**The Secret of the Old Photograph**
James and Emily studied in the same class. She was just another girl—nothing special. But whether it was the right time to fall in love or something in her had changed, James suddenly looked at her differently, as if he was seeing her for the first time. The world around him spun upside down, everything altered in the eyes of a smitten young man.
After lectures, he’d wait for her by the university gates. But one day, she dashed past without noticing him, straight to another young man, and they walked away together. James stood there, watching until they vanished from sight, bitterness gnawing at his chest.
What had he expected? That she’d wait forever for him to finally see her? A girl like Emily was bound to have someone.
Then, one day, she arrived at university with red-rimmed eyes, quiet and distant. Again, he waited for her outside. This time, no one came to meet her. Gathering his courage, he approached.
“Going home?” he asked.
“No. To my grandmother’s. I’m staying with her. She’s ill.”
Emily explained her grandmother’s high blood pressure, her aching joints—how spring always made it worse. She hardly left the house anymore.
James walked beside her, barely listening, floating on cloud nine. His heart pounded joyously, her name pulsing in his mind—*Emily, Emily, Emily.*
She lived three stops from campus.
“Sorry, I can’t invite you in. Gran’s not well,” she apologized at her door.
The next day, he asked after her grandmother.
“She’s okay. But Mum came last night with her new husband. Gran got so upset her pressure spiked—we had to call an ambulance. She should never have come,” Emily muttered.
*Ah. So Emily’s stepfather is the problem. Maybe that’s why she moved in with her gran?* But James didn’t pry.
Before the summer exams, Emily’s grandmother passed away. James stayed by her side, steadying her through the grief. After the funeral, Emily remained in her grandmother’s flat.
“Aren’t you afraid of Gran’s ghost?” James teased once as he walked her home.
“No. She wasn’t an angel, but she was kind to me.”
One evening, James finally asked the question burning in his mind—where was the guy who used to meet her at uni? Her face twisted.
“He married my mother,” she whispered, lowering her head. “Imagine that—he’s my stepdad now.”
After their first exam, Emily invited him over. The flat felt like a time capsule—heavy old furniture, faded wallpaper. On the table lay a dusty photo album.
“Mind if I look?” he asked.
“Go ahead. I was picking a photo for Gran’s grave…” Emily joined him on the sofa, flipping through memories with quiet comments.
“Me as a baby. Mum and Dad at their wedding—before I was born.”
“Your parents divorced?” he asked, recalling her mother’s recent marriage.
“Yeah. Dad couldn’t handle Mum’s temper. They split when I was little. He’s got another family now. We don’t talk.”
“And this?” James pointed to a stern-faced woman with thin lips and a hardened glare.
“That’s Gran, unfiltered. Lately, she was like that.” Emily turned the page. “Here she is young. Beautiful, wasn’t she?”
A radiant girl in a floral dress smiled from the photo. James barely recognized her but stayed silent.
Emily flipped again.
“Wait—go back,” he said suddenly. “Is this your gran, too?” The same young woman stood arm in arm with a man. “Who’s that with her?”
“No idea. A friend or relative, maybe. Gran never looked at this album with me.” She frowned. “James? What’s wrong?”
He slammed the album shut, dust swirling. “I should go. I’ll call tomorrow.” At the door, he hesitated—words tangled on his tongue—then left.
Instead of going home, James crossed London to his grandfather’s house, staring blankly out the train window the whole way.
“James?! Been ages. Come in,” his grandfather beamed.
“How’s uni? Passing everything? Any trouble?”
“All fine. Aced my first exam today.”
“Brilliant. Let’s celebrate.” His grandfather bustled off to the kitchen. James lingered by the bookshelf.
“What’re you after?” His grandfather’s quiet return startled him.
“That photo album of yours…”
“Ah. Moved it down here.” His grandfather pulled it from a lower drawer. “Who’re you looking for?” His gaze sharpened.
James flipped through the pages—then froze. Between them lay a torn half of a photograph.
“This is you. Why’s it cut? Who was on the other side?”
His grandfather flinched. “No one. Just half a photo.” But anxiety flickered in his eyes.
“See, I was at a girl’s flat today. She showed me her gran’s album. There’s the same photo—whole. You’re hugging a young woman. Emily’s grandmother.”
His grandfather shot up, pacing before vanishing into the kitchen. Minutes passed. James found him slumped at the table, head in his hands.
“You alright?” James set the torn photo down.
“Your girl’s name—what is it?”
“Emily.”
“Her grandmother’s?”
James remembered the dates on the back of a framed photo in Emily’s flat. A full name.
“Margaret Elizabeth Carter. Did you know her well? Before Gran?”
“Just tell me,” his grandfather rasped.
“Margaret Elizabeth Carter,” James repeated.
His grandfather closed his eyes.
“Life’s a circle, son. Run all you like—the past always catches up.” He sighed deeply, suddenly smaller, older.
James had never seen him like this.
“Grandad, I get it. You don’t want to talk. But I love Emily. I need to know what tied you to her gran. Will you tell me?”
“What’s the secret? Just regrets.” A pause. “Fine. Youth makes mistakes. Maybe you’ll learn.”
“Emily’s not a mistake.”
“You’ll see.”
***
“Born just after the war. Believed in the country, did my duty—school, army, then the railway works. That’s where I met Margaret—*Maggie.* Stunning, she was. I was mad for her.”
“Lads warned me. Said she’d had plenty of suitors, none kind in hindsight. But I was blind. Brought her flowers, walked her home—then one day, she let me. Proposed not long after. To my shock, she said yes.”
“We married quick. Got a flat through the railway. I was over the moon. At first, it was grand. Then I noticed—she’d filled out. A belly where there shouldn’t be. Asked her straight. She told me the truth.”
“*Think they’d house us if I weren’t pregnant? I’d never have looked at you twice.*”
“The words near killed me. Loved her anyway. Forgave her.”
“Then one day, I came home—her boss sat at my table like he owned the place. I threw him out. After that? Lost my job. Maggie dropped the act—never loved me. Packed a case, left with nowhere to go.”
“Found work on the docks. Met your gran. Not a beauty, but steady. Good cook. After Maggie, I craved normal. Didn’t realize what I had.”
“We had a son first. Drowned at seven. A year later, your dad came along. Council house after that.”
“Ran into Maggie once. Thought I was over her. Wasn’t. She’d had a daughter, but her boss never left his wife. Sent the girl to her parents’ farm—out of the way.”
“She begged me back later. Said she was dying. Played on my guilt. Bought her medicine, gave her money. Your gran saw through it. *Go to her, then. We’ll manage.* Not a tear. Strongest woman I knew.”
“Stood there with that same case—couldn’t leave. She was right. Maggie lied. Only just died now, it seems. God rest her.”
“Your gran? Heart trouble after we buried our boy. Lived with it. My fault.”
***
“And now you’re in love with Maggie’s granddaughter.” His grandfather shook his head. “Judge that family careful, lad. If your Emily’s like her gran—you’re in trouble.”
“No. She’s different. Loved her gran. Said her mum and gran fought—now I see why. A mother who shipped her off.”
“Watch her close.”
James pulled up Emily’s photo.
“Serious face. Well, God help you.” His grandfather sighed. “Never told a soul. Feels lighter, somehow.”
“There’s no one else for me. But I won’t rush her. I’ll keep your secret.” James hugged him.
After he left, his grandfather reopened the album. Behind the last photo lay the torn half—a young womanHe gazed at her faded smile one last time before tucking the photograph away, the weight of years pressing heavy on his heart.
