Nate and Estella | Teen Ink

Nate and Estella MAG

July 14, 2008
By Matthew_C BRONZE, Great Neck, New York
Matthew_C BRONZE, Great Neck, New York
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"There is a beauty in the world, though it's harsher than we expect it to be."
Michael Cunningham


Nate was to be married.

She was a blandly pretty girl of 24 named Joan. She had darting brown eyes and short black hair, with a face so mild that it withered from memory after a good night’s sleep. Her voice was prickly and clipped. She never spoke more than she needed to, and having a conversation with her was about as productive as trying to spark a fire in the middle of a snowstorm using two splinters of plastic.

His parents were ecstatic. She was studying to be an anesthesiologist at a prestigious college in the West, and her parents were famous musicians. As far as Nate’s parents were concerned, she held the highest pedigree, especially ­considering Nate was “Mediocre with a capital M.”

Nate wasn’t exactly sure what had driven him to propose. In fact, he didn’t remember much about their relationship, which was odd, for they had been together for two years. They had gone to dinners and plays and the occasional movie, but Nate found the memories decidedly fuzzy, as if someone had swept across the drying ink with a steady hand. Perhaps it was because she was so quiet, so expressionless. She didn’t project the profound, delicate silence that suggested great depth; rather, hers was a dreary ­quiet that one would expect from a contemplative sloth digesting a bulky meal.

He supposed he had proposed because he knew that he had netted a rather formidable catch. Nate wasn’t exactly handsome, nor was he especially intelligent. He was a “straddler” – clever enough to be dissatisfied but not talented enough to jump the fence – while Joan had made it in one clean leap.

Estella was a horse of a different color: an exceedingly independent girl with a fiery temper and a personality so vivid that the best word to describe her would be uncontainable. She had literally crashed into his life; her bicycle had landed Nate in the hospital for a week. She visited him every day, and he was ­utterly fascinated by her fearlessness: she walked with such command, and spoke with such unabashed gusto.

He was also struck by the prominence of her features. She was not a typically pretty girl: her hair was rambunctiously curly, her skin peppered with rusty freckles, and she was in a perpetual slouch. Yet there was something magnetic about that jutting jaw and those questioning dark eyes, something that suggested that within the modest frame existed a great, flaming entity awaiting release. They had remained close during high school, and their friendship grew when they landed at the same college.

It was on a cold February morning, a week before Nate’s wedding, when he and Estella met for their customary picnic in Bannister Woods.

“Take a walk with me.”

“It’s all of two degrees, Stella.”

“You have your coat.”

“It’s a pullover, and a rather measly one at that.”

“Take mine.”

“Absolutely not!”

“If you don’t, I’m just leaving it here.”

“You’re such a bother.”

“And you’re such a little girl. Here, we’ll share it.”

Nate flinched as she entwined her arms around his waist; such a sudden, ­intimate gesture. The two were always playful, but it was a platonic, comfortable sort of warmth. He hadn’t ever had the nerve to go further, but if there was one thing Estella Golightly had in abundance, it was nerve. As such, she would often ignite those tantalizing little sparks and Nate would be completely frazzled, as if a blind mechanic had just re-assembled his innards. He found it even stranger that she seemed oblivious to what she was doing. It was impossible to believe that she didn’t realize that he felt on the verge of liquefaction.

The forest was perfectly silent. The trees were stripped bare, and the ground was covered in a layer of pale white.

“You’d like her,” he said. The words darted out of his mouth like fish in a pond. He could picture her eyebrow rising in mild amusement.

“I suppose. You never say much about her.”

The snowflakes ghosted overhead like wisps of smoke.

“You can come to the wedding?”

“Of course,” she replied in a hollow voice. She sounded terribly bored, and tugged at a stray strand of hair with unusual force. Nate felt a strange sensation like a rash creeping up his ankles. He opened his mouth, when he felt Estella shudder and gasp.

“Look!” She pointed to a small, quivering creature under a maple tree. She threw off the coat in one motion and scooped up the little ball with shaking hands. It was a cardinal. Something had sliced its underside, and its delicate wings were twisted. Its plumage was no longer a bright scarlet like its contemporaries but a deep maroon, making it ­resemble a pulsing internal organ.

