The Tailor Who Mends Heart

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When Ms. Tulippe O'Pewty broke her heart, the very man who broke it was kind enough to attach the address of Mrs. Seam.

It might help, so it says in his letter. Ms. Tulippe read it and confused. If he is still considerate enough of her feeling, why did he end the relationship?

That was when Ms. Tulippe heard the first crack. She never knew heart cracks that loud.

I care deeply about you, alas, I do not see my future with you,  such are the words he wrote in a tall neat cursive. A gentleman's handwriting.

Crack. Crack.

At the third crack, Ms. Tulippe bursts into tears. What about my feelings and my future? And the tears cause more cracks. By the time Ms. Tulippe wipes her cheeks, her heart is severely damaged.

"Ooh phooey" said Ms. Tulippe, before she cried some more.

She loves the gentleman dearly. The sleepless night, the butterflies, isn't that what love is?

You do not love me, you love your idea of the ideal gentleman. But I am not, and will never be him, my dear. Such accusations he wrote! Ms. Tulippe genuinely believes that of her feelings for him. Why can't he simply accept it?




"That does it, Tulippe!"

This is the fifth day that Ms. Tulippe has stayed in bed. Her hair uncombed, her eyes swollen and her heart almost completely shattered. Ms. Deena O'Pewty, also known as the oldest daughter of the O'Pewty, is watching her sister squirms. Her hands is at her hips; Ms. Deena is highly annoyed.

"Will you just move on, like everybody else? Don't just lie here looking like a corpse, for God's sake, you are young and can still find good, eager, handsome, gentlemen!"

Ms. Deena pauses, before adding,

"If only you shower and dress up a bit"

But Ms. Tulippe does not want any of those. She would rather stay in bed, cringing painfully to the pieces of her heart.

"Oh rot in here, if you must!"

Ms. Deena gritted her teeth. Her sister's helplessness is everything that goes against her principal. She will not tolerate this any longer.

Soon, the door bangs and Ms. Tulippe is alone again. The silence reminds her of the crisp laughter of the gentleman she loved. Before the letter came and broke her heart.

"That does it!", the door swings open and revealing Ms. Deena who is standing in front of it. She is dressed in her coat and her best hat.

"Go get shower and get dressed" commanded her.

"Where are we going?"

"To see Mrs. Seam"

Ms. Tulippe fails to hide her surprise. For a while, she forgets about her broken heart.

"How do you know Mrs. Seam?"

"What do you mean? Every girl know Mrs. Seam, she is the best when it comes to broken heart matter. Her sewing is divine, it will make your heart looks brand new"

How could Mrs. Seam possibly does that? As much as Ms. Tulippe can see, her heart has been broken beyond repair. And the only one who would be able to mend it, is darling John.

"Ooh, Deena, come in, come in"

It was Mrs. Seam herself who opened the door. The carriage ride to her place, took seventy five turns. Ms. Tulippe still feels a bit sick after all the turns. She was quite glad when Ms. Deena announced that they have arrived. Unfortunately, they have to walk three steps backwards and six steps forward for the rest of the journey, before they reached the tiny house with red roof. Flowers blooming in its front yard, while the chimney puffing white smokes to the blue sky.

"Beautiful garden you have, Mrs. Seam" said Ms. Deena, an avid gardener as she is. Mrs. Seam chuckles.

"Oh, you are to kind, dearie"

Mrs. Seam turns her head to Ms. Tulippe. Her face, kind and wrinkly, is smiling to her. Her white hairs, framing the face like a comfortable cotton hat.

"I am Tulippe, Deena's sister"

"Nice to meet you, Tulippe. I am Martha, Martha Seam. Have a seat, have a seat"

Mrs. Seam gestures the girls to two armchairs with colorful embroidery on it.

"Tea?" asked her.

"Yes, please"

When the three cups have been distributed among them, Mrs. Seam took a seat, she observes Tulippe with her kind eyes.

"You have broken heart, I see" said Mrs. Seam.

"How do you know?" replied Tulippe, a bit shocked.

"Dearie, I've been mending heart since eighty years ago. I've seen all kind of hearts being broken. Or all kind of broken in a heart"

Mrs. Seam chuckles, when both girls stare at her blankly.

"Forgive the old woman rambling, it comes with age. Now, Tulippe, would you like your heart to be mended now?"

Tulippe looks at her sister, who in return nods at her.

"I suppose" replied Tulippe timidly.

