Letters to Gabriella

By Ayanda Gumbi and Lwandle Dlamini

Letters To Gabriella, is a book that only intends to inspire of different age ranges, teenagers, and young adults. The book brings in a transformative perspective or in an alternative way it seeks to revive a forgotten emotional occurrence. It outlines the willingness one would go through to do whatever it takes to persue the person they choose to love. The story hereby questions the subjects of unwritten gender principles (known as Bro-Code and Girl-Code) followed by dating issues (the countless do's and don'ts). These elemental factors are commonly what the narrative is about.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ayanda Gumbi
• Release date: Apr 25, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201439705

Book preview

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Mr B.A. Mokoena from Estcourt Senior Secondary School for editing our book. Also Mr Phumlani Mhlanga who is the author of Accidental Shithole for giving us guidance on how to go about publishing independent.

Chapter 1

She had just come out of the shower when she heard the familiar sound of her tablet’s notification tone. It must be a message from her friend she’s going out with for tonight, she thought. To her surprise when she unlocked the screen, the notification said you have one new mail tap to open. An email, at this time? She tapped curiously. The subject said: MY REFLECTION. Her mind went blank for a second; her heart skipped one beat and then started pounding harder and faster. Only one person would use those words, could it really be him? She scrolled down with her fingers trembling. She started reading:

"Dear Gabriella

I know it’s been too long since you heard from me and my letter is the last thing on your mind right now. Still, I had to get to you somehow and your e-mail address is the only contact I have. I was thinking of you the other night like I always do and I realized that it’s been seven, long years and I still haven’t found my way back to you. The truth is, I still haven’t achieved half the things I left you for. Leaving you is my biggest regret and I don’t think I can ever forgive myself for it. How can I do that really; when you have been out of my sight for such a long time but never out of my mind?

Every night I lie in my bed and think of you till I fall asleep. Sometimes I see you in my dreams, and those are the kind of nights that get me wishing the sun wouldn’t rise, so I can sleep forever and the dream wouldn’t end. I would be with you in a perfect world, for all eternity. It’s just so sad that for now I have to rely on my dreams just to be with you. I hope you still have faith in me because one day I will make it through and the whole world will know my name. So don’t you go rushing into commitment with any other, I am the only one for you.

Your first love

Ayanda"

By the time, she had done reading the letter her mood had suddenly dropped from high to low so fast she did not feel like going out no more. After all these years, she had not heard a word from him till now. After she had finally learnt to let go of all the memories, after she had finally picked up all the little pieces of her heart he had left scattered on the floor and mended them back together again. He comes back into her life again, why? Now all the memories are coming back rushing into her mind again. She clearly remembers the first day they met. It was back in high school. The school had taken a trip for all science students to sci-bono in Newtown Johannesburg.

He was two grades ahead of her and that day was the first day she saw him. She was sitting alone in a desk and he came up to her and asked if the seat next to her was reserved? She could have said yes but when she looked up there was something different with this guy. His complexion a little lighter than the rest of the kids in class, his hair looked softer and curly. His small eyes brown and glossy, they seemed to sparkle under the light. He was tall; his gold matric jersey seemed to match his complexion perfectly. She said No. while taking her bag from the seat next to her not believing any of this that was happening. He sat down and sank back to his chair trying to find the most relaxing position. 

She just stared straight ahead pretending not to notice him while she watched him from the corner of her eye. She blushed a little when she noticed him looking at her like he wanted to say something. He was even more mysterious when he finally spoke in his deep and strong Zulu accent. From his look, one would expect that he was most probably the coloured but when he spoke, his Zulu was fluent and his accent deep; it only suggested that he’s a Zulu from remote KZN. Enjoying the day so far? He had asked. Yes. She gave a straight answer; although she didn’t want to seem uninterested her mind was blank. She didn’t know what to say or how to react. Since he was a little bit more experienced at these kinds of situations, he knew that she was even more nervous than he was.

So he took control of the situation. Listen, the only reason I came up here is because when I saw you I thought that you are really cute and I would have regretted it for the rest of my life if I didn’t at least say hi. So hi! My name is Ayanda. He could see her face melt as he said those worlds. He knew exactly just how powerful that line was. He had used it many times before, it always hits the spot with any other girl and it was no different with her.

Hi, I’m Gabriella. She said still not looking straight at him.

Pleasure to meet you Gabriella; I’m just trying to figure out how come I have not seen you before.

Well, there’s more than two thousand students at school and it’s nearly impossible to know everyone.

That’s true, but not all the other kids shine with beauty like you do.

Every word that came from him melted her heart. It was like he knew exactly just what to say and how to say it. That day turned out to be the greatest day of her life, thanks to him. It was also the beginning of a great transformation of her life. Before that, she had never thought of dating until she was done with school. She never wanted any kind of distractions on her perfectly planned out life. She never had any real friends, only classmates and she always tried to avoid any kind of attention. He was one of the most popular and coolest kids in school but with her discreet life, she never knew any cool kids and nobody outside her class ever really knew her. Now the two opposites had finally met and the force of attraction was too strong to ignore. Their relationship was the most amazing thing to have happened in their lives and they only brought the best out of each other.

They became the most famous couple at school. For the first time Gabriella became the centre of attention. All the girls would do anything just to be seen with her. They tried to do everything like her. They copied her style, her behaviour and pretty much everything she did from the way she walked to the way she talked. They seemed to be under the wicked illusion that if they did like her they too would also manage to attract an awesome guy like him or most preferably Ayanda himself. Teenagers. She just laughed to the thought of just how desperate and unsecured some girls are. A few days ago, nobody really cared who she was, now she is dating him everybody is worshipping the ground, which she is walking. One thing she could never figure out is what is so special about him? He’s all super pretty and all super charming all right but that is not all that matters, right?

At this point, she wasn’t sure if she was normal like any other teenager. They all seemed very shallow like they only cared