Miss Lou

Louisa went to bed early the night before. She decided to get a few more hours of sleep than usual because of her upcoming admission exam for the university of creative writing. She felt like she wasn’t good enough, but her best friend insisted on her at least trying, so she couldn’t just let her down. When the sun tickled her nose and the birds outside started chirping a small smile appeared on her face. When she slowly opened her eyes and sat up her smile dropped as fast as it came. Where the hell was she? Louisa wasn’t in her comfortable bed with her blue pillows, in fact she wasn’t in a modern bed at all. A simple white pillow and blanket filled with what felt like straw were positioned underneath and on her body which was inside what she assumed was a wooden bedframe. Louisa wondered how she managed not to hurt her back sleeping there. Three other beds and a small wardrobe filled the room and a womans back was facing her. She had light brown hair in a bun, wore a torn brown dress with big sleeves and was folding clothes. Wooden walls and only one window were what got her attention next. There was snow outside. There couldn’t be snow outside though, it was May and there should be leaves on the trees and flowers on the grass, right? A female voice distracted the girl from her thoughts and she turned to look at the woman facing her now. Louisa could see her mouth moving but she couldn’t make out the words until the woman placed her hand on her shoulder. “Louisa is everything alright? It’s almost noon and your sisters are already outside enjoying the snow.”, she asked in a weird accent. “I- Where am I?”, with that her hand covered her mouth in surprise. She had the same accent. “In your bedroom, silly. You’re acting very weird today, why don’t you go outside to get some air? And while you’re at it get some bread from the neighbors for these mushrooms.” While giving Louisa the instructions the woman handed her a small basket with the mentioned mushrooms in it, a brown apron to put over her white dress, a furry coat and leather shoes to tie. Louisa put the clothes on without asking any further. Downstairs in the living room her gaze fell on a pile of written paper shreds next to the fire place. But before she had time to wonder what those were the woman made a hand gesture for her to leave and out the door standing in snow she was. Louisa was still very confused as to where or more like ‚when‘ the hell she was. As she was stomping through the snow her eyes tried to take in every single detail around her. The woods nearby, the house she just came out of, a few children playing in the snow and lastly the new door she was about to knock on. She already raised her hand to knock when the door opened and a boy her age or older stumbled out bumping into her and knocking her to the ground. She could hear a woman inside the house scream after him: “Just wait until your father hears what you did again, you little brat! Now, do as you’re told and go get mushrooms.”  The door closed after the boy and he fell on top of Louisa. After pushing him off of her and cleaning the snow off of her clothes Louisa said: “Watch where you’re going, idiot.” The boy apologized and got up himself. “Sorry Lou, had to get away from the crazy woman.” Because of the fact that he called her “Lou” she assumed they were friends and that he’s not a stranger. Louisa wanted to start a conversation, she wanted to know what was going on. “Your Mother didn’t sound very happy. What did you even do?” When she said the word ‘Mother’ his face darkened and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Stepmother. Stop annoying me, you know I hate her. She doesn’t get to tell me what to do.” Judging from his attitude he really meant it and because it was fun to mess with people Lou grinned and mocked him a bit more: “The red handprint on your cheek says otherwise.” The boy glared at her for a second and then shrugged. “Happens. As long as my Father is away I’m fine. Did your Mother send you for bread?” He changed the subject, clearly uncomfortable. Lou took the bread from him and the boy set the basket with mushrooms down in front of the entrance while knocking. Before the woman inside could even open the door properly Lou and the boy ran away from the house, hearing her shout after them: “Thomas, I wasn’t finished with you!” So, Thomas was his name. Pretty. They dropped off the bread at which was apparently her Mother’s house and then took a walk through the snow. Thomas took her hand and started pulling her towards the woods. “Where are we going?” Lou could barely keep up with him let alone talk while running. “Our place, Lou.” When the two teenagers finally arrived at a lake Thomas let himself fall down into a pile of snow, pulling Lou down with him. She giggled and started making a snow angel and Thomas couldn’t help but laugh with the pretty brunette next to him. After they calmed down Lou asked him: “What now?” He smirked and pulled out two pairs of skids which you could put onto your shoes for ice skating. Lou shrieked excited and clapped her hands three times. Thomas chuckled and started fixing first her shoes, then his own.

