A Nurse Named Elise
A Short Story
Once upon a time, in a country not too far away, in a town so small, you would barely even notice it, there was a nurse named Elise.
Elise was — at least that’s how her friends and those who knew her would have described her — quite ordinary. She lived in an ordinary apartment, she worked in an ordinary hospital, and there had never been any scandal, the smallest bit of rumor about her.
But, and few people knew this, and those who did would never tell: Elise was anything but ordinary. More than that, she was quite extraordinary, from the roots of her blonde hair all the way to her big toe.
Annabelle met Elise on a mild summer evening, the evening of the worst day in her young life. It had been one of those evenings when the smell of rain is already in the air and the sun bathes everything in a golden glow that seems as if it was not from this world. Annabelle had just turned 18 and the lightheartedness that surrounded her felt like it would never end. Annabelle was happy, her feet were in airy sandals and she was pedalling wildly on the pink bike that she loved so much. If she had not known better, she would have thought she was flying.
She saw the man ahead of her, coming towards her, the hood of his jacket pulled deep into his eyes, and Annabelle was still thinking about how this…