It gave a final shudder before falling limp, and the difference was extraordinary. It was so utterly unalive, a crumpled ball of nothingness, and Nate was stunned at how the bird seemed to have become smaller, as the space around it seemed to shrink. Its eyes, drops of perfect black, were dull and listless. Nate was reminded of his TV set, a cheap little thing he had found in the parking lot, and how the crackling image would swirl into the center of the screen when he turned it off. It seemed impossible that this thing, this cold imitation, had once been part of the world, with its bustling people and noisy machines.

Estella sighed. She took off her hat, ­revealing tightly coiled brown hair. With impossible delicacy, she wrapped the animal in it and placed the bundle in a knothole.

They continued to walk. The air was colder and as sharp as a whetted knitting needle but an element of clarity accompanied the frost. Perhaps it was the change of scenery: the fact that the lights of the city and the honking of cars had faded into a hazy echo, coupled with the growing denseness of the trees and the narrowing path. The snow continued to fall lazily. The flakes were as delicate as powdered sugar and white to the point of transparency.

“What a glorious place. It’s strange, ­isn’t it? The idea of something so … so transcendent existing in an infested city, I mean. I doubt you could ever find anything half as beautiful anywhere in the world.”

Nate opened his mouth. He was hoping to say something profound that would sum up the wistful elegance of the forest in one sweeping statement; indeed, the words were simmering in his throat, waiting to be freed. Yet they were hopelessly tangled, woefully unpolished. The usual frustration spread through his limbs. The chances of him achieving anything close to his desired response were negligible, so he settled for a nod.

“When I die, I want to be buried right there, next to that maple. I’d melt away into the soil and always be a part of this hidden sanctuary, away from all that noisy nonsense. And the trees would grow so large and dense that even those filthy whirring saws would be unable to penetrate their bark, and it’ll remain just as it is, even when the rest of the world falls to shambles.”

Nate nodded. They were by the lake now, a sheet of frosty glass.

“She’s a nice, smart girl,” said Nate. He regretted this the moment he heard himself speak. The words sounded clumsy, almost apologetic.

“I’d think so. She couldn’t have gotten into such a great university by sitting on her derrière and eating cheese puffs.”

“She’s also got several noteworthy qualities: she’s honest, always asks what I would prefer and … she’s very nice,” he said.

“Right.”

They had passed the lake now. Somewhere far away they heard bells ringing.

“There it is!” Estella said, pointing a fuzzy finger toward the east. “The witch’s cottage!”

Nate smiled, and gave Estella a little knock on the head. “You’re so full of it.”

“No, really.” She grabbed Nate’s arm and pulled him toward the dilapidated hut. There was a bronze plaque on the door, but the words were impossible to read. The harsh wind had ground the letters down into indecipherable stubs. ­Estella frowned. “Ah, well, you’ll have to take my word for it.”

Nate laughed.

“Why’d you bring me here?” he asked.

Estella nodded toward what looked like an oddly shaped boulder. Upon closer examination, however, Nate saw it was a well. Like the plaque, it had been sanded down. Yet there was something imposing about the heap of stone and mortar. It exuded self-satisfaction: it had weathered the storm and achieved a degree of petulant majesty.

Nate gave Estella a withering look. “Breathtaking. Now can we go?”

“Ho, ho. I suppose I can’t tell you the secret now.”

“Secret?”

“I’m not sure if it’s interesting enough to receive the attention of the fabulous Nate Vaughan.”

“I give you my sincere apologies, madam. Now, what about that secret?”

“Well, I’ve read that whispering into a witch’s well is supposed to grant you a wish.”

Nate snorted.

“Fine. You stay here.” She ran to the well and placed her hands firmly on the stone before tilting her head down. Nate was reminded of an ostrich. A minute later, she popped back up.

“Done. Come on, Nate. We’ll probably never have a chance to do this again.”

Nate was struck by an unexpected pang of sadness. He felt numb, and his vision turned cloudy for a flickering moment. While he could move his limbs with ease, there was something oddly disconnected about them, something foreign, as if he were being controlled by a joystick.

“Come on!” Her voice sounded strangely distant.

Nate staggered toward the well, and Estella gave him a light pat on the back before walking toward the cottage.

