Donna

The sound of the wood pigeons chirping quickly brought back the memories of my walks to the bus stop when I was younger. Always half asleep no matter what time my Mum sent me to bed the night before, dragging my feet not wanting to go to school.

Sitting here I look across the road and study the house opposite. Looking at it now, there is nothing too special about it. The house is an old Edwardian building that has been renovated, with beautiful flowering bushes. The sun bounces off the window right at the top of the house. It catches my eye.

Looking at this window the memories of the first time I saw her came rushing back. I must have been only ten years old or so. I was so nervous to be catching the bus on my own for the first time. My knees were slightly buckling. I was all on my own just waiting. I didn’t know whether I really wanted the bus to come or to just run home as fast as I could.

The longer I waited there, the more I could feel tears starting to fill me eyes, that when I heard it. There was someone knocking. I looked around and I couldn’t see anyone. I was really confused, and it just added to the fear that I was feeling. The knocking stopped for a little while, but when it started again, it was a lot louder and a lot more forceful. I looked and saw in the top window of the house opposite a little girl, knocking the window.

She could see me looking at her. She beamed a smile and just waved at me. I waved back at her. She had such an interesting look, I remember thinking that she reminded me of this porcelain doll that I had. She wore her light brown ringlet hair in long bunches that were tied with pink bowes and she had this pretty long white nightdress on. She was really pretty. She smiled and kept looking at me. I broke eye contact with her when a group of teenagers walked up to the bus stop. I looked back at the window, and she was gone. I was sad that my only friend had gone. When I got home that night, I asked my parents if they knew who she was, but they didn’t, they didn’t know the people who lived in that house, but I was determined to know who she was.

Each day she would be there watching me out of the window. For months we would exchange a wave and a smile. Even though I had never spoke to her in person, it wasn’t long before I felt that she was my best friend, I only hoped that she felt the same in return.

It was on a cold dewy autumn morning, I did my usual wave to Donna, but this time I took a notepad out of my bag. In large letters I wrote “Hi my name is Laney, what is yours?” At first, I saw her smile drop, but slowly she used the dew on the window to write out her name. Her name is Donna. I wrote back telling her how lovely her name was. I then on a separate page told her that I was ten and nearly eleven, I asked her how old she was? Using the dew once again she told me that she was six years old.

After I turned eleven, I started to see Donna less and less, we would occasionally exchange a smile and a wave, but eventually I stopped seeing her completely. While I made a new friendship group that I spent most of my time with, I would often think of Donna, where she had gone? What she is up to now?

It has now been over ten years since the last time I had seen Donna. Making the same walk but to catch the bus to my first ever job. Feeling the same nerves I felt all of those years ago. I look at the window remembering Donna. When I see a shadow approach the window. As I keep watching, the shadow then turns into a fully formed image of Donna. She should be in her teens now, but she wasn’t. She was still the same pretty little girl I knew all of those years ago. Deep down I think I knew that she was dead all of this time, but I was in such a desperate need of a friend I just overlooked it. Sitting here with all of these memories flooding back I smile at Donna and give her a wave.