Nyssa had always been known for her good temperament. Once, as children, she fell out of the tree we had climbed. We weren’t supposed to be climbing trees, it wasn’t ladylike, but we did it in secret. When she fell, I heard a c***k. I knew she had been hurt. She cried for a bit while I scrambled out of the tree to get to her, but once I reached the ground, she had stopped. I could see in her face that she was hurting, but she kept inside, and calmly reminded me that we couldn’t let anyone know. For two days, she existed as normal. Tending to chores, and remaining pleasant around her parents. Until, on the third day, just as she was carrying out plates to set the table for dinner, she passed out. Her parents were panicked, her father rushing to the doctor as her mother gathered her up to la
