Still am working on remembering what i called this one. If anyone remembers please tell me. If not, i’ll have to come up with something new. Anyway, enjoy…
Part 1
The ground was covered with a white blanket that had to be at least a foot deep. The night by itself was cold, but tonight there was a bone-chilling wind from the North. A solitary figure walked through the snow with only the moonlight to guide him. The man was covered in a dark cloak and was indistinguishable to the naked eye. Even so, he looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Occasionally, the man would let out a deep sigh while he looked at a second story window where a candle glowed. All he could see was shadows, but he already knew what was going on in there. He shuddered to think about it, and yet his mind never strayed from the thought. Earlier that evening, his wife had given birth to a baby girl, and a beautiful girl she was. Soon after her birth, both her and her mother started to have troubles. The physician whisked the baby away so that the mother would believe that the child was perfectly healthy. This, however, was not the case. The child died only minutes later in her father’s arms.
The man let out another deep sigh as he remembered how his child suddenly stopped crying. He had thought that that meant that his child was going to be all right, but he should have knew better. The next moment the physician took the child and said in a soft voice, “May she have gone on to a better place.” He then gently placed the child in its crib. Francis tried to hold back his tears, but they kept silently falling down his cheeks. After the child’s death, the physician asked him to come and support his wife. As he was about to go in, the physician gave him a word of caution. “If you know what is good for your wife, you will not mention what has become of your child. It is your duty to try and keep her spirits up.”
He did his best to comfort his wife, but soon it was too much for him to bear; he made his retreat to the gardens. He felt like a coward. He had made a promise to be by her side in both sickness and in health, but now he was breaking that promise and he felt miserable about it.
When he had first meet his wife, neither of them could have cared two cents for each other. This was probably because he was being forced to marry her. Both of them had other hopes, but they had been stuck with each other. As they got to know each other better, both became to be a little fonder of the other each day. Eventually, this fondness grew into love.
Each little event that they shared together would increase this bond. For example, the birth of their son, Henry, brought them closer together then anything else could of. Now, they would have to coupe with the death of their daughter that is if his wife would survive. He immediately pushed the thought out of his head. He needed to try to think positive.
He wiped away the new tears that had started to fall. He had to do something. There was no way that he was going to spend the whole evening moping in the garden, and no one could pay him enough to go sit by what might be his wife’s death bed. Nevertheless, he sat down on one of the many benches in the garden. He had to think of a way to help Marie and quick!
******************
In another part of town, a man was going through a very similar situation. For the past three years, he had lived completely for his wife, and now she was gone. One moment he was the happiest man in the world and the next he was a complete wreck. That night his wife had given birth to an adorable little girl. Neither he nor his wife could have been happier.
Suddenly, about an hour after the child’s birth, the mother began to receive complications. She had lost too much blood during labor and was now slowly losing her strength. The physician did everything thing he could to save her, but there was simply no hope left.
The physician did his best to break the news gently to her husband, but his mind refused to except it. He kept on all calling the physician a good for nothing liar. The physician did his best to take the abuse because he understood that it is hard to lose someone who you love deeply, but finally could not take it anymore. He made the man go and see his wife’s body, which was now cold. The man stood there for a moment before he broke down into tears.
Unlike the other man, he had known instantly that this was the woman whom he was going to spend the rest of his life with. Never did he think that their time together would cut so short. Auguste had let the tears flow quickly down his cheek. If he could, he would have locked himself in his room until the pain went away, but he was a father now.
He looked at his baby who was quietly sleeping. Every thing about her reminded him of Nicole. The color of the few strands of hair she had, her nose, her chin, she even had Nicole’s mouth. He turned the crib away from himself so that he would not have to look at the child anymore then he had to.
He knew that this way of living could not last. The child deserved to have a caring mother and father. He knew that the first one was now only possible if he was to remarry, and somehow he doubted that one. The second one was up to him, but he had his doubts about that too. How could he be a caring father if ever time he looked at the child he burst into tears?
He crept away from the child and towards the window. Outside the street was bare. It was a cold night and very few would dare to go out in it. He would be one of those few. He quickly bundled himself up, and turned to leave when his child started to cry.
He felt like hitting himself. How could he have possible thought that he could so easily escape reality even though it would have only been for a little while? He stared at his child. He found himself at a crossroad. If he took the path on the left, his child would have to suffer because of his own grief. If he took the path on the right, his daughter might have a chance to live a somewhat normal life and he would get a chance to start a new.
He knew that if he took the path on the right he might never see his daughter again, but deep in his heart he felt as if it was his only option. He quickly went to his writing desk and drew out a piece of paper. He quickly started to write a note that went like this:
To Whom It May Concern:
I know that this is a lot for me to expect from a stranger, but I feel I have no choice. I am unable to take care of my child, and do not know where else to turn. My life has been turned upside down. I am asking you to raise my child. I shall not interfere with however you decide to raise her. I only have one wish and that is that she thinks she is your natural child until her seventeenth birthday when she should be told the truth. I shall forever be in you gratitude for what you are doing for me.
Forever thanks,
A loving father
Auguste looks around the room. He finds a basket and takes out all of the contents. He hurries down to the linen closet and grabs the warmest blankets he could find. He once again returns to the child, and starts to wrap her up in the blankets. He then ever so gently places her in to the basket. He grabs twenty golden francs and places them under the baby’s legs. For a final touch, he tied the letter to the basket, and was off.
He was not sure who would end up caring his child but where he was headed he was sure someone there would take pity on her. He quietly sneaks in the palace through a secret way that was known to only a select few. He quietly creeps through the garden. He is so concentrated on his task that he does not notice the man who is watching him from a distance.
Quickly he lays the basket down on the doorstep and sneaks away the same way he came. If he had stayed a moment longer, he knew he would have taken his child and ran. Some how, he managed to stick to his original plan although he knew that his conscious would never let him live it down.