He clasped the edge of the well, closed his eyes, and whispered.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 119 comments.


katie-cat GOLD said...
on Feb. 15 2010 at 12:45 pm
katie-cat GOLD, McClellandtown, Pennsylvania
13 articles 0 photos 163 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Look after my heart, I've left it with you."- Edward Cullen
"To love another person is to see the face of God . . ."- Les Miserables
"Don't say the old lady screamed. Bring her out and let her scream." - Mark Twain

this was one of the first articles i'd ever read on this site. After a while i kept looking for it and couldn't find it until today. I really liked it, especially the ending. You're a very good writer.

mandygale77 said...
on Feb. 15 2010 at 11:36 am
Amazing!!!!!!!

on Feb. 15 2010 at 10:10 am
manga_maniac SILVER, Bloomington, Indiana
8 articles 1 photo 79 comments
that was amazing i was utterly captivated

cass said...
on Feb. 15 2010 at 9:05 am
i wanted to know what happened after the wish and its great that you kept me intruiged. really talented writing. Keep it up!

Thrush BRONZE said...
on Jan. 24 2010 at 5:19 pm
Thrush BRONZE, Tegaad, Other
4 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Live life to it's fullest extent, it's the only life you've got" "Enjoy yourself, be yourself, love yourself"

wow that's great.. I like it... really magical

on Jan. 24 2010 at 4:37 pm
Lost-In-Life GOLD, Whitby, Other
11 articles 0 photos 299 comments

Favorite Quote:
It's never to late, if it weren't for the last minute many things would never get done!

Love it, one question though, why would he propose when it's clear he doesn't love her? Sorry not criticizing just asking.

on Jan. 24 2010 at 2:18 pm
Alpha-Lyrae GOLD, Toronto, ON, Other
13 articles 3 photos 37 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night." -Galileo Galilei
"In the Beginning, the universe was created. This made a lot of people angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." -Douglas Adams

This is so well written, and so beautiful and.....real seeming, just one of those simple little things you come across and happen to glance at, and only then see the true depth of it. Brilliant.

Lahari GOLD said...
on Jan. 24 2010 at 11:36 am
Lahari GOLD, Edison, New Jersey
19 articles 0 photos 71 comments

Favorite Quote:
\\\\\\\"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That\\\\\\\'s why its called the present.\\\\\\\"
— Eleanor Roosevelt

\\\\\\\"When life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and watch as the world wonders how you did it.\\\\\\\'

awwwwww. . i wannted to now what his wish was!

on Jan. 24 2010 at 10:46 am
wombatz-rule GOLD, Montrose, Minnesota
15 articles 0 photos 53 comments
This is amazing. At the end, I was actually sad to read the last words! I wanted it to continue on until I knew Nate was happy with Estella...excellent style and prose. You kept me intrigued, and that is really important. Keep up the absolutely amazing work!

on Jan. 24 2010 at 8:27 am
Adele Campbell BRONZE, Noblesville, Indiana
2 articles 0 photos 11 comments
This is beautiful! I loved how you described Joan! I loved your simile '...and having a conversation with her was about as productive as trying to spark a fire in the middle of a snowstorm using two splinters of plastic.'

The Estella in your story reminds me of the Estella in the book 'Great expectations'.

on Jan. 2 2010 at 8:36 pm
Michellebrain GOLD, Brooklyn, New York
12 articles 0 photos 62 comments

Favorite Quote:
“A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left.”
-Marilyn Monroe

really nice story! loved it! you are very very talented! please read my work i am new so no one really read my stuff yet. i need feedback please!

on Jan. 2 2010 at 5:50 pm
sweetxluv BRONZE, Joelton, Tennessee
4 articles 2 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
Elie Wiesel put it best: “None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness… Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

i loved the way u wrte .

its really good.

on Jan. 2 2010 at 5:10 pm
fantasyfreak294 BRONZE, Somewhere Cool, Texas
3 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
it's not what you say you do that matters, it's what you show you do.

you are a very, very talented author. Your dialogue is so believable that I felt like I'd stepped right into the scene with them! Keep it up!

Jill said...
on Jan. 2 2010 at 2:23 pm
Wish I could write like that :-)

on Jan. 2 2010 at 2:03 pm
literaryaddict PLATINUM, Albuquerque, New Mexico
23 articles 3 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
"We're almost there and no where near it. All that matters is that we're going." Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
"The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound." Lady Bracknell, The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde

oh my gosh you are such a talented writer!! the descriptions and word choices were excellent and added so much to an already great story line

KatAnne SILVER said...
on Jan. 2 2010 at 12:04 pm
KatAnne SILVER, Meadville, Pennsylvania
8 articles 1 photo 165 comments

Favorite Quote:
http://teenink.com/fiction/realistic_fiction/article/128063/Sweet-Sixteen/
http://teenink.com/fiction/romance/article/129766/It-Just-Happened/
http://teenink.com/fiction/romance/article/162872/Forbidden-Love-and-Great-Adventure-Part-One

It was a little confusing in the beginning but it was very good. I loved the story line.

