The Blue Castle is one of my favorite books because it touches on so many heavy issues about life even in modern day terms and yet it is presented in such a way that makes it a good afternoon read or a perfect vacation traveling book. I first read it when I was seventeen and since then a few times over. There were several small events throughout the book that were mentioned in a paragraph although it could've been further envisioned. This is one of those scenes that I have crafted just for the fun of it and as a writing exercise to get going in my original works of fiction.

I do not claim any rights to the L.M. Montgomery characters used, they are just "borrowed" for a scene or two.

The Blue Castle, Chapter 28, last paragraph...

Her heart bothered her very little. When an attack threatened she was generally able to head it off with Dr. Trent's prescription. The only bad one she had was one night when she was temporarily out of medicine. And it was a bad one. For the time being, Valancy realized keenly that death was actually waiting to pounce on her any moment. But the rest of the time she would not - did not - let herself remember at all.

An extended version of that...

A mid-autumn chill is in the air even though the bright afternoon sun cast a soft glow over their island home on Lake Mistawis. Further away, dark rain clouds threaten to move in from the west. Valancy can see a plume of smoke coming from the lean-to by their cabin. Barney had been in there most of the day, she was certain that he would be there a while yet. She is content alone with herself wrapped in a warm blanket and leaning against the trunk of a shady tree by the water's edge. The waves lap gently against the rocks nearby. The winds begin to pick-up now. Valancy turns another page of the book that she is reading.

It is starting again.

She knows that her weakened heart condition is taking a turn for the worse and that it is happening quick. Her hands begin to shake as she closes her book and holds it firmly against her now irregular heartbeat. The first of the tightening painful sensations begin. Her gaze out across the sunlit water becomes a blur of sparkles and small waves. When she is able to draw-up enough energy, she takes ahold of the tree and rises up to get back inside the cabin. She knows that if she can reach her medicine then everything will be all right and that there is no need to call for Barney, not yet.

Once inside, her breathing is becoming more irregular and each footstep towards the medicine cabinet seems heavier than the last. The brown medicine bottle from Dr. Trent is just where she had left it in the small cabinet by the sink but she discovers that it is empty. After a moment of leaning against the counter with the empty bottle in hand, she gathers enough energy to get to the sofa in the small cabin's front room. Somewhere along the way, she drops her blanket and now her only comfort is a small fringed pillow that matches the old sofa. She holds it tightly, this is different from anything that she has experienced before.

Chapter 2 - coming soon