TASK 001 - About Noah
What was their life like before?
Their relationships started out just like any good love story - boy meets girl at university. Boy falls for girl. He was studying history at York. She was studying English Literature. One night out their eyes met across the bar and the rest was history..... Or rather Noah saw a girl saying no and a man who wouldn’t listen. They spent the rest of that night together. And then the next. And then their last month of uni. Then girl had to go home to look after her sick mum and that should have been the end of it. For anyone else that would have been the end of it. But Noah, for some crazy reason, followed her.
That was how Noah ended up in Aramore. At first he stayed in the B&B to not put unwanted pressure on her family; he wanted to give them distance, if they needed it. He spent a lot of time at the castle in those days, learning everything that he could about it and the town around him. About the magic.
After a month or so, Evelyn approached him one morning. He could remember that the sun was shining, light glinting off the deep blue of the loch behind her. The wind had been tugging at her hair, pulling the strands out from behind her ear, as quickly as she pushed them back again - an eternal fight that would continue for the next 19 years. If he really thought about it, he could still see the way her eyes glistened with the tears, and the way her lips had trembled. She said she understood that it was probably hard for him, and awkward, and that he didn’t owe her anything and could leave if he wanted to.
That was when he told her he loved her. It wasn’t long after that that he’d moved in with them. Then he got a job at Nailed It! and the rest, you could say, was history.
Her mum sadly passed away a year later, but she left them with her blessing, and her home. While they discussed it briefly at the start, it was quickly decided that there was no reason to live Aramore. Sure, it reminded Evelyn of her mother and her passing, but it also reminded her of all the good times they’d had together and, more importantly, Evelyn was looking forwards to bringing up children in the same town that she’d grown up in.
Despite having a year off work, it took Evelyn no time at all to get a job at the local high school and, although he had no experience since university, when a history teaching role came up, Noah applied for that. He got it.
A year on from that he proposed, in the castle overlooking Loch Ayre in the exact same same place where they’d stood and had their first discussion. They’d been talking about their future and he’d realised that he didn’t want a future without her. Their promise was sealed with a ring of copper wire - the only thing that Noah had had in his possession at the time - and, even though he had eventually brought her a proper one, she’d worn the copper wire right up to their wedding day.
One year later and they were both still living in Evelyn’s mother’s house. Noah was now teaching History at Aramore High School full time, and Evelyn was still teaching English. One night while Noah had been getting ready for bed, Evelyn had come running up to him holding something in her hand. She was pregnant. They were pregnant. They were having a baby.
The next 6 months raced by. Their little baby was the size of a lettuce, their nursery had blue walls and an assortment of furniture was waiting to be put together. Noah had been washing the dishes when Evelyn screamed. He couldn’t remember what he had been expecting when he’d dashed into the bathroom that night, but he hadn’t been expecting the blood. It had been everywhere. All over their white tiles. That’s what had stuck in his head. The white tiles that were no longer white.
They’d rushed to the hospital but it had been too late. Evelyn had miscarried. Their lettuce was dead.
For a week or so it was difficult between them; it took 2 days for Evelyn to stop crying, and Noah wasn’t much better. But then they sat down to chat. This happened sometimes. They’d just try again. So they did.
Their next baby only made it 4 months. They’d listened to its heartbeat. They’d started on the nursery again - purple this time. This time it took Evelyn a week to stop crying. It took even longer for them to get int he right place to try again.
Almost two years after they’d gotten married, they went to see a doctor who told them that it was dangerous for Evelyn to keep trying to have a baby; that it might not be just the baby that died next time. Evelyn was distraught. All her life she’d wanted children; she’d dreamed of raising them in this town, in this house.
For the next few weeks she was inconsolable. The high school was forced to put her on leave and, most days when Noah came home from work, she’d be sat on the couch, staring into the distance. He was worried that things would never be the same again.
Then, one day, she was suddenly back - his Evelyn. He woke up to her leaning over him, smiling wider than he’d seen her smile in months. She was holding a leaflet of some kind and then she said the word that would change his life forever - Adoption.
It wasn’t long before one, two, three kids joined their little family and they finally got their dream. Maybe Aramore really was magic.
What is their life like now?
Two months before the roleplay begins, Evelyn was in a car crash. She didn’t make it. It was just supposed to be a day trip to a nearby town to pick up some new furniture for the house, but when she wasn’t home by 6, Noah knew something was wrong. He was on the phone to the police immediately and they started asking him all sorts of questions, like he was a suspect for something that hadn’t even happened.
Maybe they’d already know then; maybe they’d suspected. It was another hour before he heard the news. A hit and run. She’d died alone, lying on the road to Aramore. That was the hardest pill to swallow. The killer was never caught, but Noah doubted they’d ever be found. They probably weren’t from around this area.
The toughest part had been breaking it to the kids. But the aftermath wasn’t easy either. Everywhere Noah looked reminded him of Evelyn. This whole town embodied her. The cafe where they’d had so many dates over the years. The restaurant where they’d celebrated almost every birthday. The castle - their castle. Sometimes he just goes there to stand - to remember.
Where do they want to be in 10 years/the future?
Noah doesn’t see 10 years in the future. Noah doesn’t even see tomorrow. He takes every day as it comes, as the task that they are now Evelyn isn’t around. He does it for his kids, who count on him to be the strong one (and he’s trying, he’s trying so hard). He does it for his friends, who now only look at him with pity. He does it for himself, because he deserves to be able to move on.
He’s just not ready yet.
