Chapter Text
In loving memory of
ABIGAIL ALDER
March 25, 1981 — February 7, 2022
You are invited to join the celebration of Abigail’s life at the memorial service on
Sunday, February 13, 2022
at 10.00 AM
SALEM
No matter how many times she reads the card — again and again — the words don’t make any more sense to her. No, that isn’t quite true: they make perfect sense but she has a hard time believing they are true. Just a week ago, she had been on the phone with Abigail, telling her about her newest book in the making. Just a week ago, she had laughed with her. And now Tally Craven is invited to her funeral.
Feeling like she might throw up, she drops the card before jumping off her couch. Wrong, wrong, wrong. How could this have happened? Well, apparently there had been an accident but it doesn’t make it any easier to stomach. Tally doesn’t notice she is crying at first, but when the wetness touches her hand, the redhead gasps and quickly tries to wipe them away — they just don’t want to stop falling.
For a few minutes, she stands in the middle of her living room, hugging herself and crying so freely. Tally has always believed that a good cry will make you feel better in the end but right now she feels like it might even make her feel worse. Or maybe it is just reality crashing into her. The feeling of loss leaves an ache in her heart.
It takes her another few minutes to compose herself but when she feels okay again she promptly moves to her laptop, determined to write an email to explain that there would be a delay in her manuscript due to a personal situation. There is no way she would be in the right mindset to right; especially not when she goes to the funeral. Because naturally, there is now as she is going to miss it when Abigail Alder has been such an essential part of her life since she has been a teenager.
In a way, she feels bad for being so affected by it. Abigail had been her English teacher when she first met her. It had been her favorite class; her best one too. The fact that Ms. Alder had been such a great teacher was just a bonus to her. Ever since their first essay, she had been very encouraging, telling Tally she has a natural talent for writing. That brief event had been eye-opening for her. She has always enjoyed making up stories in her head, especially when she had been younger but to have the confirmation that she might even have a special talent for it. Needless to say that Ms. Alder has been her favorite teacher ever since and she began sharing more of her stories with the older woman. Poems, short stories, unfinished novels; there had been no limits. After her graduation, they had stayed in contact via mails at first — later via phone, too. Tally had a few part time jobs but eventually Abigail had convinced her to work on finishing one of the novels she had started. That had been the most scary thing she had ever done.
It took several months for her to finish it but once it had been done she sent it to her old teacher to get some feedback. The email she received in return was enough to make her cry.
The process of getting her novel published had been a long one but when it finally had been, Tally had made sure to send the first copy to her former teacher, along with a note.
Ms. Alder,
No one deserves to have the first copy more than you do. It’s been because of your encouragement and support that this book has come to life. I am forever grateful! Thank you for believing in me.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Tally Craven
PS. Take a look inside the book.
Tally can only imagine how it must have gone: Abigail would have read the note first, smiling as soon as she realizes that Tally really wanted her to have something special. Even though she would have read it already, there is no doubt that she would read the book at least two more times. This part remains the same all the time. However, the redhead has come up with many ideas for how she might have reacted upon reading the dedication. She might have cried, she might have laughed, maybe it had been a mix of both. Either way, she is sure there must have been pride involved.
To Ms. Alder who has never stopped believing in me. The world needs more people like you.
Once again, she had received a long email in which she thanked her for this wonderful gift.
That had been two years ago. Since then she has published two more novels and with her latest one she had a breakthrough. People loved her stories, and in return Tally felt even more motivated to write. With her sheer endless creativity, no one has been surprised when she announced on her social media that a new novel was in the making.
That had been two months ago. Two months in which she worked out the details and finally shared them with the one person that has never failed to encourage her: Ms. Abigail Alder.
And now? Now her biggest support is gone.
Well, she still has her best friends – who are more like her sisters at this point – but what she gets from them is a different kind of support. Her mother? Oh, nothing had been a bigger disappointment to her than hearing that her daughter decided to become an author instead of getting an actual job. Maybe that has also been part of why she has always been so absorbed in her teacher’s approval.
Realizing she is still just standing in her living room, Tally moves to pick up the card again, placing it on the coffee table. She cannot bear looking at it again just yet. Instead, she moves out of the room over to her kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine.
The funeral is in five days, even if she doesn’t want to think about it now she will have to make arrangements for her trip soon. Flight, hotel (or rather hostel) as well as an appropriate outfit would need to be organized but fortunately, planning is another skill of hers — as far as a flight and a hostel went anyway. What would be the appropriate thing to wear at a funeral? Black, of course, plain. Nothing fancy. Sighing, has an idea what she would do about it.
The glass has been emptied far too quickly and soon again she finds herself on the phone.
“Hey Abs. Do you think you could help me out with a dress?”