Louisa was really shaky on her skates and had her arms stretched out on each side of her body to give her some sort of balance. Thomas on the other hand was a talented skater and did all sorts of spins on the ice. Once he started skating around Lou in a circle making her lose all focus, she wasn’t smiling anymore. “Thomas, stop! I mean it, I’m going to fall-“, just when she said that Lou slipped and prepared herself to land on her bottom. The girl never hit the ice though as she had Thomas who caught her just in time and held her hands now. “I’m not going to let you fall, little Miss Alcott.” Louisa then realized whose life she was in right in that moment. Louisa Alcott. Her favorite writer and poet from the 19th century. The woman who wrote the novel “little women” and changed her view on life forever. Louisa heard Thomas starting to laugh at her surprised face and then she joined him. They must’ve looked stupid if anyone had seen them. Lou decided she was done ice skating and dragged Thomas with her off the lake and to the shore. By then they had spent three hours at the lake just talking or enjoying each other’s company in silence when Thomas started humming a tune. Lou had no doubt he was musically talented. The boy suddenly pulled her up with him and positioned one hand on her waist and the other one ended up intertwining their fingers. He started swaying them around in a circle while continuing to hum. Their dance felt like it lasted hours and with the sun slowly going down behind them the atmosphere felt kind of romantic. When they sat down again to watch the sunset Thomas held her hands and Lou snuggled close to him as it was getting kind of chilly. “You’re different today.”, he said after a while. Lou turned her face to look at him. Thomas smiled at her and she stuck out her tongue making him laugh. This boy managed to make her smile and enjoy life more in a few hours than anyone from her life in 2022 ever could. She sighed and Thomas frowned while sitting up and staring her in the eyes. “You wrote something new, didn’t you? Did you rip it up yourself or did your Father burn it again?” Thomas sounded annoyed and bitter when mentioning her Father and Lou couldn’t answer him for two reasons. The first reason was that she knew what it felt like not to feel good enough and the second reason was that she just didn’t know and felt overwhelmed. It would explain the paper shred pile next to the fireplace though. Thomas sighed and began telling her how proud he was of her. How much Lou meant to him and that she needed to continue writing, not just because she was talented but because she loved it. Because she would be able to inspire so many people and not just him. He told her to never forget why she started writing in the first place. It didn’t matter if it was good or bad, it didn’t matter what other people thought about her work. The only thing that mattered was her love for writing and putting words into art.

Louisa looked at Thomas again when he was done and just seeing him this enthusiastic and with passion and believe in his voice formed tears in her eyes. Every word he said was true and Louisa needed to hear them, even though they weren’t meant for her but for her favorite female author and from a boy she got to know just a few hours ago who didn’t even know he wasn’t talking to his real Louisa. But it worked and Louisa finally understood what this entire trip to the past was supposed to tell her. Even though you don’t always believe in yourself you still have to try and push through. It’s going to be hard work and not everything will work on the first try, but it’s going to be worth it in the end. When he was finished giving her his motivation speech of pride and courage Louisa fell into his arms and gave him a big hug which he returned gladly. They stayed in that position for a few minutes. Thomas kissed her head, released her body and pulled her towards him. Louisa was sitting between his legs and cuddled into his chest as she was slowly getting cold and tried to get as much warmth from his embrace as possible. Thomas started grinning and pulled out a little note from his pocket while saying: “Guess what, even though you’re the writer I tried to write something for you.” Lou started giggling and couldn’t keep her eyes off of his lips as he read: 

„My little Miss Lou,

the one i’ve always been into.

Words on paper are her power,

I try to tell her every hour.

Such a sweet girl, 

she is a darling,

I tried not to, 

but I’m falling.

Now there’s one question left sweetheart,

will you be the girl that completes my heart?“

He wrote a poem for her. A love poem. Louisa blushed when she locked eyes with him and the atmosphere had changed from funny to flirty by then. It was truly romantic as if it had been written in a book. Lou and Thomas were facing each other and the gap between them got smaller and smaller. The boy brushed his fingers over her cheek and stared into her eyes with Louisa doing the same and they both started to lean in.

And then just when the clock stroke midnight and the town-hall clock could be heard from a distance Thomas connected his lips with hers and a warm tear rolled down Louisas cheek as she felt herself slip away.