The diary, the lock and the key
By: Neo-Queen Serenity
E-Mail: serenausako@hotmail.com
Webpage: http://crystaltokyo.cjb.net 

	This is a love story.  Perhaps it is not so glamorous and 
unforgettable like those undying promises of love which happens once in a 
millennium, but this one has its own notability in a very unique way.  I 
wouldn’t call it tragedy though, because it was more of a little lack of 
courage and bravery which resulted the somehow disappointing ending. 

	There was a boy and a girl.  They were classmates in the same 
university.  The girl was an adorable 19 years old, but I wouldn’t call her 
a beauty.  She was cheerful and lively with spirit and charm.  Perhaps, it 
was her personality and unique character that exerted such strong 
attraction.  He was totally in love with her, nearly at first sight.  The 
boy was plain.  He had no special attributes which would make groups of 
girls swoon over and talk about all day long.  He was too tall, too 
ordinary, and too rugged to be called handsome.  But perhaps, the girl 
found some inner peace and security in those broad shoulders and his wide 
forehead.

	Though secretly, in fact, helplessly attracted to each other, they 
weren’t even friends.  The truth is that the girl knew the boy because her 
friends had friends which were friends with him!  This distance between them 
made the whole matter desperate, frustrating, and perhaps...alluring.  They 
weren’t outrageous, daring creatures who were capable of talking about 
anything and everything.  Both were afraid to speak up and ruin the silent 
admiration.  However, they never told each other about their feelings for 
each other.  Stealing glances at each other when others were not looking, 
they were excellent players at hide-and-seek.

	The whole charade went on days, even months after.  Until one day, 
the boy was hopelessly depressed by the girl’s up-coming 20th birthday.  She 
sent out invitations to all her friends.  Even though they weren’t so close, 
he received a card as well.  He’d wanted to impress her and grasp some 
attention for himself, but he hadn’t known what to give her as a present. He 
needed a gift, an appropriate one. He thought about the nearing date, day 
and night.  Still, he hadn’t a clue at what to give.  Roses?  That’d be too 
ordinary.  Some other present?  He couldn’t think of anything she liked in 
particular.  He thought of getting a little help from her best friends, but 
decided to go against it since those girls were major gossips in school.  

	He was trapped.

	After setting his foot through every store in town, he finally found 
one.  It was a diary.  It was not just any ordinary diary you can easily 
pick up in any stores.  This one had exquisite patterns of silver roses and 
a deep royal-blue hard cover.  Inside, the pages were perfumed and stained 
the color of soft lavender.  He remembered that it was her favorite color.  
The soft and pale color was a perfect description of herself, tender and 
sweet.  The most special part of this dairy was that it had a tiny silver 
lock for secrecy and privacy.  To open the lock, two shining gold keys came 
along with the entire package.  What he found most amusing and delightful 
was that on the delicate silver lock, there engraved the girl’s horoscope. 
  It was, indeed, a very tidy and neat present.

	The boy was once told that girls love little details and those 
beautiful, tender, mostly romantic things.  He’d wanted his gift to be 
special and unique among numerous other gifts she would, undoubtedly, 
receive as well.  On the first page of the diary, he left her a page of his 
tormenting confession and promise.  What he wrote down was passionate and 
flaming; and he thought she’d like it.  He wanted to have her understand 
his feelings, and harbored a hope that she’d share his hope with him as 
well.  It was nearly soul-consuming to keep up the whole charade.  The more 
he learned about her, the deeper his affection for her.  He feared that if 
he didn’t act out soon, she’d be taken away from him.  How dreadful it was 
to think that she’d be forever out of his life?  

	Then, he hesitated.  He knew that she’d open all birthday gifts in 
front of her friends, and praise each one of them.  That was so much like 
her, open and friendly.  He couldn’t help but start wondering, how will she 
react at the discovery of this diary?  Would he embarrass her in front of 
her friends?  That’d be most likely to happen if she did not share his 
feelings; and it’s too painful to consider the matter that way.

	After a night of tossing back and forth, he decided to lock the 
diary and keep the keys to himself.  Then when the party is over, he would 
find an excuse to stay a little later and give her the keys.  That way, he 
wouldn’t embarrass both of them.

	Her party went on extremely well, and he couldn’t help but smile at 
her mesmerizing eyes with fond admiration.  But he shared none of the 
merriment like her other friends.  That little gold key weighed heavily in 
his pocket.  She looked phenomenal with that neat dress of white cotton.  
Her face glowed with a healthy pink, and the whole room lightened up 
whenever she smiled.  He loved the way the light caught the gold strands in 
her beautiful hair, making them shine with elegant beauty.  He looked back 
at the pile of gifts gathered on her bed, waiting to be opened and examined. 
 He spotted his own and winced at the image of her response.  Torn between 
doubt and hesitation, he endured the painful moments until present time.

	She and all her friends, including him, helped open her gifts one by 
one.  A very tall friend of hers gave her a beautiful white bear.  A soft 
and puffy white bear.  He didn’t like the bear.  Although it was adorable 
and cheerful, he’d thought it flattering and unrealistic.  She picked up his 
diary curiously which made him draw in an unsteady breath.  Fingering the 
cool hard cover, she commented about the exquisite coloring.  Everyone else 
took a look at it and admitted that it was indeed a very special piece.  
They were fascinated by the little, mysterious silver lock and inquired 
about the missing keys.  He made an excuse about leaving the keys at home 
and promised to give it to her sometime later.  With obvious disappointment, 
she agreed.

	The boy came back 3 weeks later, after an exchange program out of 
town.  He went straight to the girl, desperately trying to tell her his 
feelings for it was painfully tormenting to his soul to pretend any longer. 
 He missed her terribly, he had to tell her.  With his mind set, he knocked 
on her door.

	She opened the door, silence enveloped the room.  It seemed that she 
had some guest---he was the one who gave her that white bear 3 weeks ago.  
Standing next to the girl, he challenged the boy’s eyes, clearly declaring 
that she was his own.  The girl stood quietly, expecting him to explain his 
surprise visit.  He held on to that little gold key so tightly within his 
pocket that the boy once more cowered.  He had just realized that everything 
was now too late.  That key had already lost its meaning and use.  Excusing 
himself about his sudden intrusion, the boy quickly left.  The girl leaned 
against her door, gazing after his retreating back with disappointment and 
longing.

	Running nowhere with blind rage, he ended up by a small water 
fountain.  He stopped and gazed at the splashing waters.  With his hand 
pulled out from the pocket, the tiny key landed into the water swiftly, 
until it touched the bottom.  Watching it, his hope sank and concluded that 
she didn’t need him.  He made up his mind, he had to forget about her.  
Perhaps this was a mistake ever since from the beginning: a gold key will 
never be able to open a silver lock...

	Nearly 8 years later, they were both married and had their own 
respective family.  She had a husband, that boy who had given her the white 
bear while he had another woman as a wife.  They were mere friends now, 
greeting and nodding on the street.

	One day, the girl’s 3 years-old son found an old diary in his 
mommy’s drawer.  While playing with it, he cried and whined to have it 
opened.  The diary was locked; and she didn’t have the key.   The girl 
found a hammer and broke the silver lock.  She hadn’t expect to read the 
contents in that diary.  On the first page, the diary revealed the boy’s 
confession that was delivered 8 years late.  

	She was shocked and unbelieving.  Why didn’t he give her the key?  
Or at least tell her that he...

	She burned the diary, afterwards.  With a new pile of ashes, she 
never told him anything about her discovery.  Both of them never again 
mentioned anything about her birthday present.  The old, silver lock and 
that sunken gold key were forever buried and cherish by secret memories...


The End.