Some Drop Like Flies

He tried to save her.

His attempts were there from the beginning but in the end, they might as well have been not present at all. They were lost anyway—left for the rain, the flame, the wind. Like the words inscribed on the inside of a brain they fell useless with the body after death, never to be revived after taking their fall.

But it wasn’t always that way. No, Alfie had his hopes earlier on, and his intentions. From the start, he had no way of knowing that they wouldn’t turn out how he expected. There wasn’t any reason to. Cornelia showed her interest originally, and continued to show it even still, but it wasn’t what he wanted it to be. Her aforementioned attention was nothing compared to his own. His entailed passion and admiration; hers was filled to the brim with friendliness and determination. See? Do they even start to compare? No, not at all.

The way he saw it, Alfie was not hopelessly in love with Corneila Frees. He just cared enough about her to try with all his might to keep her from making the wrong decisions. It appears that caring, however, wasn’t enough. If it were, she wouldn’t have chosen Oliver over him. There was surely no chance that Oliver adored Cornelia more than Alfie. None at all. But if caring additionally could win a heart, why was it that Alfie was cold-hearted and alone?

So maybe Alfie was in love with Cornelia, but there certainly wasn’t anything hopeless about it. You couldn’t call a fascination that you simply fell into and didn’t desire to fall out of hopeless. That wasn’t how it worked. But then again, how did it work? Alfie was still busy trying to figure it out. If Alfie was in fact in love with Cornelia, it didn’t make sense for him to simply lounge around as her and Oliver became more devoted to each other. Should he explain to her his feelings? Would it even matter if he did?

Unfortunately and to his dismay, he doubted it.

Alfie May still remembered the first day he met Cornelia Frees. His love for her did not root then but her beauty and mannerisms issued enough of a pull—gravitational, almost—that Alfie failed to ignore.

A strong wind blew through the streets of urban London, twisting one delightful scent through a single nostril and a variation through the other. The unkind mid-March weather was enough for Alfie to hug his thick robes closer to his body, protecting him for the most part against the blistering wind that ever so sweetly blurred his vision. He was headed for his favorite book store, the one that sat on the corner of the block straight ahead. The streets weren’t crowded due to the violently chilly weather but the walk was still cautious for Alfie as his eyes glazed over every surface in his path.

The day was as ordinary as any other. Every two weeks, Alfie went to this bookstore, surveying what was new and old, buying something new to read after every visit. Reading was his most enjoyed hobby, first to writing which he also liked immensely. It made sense. He liked the works of other people; maybe someday after he got published it would be possible that others could take pleasure in his writings as well.

He approached the shop as a rather beautiful woman was leaving. Her naturally rosy cheeks grew immediately pinker with the icy breeze and she flashed him a smile as their arms both held the door ajar.

“Good morning, madam. Cold, isn’t it?” Alfie spoke kindly. He had no intentions with Cornelia at this point in time.

“Very. The shop is warm however; I suggest you hurry inside.” She smiled again as she removed her hand from the door and left his side. “I bid you a wonderful day.”

“You as well, miss.”

Alfie roamed the shelves for only one-third of an hour before a trinket shockingly familiar caught his attention. Resting on one of the many shelves was a round and long piece of wood, intricately designed with vines and narrowed at the tip. A wand! Just as he clasped his hand around the precious item the bells on the door signaled the arrival of another customer. The light but urgent footsteps were unusual for the leisurely environment a bookstore offered. Alfie immediately presumed that this must be the owner of the wand.

His stomach knotted when the same woman he had run into only twenty minutes earlier rounded the corner and caught his eye. She knew. The look in her eyes told him that she knew and it was evident that both of their secrets were now revealed

“I should have known I was not the only one who ventured out into more highly populated villages,” Alfie indicated as he benevolently handed the woman her wand.

“Me as well. I suppose I get so caught up in my own business lately I do not even recognize my own kind when they are directly under my nose!” She smiled again, this time less confidently and with more heart. She was being personable; open.

“Well, in your defense, I will admit we are becoming increasingly better at concealing ourselves from everyday-folk.”

They became true friends that day. Not simply acquaintances; friends. Alfie quickly bought the book he had been eyeing since his arrival and they spent the rest of the day discussing their aspirations for the future. Cornelia desired to teach wizarding children how to use their magical abilities and was working with a friend in an attempt to make it happen. It was a failing project. Other folk were becoming progressively more suspicious of strange behavior and their current situation forced them to go house by house. Alfie, however, had always longed to create a long-standing business and it was through this realization that their connection became unbreakable.

They decided to put their dreams together, and with help from additional individuals, made their aspirations a reality. But along with this production, hidden deep within the network of hearts, was also the erection of perhaps Alphie’s most feared threat—falling in love?

Alphie became acquainted with Cornelia's close friend as their project took root and was also introduced to Oliver at this time, who was a wealthy wizard from the nearby country who had known Cornelia's friend since childhood. He knew of the perfect location for such a school and became the fourth person associated with its construction. Thus, problems big and small arose, and within several long years nothing could ever be the same.

But Alphie could honestly declare that he enjoyed Oliver's company early on in their friendship. He welcomed it, really, another man to hunt with and learn with; he didn’t believe that any such force (especially love) could destroy such a promising and natural companionship.

But he was very wrong.

It happened gradually, similar to Alphie’s growing love for Cornelia. As he became more admirable of her and attempted to spend more time with her, she fell slowly in love with Oliver. He became her hero, her knight, her glory—forcing Alphie, exhausted and overwhelmed in his fruitless endeavors, to incorporate a darker environment into the school. Alphie began to distance himself from the others, and also became increasingly secretive, eventually halting conversations with the others almost altogether.

This, ultimately, destroyed him.

The school was open to students nearly two years later and gained rapid popularity. This was the first major institution of its kind outside of France and further north nations and students from all across England ventured to partake in this incredible experience. Alphie, however, disagreed with the other three friends about how to run things and grew increasingly angry with them all, particularly Oliver.

Alphie left the business endeavor after its first year in business but before he left, hid secrets throughout the school, dark secrets that perhaps some bright, dark witch or wizard could catch on to decades, maybe even centuries, later.

Alphie, in his attempts to protect himself, never saw Cornelia in person again and avoided with great effort news of her life and well-being. Had she and Oliver wed? Had she passed yet? Was she still at the school? Questions like these and hundreds of others roamed through his head day after day but were masked gradually with his newfound determination to grow powerful and feared throughout the world.

He died at the age of fifty-seven while attempting a new magical intervention that could ensure flight.

And in the end, Alphie left his only true ambition behind: the one that meant saving Cornelia.