If you don’t count her ageing Granny
Who shuffled crookedly from room to room
Speaking very few words, if any.
The house they shared was big and cold
No one ever came to visit
And as time went by young Lezah Ellen
Felt more alone and desperate.
She hadn’t had a friend, you see
Since around the age of four.
Her shy, her dark, her quiet ways
Meant Lezah Ellen was often ignored.
‘This is no life,’ she’d sit and sigh.
‘A big part of me is missing.’
For a great big hole where her heart should be
Was what Lezah Ellen was experiencing.
The hole, the gap, her hollow chest
For a companion it had been wanting.
And all Lezah Ellen could think about
Was a feeling of family and belonging.
One rainy night, she hatched a plan.
Lezah Ellen knew what to do.
The plan, she thought, seemed normal enough
Except maybe to me and you.
The only way to fill a hole
Right where her heart should be
Was to find one of similar shape and size
A live replacement, see?
‘That’s it!’ she said. ‘I’ll steal the hearts
Of everyone in town!
I’ll try them out, I’ll walk around
And to one I’ll narrow it down.’
The unsuspecting townsfolk
Went about their usual day
With no idea the trickery
That was bicycling their way.
‘I’m from the Test of Breath Committee,’
She told the unsuspecting.
‘One blow into this jar and, well,
I’ll tell if you’re still living.’
Then just like that into her trap
The unsuspecting strode.
They blew a breath into her jar
But it was their hearts she stole.
She stored the hearts in paraffin
In formaldehyde and ice,
Shock-frozen in liquid nitrogen
Hooked to an electric device.
Granny’s basement was overflowing
Hearts pumped from ceiling to floor.
Lezah Ellen held one and whispered to it,
‘Soon I’ll feel whole once more.’
She tried out every single heart
But none of them did fit.
Lezah Ellen was growing angry now
She shouted, ‘I WILL NOT QUIT!’
And early the next morning,
She cycled back to town,
Ready to commence once more
A second heart-stealing round.
‘I’m from the Test of Breath Committee,’
She told an unsuspecting.
‘One blow into this jar and, well,
I’ll tell if you’re still living.’
But just like that, she answered back,
‘Oh no, I simply couldn’t
My breath is mine and I’m no fool
You’ll take something that you shouldn’t.’
Not knowing what to say.
This girl was bright and light and fun and …
Opposite to her in every way.
Lezah Ellen wasn’t the happiest child,
This new girl, she could tell
As she offered out her hand and smiled,
‘Hello. My name is Hazel Nelle.’
Hazel Nelle saw past the orphan eyes
Through Lezah Ellen’s lack of laughter.
Somehow Hazel Nelle just seemed to know
It was more than a heart she was after.
‘I love music, drawing and baking.’
‘I … I love all those things, too.’
And realising they liked many things the same
Hazel Nelle knew what to do.
‘I’ve eggs and sugar and heart-shaped cutters.
You must come to my house right away!
Mother’s churning some butter as we speak.
We’ll have a fun-filled baking day!’
Mother’s kitchen was overflowing
Heart-shaped biscuits from ceiling to floor
Lezah Ellen rolled out some choc-chip dough
And couldn’t have wished for anything more.
They laughed as milk and flour spilled
All over the kitchen table.
Mother told Lezah Ellen she must come back
As often as she was able.
Lezah Ellen stood quiet for a moment
Holding a heart-shaped cookie to her chest.
It was the perfect thing to fill the hole.
It was the thing that fit the best.
