The Bluestocking 2023-24

put the photo in her drawer, saying it was a safe place to protect it from the sun. Even as the days became shorter and dried-up leaves started crackling outside her window, she never took the photo out again. And when nights were more than days and pale white snow covered everything, she sat in her room under the dim yellow lamplight and watched the world from her foggy window, her past all in a blur. Sally tried loving other people too. The barista at the coffee shop next to her new school had her hair tied in a pretty ponytail, her face decorated with delicately-painted mascara. How about starting a conversation that’s not about the weather? Instead, Sally flashed a brief smile, took her latte and left. Maybe some inner urge that she managed to control was telling her to order six shots of espressos in a big cup and nothing else. The boy in her History class often wore an Oasis T-shirt. He has a similar musical taste, why not talk to him some more beyond group assignments? Sally wanted to say something that’s not “hello” and “let’s work on our presentation slides,” but her mouth dried up when the Oasis song rang in her head. And so Sally can wait / She knows it’s too late / As we’re walking on by. She remembered, despite how distant it was, that Mar often listened to this song on a MP3, sometimes with her as well. It’s my total favourite, such a great song, don’t you think? Mar would comment sometimes, ah I love the guitar riff. Sally wasn’t really a music fan, but she would smile and say, I don’t know a lot, but it sounds nice. Sally could barely remember how Mar used to sing this song while awkwardly strumming a second-hand guitar, and how Mar winced as the steel strings bruised her fingers but smiled just as hard. She almost couldn’t recall that Mar performed this song at a school talent show, who played with such unbelievable proficiency and sang like an When love ends, it’s time to move on.

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