death in the snow. My mother and I have been worried sick. I better tell her you’re up,” he started to rush off.

She opened her eyes and tried to set up. “Wait. Who am I?”

Senell stopped, “You don’t know.”

“No, do you? I can’t remember anything.”

“Well, then I guess your name’s Tender. I don’t have a clue who you are.”

          Death did not have to return to that house for many years. When it did it was not for Tender or Senell or his mother, thought they all still lived there. It for an old cat. The cat was glad to finally go, it had the playmate of Senell’s daughter and Tender’s son. Never had a cat had such an adventure looking after two twins. Death saw the children before it left with the cat, it wouldn’t see them again for a long time.  

Photo by Michał Grosicki