JHale_44 GOLD said...
on Dec. 19 2009 at 5:42 pm
JHale_44 GOLD, Roseville, Michigan
18 articles 0 photos 44 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Love is a mystery, and a lot of mysteries dont get sloved."

- Ivory Tears

Dang. That was a good story.

on Dec. 11 2009 at 11:03 pm
sasssgirrrl22 PLATINUM, Pearl River, New York
27 articles 0 photos 266 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Giving up is not a part of my vocabulary."
"Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."
"Truth be told I miss ya, truth be told I'm lying."

luv this story. very descriptive. plz write more!

on Dec. 11 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hannah52896 BRONZE, Charlotte, North Carolina
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You are never too young or too old to find your true talent."

That was very good. So descriptive and has so many details. I wish that you would write more. That story is so good that you should make a book. And you are a very talented writer. I will look out for your book if you get it published!! :)

DEMON said...
on Dec. 11 2009 at 5:44 pm
"Nate and Estella" I give you, Darian and Clara, in...<br />
RAZED EXPECTATIONS<br />
Wisps of smoke danced into the wintry air from my lips, creating ornate designs that could never be replicated. I carefully tilted the corners of my lips into a smile that I meant to be wry. Of course, it's difficult to articulate emotions that I can't feel, but I find that irony is relatively simple to demonstrate. I inhaled the toxic vapors of the cigarette casually. Its sinister, black cancer couldn't cripple a seventeen-year-old boy with no lungs, let alone a heart. <br />
I glanced in the direction of the horizon, and flinched. The sun was dying flamboyantly, casting its radiant colors across the sky. Its last waves of light caressed my cold, pale skin. I wanted to snarl rebelliously as I felt its warmth slide against me deviously. <br />
“Beautiful, isn’t it?”<br />
My muscles went rigid, and I had to focus madly on controlling my shaking hands. I would know that voice, that beautiful, disastrous voice, in the realms beyond that of Earth. I grated my teeth, reeling in the disturbing sensations that she unknowingly always aroused in me. <br />
I cocked my body towards her arrogantly, and lifted my mouth into a crooked crescent moon. I felt my eyes flashing, but I worked vehemently to fixate an arctic, hard tone into the dark of my indigo irises.<br />
“I find the sunset lifeless and meaningless, actually,” I countered flatly, and a beat too late. <br />
She laughed merrily, and I struggled within myself as my mind and body became entranced by the beautiful movement of her laughter as the colors of the sun played about her.<br />
“You amuse me, Darian. How can you have such a pessimistic view of the world? The sun will not be lifeless until it disappears beneath the horizon, and the night falls. It’ll rise tomorrow, though,” she said. <br />
I dared not think of her name. I hated the way my soul-if I had a soul-thrilled when her voice lingered over my name. It reminded me of music. I had to close my mind defiantly as I thought of music. I wanted nothing that resembled passion. <br />
“That’s an inane notion that foolish women entertain. You want poetry, and ridiculous vows of forever. You aren’t difficult to read. If you want that sunset to mean something, then you want unrequited love. It doesn’t work like that,” I growled unmercifully, angry at her for unleashing the flood of feelings upon me. <br />
Her lovely green eyes shifted into hard emeralds. <br />
“What do you know about me, Dare? And what’s so wrong with having dreams? And why are you talking to me like that? I was simply commenting on the sunset.” She tossed her red curls, clearly miffed. <br />
I lifted my chin, and blew smoke in her face. It was easier on me when she was angry. I don’t know why she bothered with me. Why she was brave enough to confront me. Why she didn’t follow the laws of the superficial high school we both attended. Why she didn’t stay away from me, like everyone else. <br />
“You’ll die from that smoking, Darian.” She glared at me. We’d had this argument a lot. I lifted my eyebrows, and turned away from her, signaling that the conversation was over. <br />
She didn’t obey, and I sighed. <br />
“You know, Dare, you could let yourself feel. You could understand it.” Her voice was soft, a whisper in the darkening air. She was air. My air.<br />
I reviled the potency of the emotions I could feel pulsing through me. I ran a hand through my black hair nervously, my body skidding with strange, unfamiliar energy. I didn’t want to answer her. Why didn’t she leave?<br />
I made a fatal mistake when I looked at her. Every nerve inside of me screamed, as though my body and internal organs were recharging hurriedly in the rare moment of my awakening.