"Good" said Mrs. Seam. She smiles meaningfully at Ms. Deena, who then politely excuses herself for a walk outside. Tulippe looks concern as her sister closes the front door.

When the door closes, Mrs. Seam takes out an old wooden box from under her armchair. An initial is engraved on top of it.  She puts it in her lap, before opening the lid; revealing colorful threads and yarns.

"Mending heart is a private matter. It is only between the broken hearted and the mender" explained Mrs. Seam "Now, I will need your heart .."

Tulippe took out her heart, wrapped in a pink satin handkerchief. Mrs. Seam receives it solemnly, carefully opening the wrapper, while saying,

"Heart is a delicate thing. Of course, one can always mend it when it's broken, but mended heart would not be the same anymore"

She looks up to Tulippe and smiles,

"They say, I am the best heart-mender out there. My sewing is so delicate, that the heart looks almost as good as new. Tut, tut, the eyes see, but do not feel." continued Mrs. Seam, she frowns for a bit, before saying,  "Oh Child, you have the silk heart"

"Is it bad?"

Mrs. Seam chuckles, "Of course not! There is no good or bad. I will need a special kind of thread for silk"

Mrs. Seam taps her finger on the wall three times. For a while, there is nothing happen. Until Tulippe's eyes caught a massive black spider, with a red spot in its back, lowering itself from the ceiling. Mrs. Seam soon greets the spider and addresses her,

"Hello Ms. Widow, I will need 3 rolls of your finest, if you may"

The Spider slowly moves backward and disappear from sight.

"Black Widow" explained Mrs. Seam, without Tulippe asking, "Wonderful thread, but no heart"

Mrs. Seam then took a canvas in a loop from her sewing box and place the heart's pieces on it. There is a huge heart printed in the canvas. Mrs. Seam started to hum to herself, her hand re-arranging the pieces of Tulippe's heart. Tulippe watches as the pieces started to fill in the print. Not long, Mrs. Seam mumbles something and reach for her glasses. She puts it on the tip of her nose.

"Pardon the old woman" she said to Tulippe. Tulippe quickly waves her concern.

"Not at all" Tulippe pauses, not completely sure if her next question will be appropriate,

"I am nine and ninety" came the reply. Caught by surprise, Tulippe hastily reply with

"You don't look it"

"I don't look ninety nine or look old?"

"I .. "

Mrs. Seam let out a laugh.

"You must think of me as very mean. I am ... Oh, Ms. Widow, so kind of you. One, two, three. Yes, three rolls would do. Oh excellent, as usual. Would you join us for a cup of tea?"

But Ms. Widow refuses, she has to go back to her youngs. She bid Mrs. Seam a very good day and make her way to the ceiling.

Outside, grey clouds start to make its way. Soon, drops of rain bursts from the cloud. Mrs. Seam leans to look outside her window.

"My, my," she said, "I hope Deena does not get wet"

"Mrs. Seam," called Tulippe, suddenly remembering something, "how did you meet Deena?"

"Like how I meet you. She broke her heart"

"Oh"

Tulippe tries to remember the event in which her older sister might have her heart broken. She couldn't recollect any gentleman associated with Deena.

"It was around the time of the passing of your father. No, sweetie, it wasn't a gentleman who broke her heart. Unlike yours. Don't look so surprised, dearie. I've seen a lot of broken hearts." Mrs. Seam pauses to unroll the thread, and pulling it through the needle. A small golden needle, so thin that Tulippe barely seen it.

"Is he a handsome man?" asked Mrs. Seam.

"Very much so. Even in his handwriting." The beautiful handwriting which carries rough painful words. Tulippe sighs, "I love him. I still do"

"The handsome gentleman. Always a pickle"

Mrs. Seam pushes the needle through the heart pieces. The thread wiggles happily, attaching both pieces with an invisible knot.

Mrs. Seam soon speaks again,

"Do you not hate him?"

The image of him flashes before Tulippe's eyes. Tulippe blinks. The room swept away in front of her eyes, but his image stays.

"I would not be able to do so"

"How very kind of you" said Mrs. Seam softly.

But Tulippe is not finished yet,

"I have only myself to hate"

"That's a horrible thing to say"

It has been emphasized by Tulippe's mother over and over again that a lady should never show a fragment of emotion in front of stranger. As hard as she tried, tears start to run down her cheeks.

"I cannot keep him"

The heart makes an odd gulping noise as Mrs. Seam attaching the edges. It is soon detached itself again. After several tries, Mrs. Seam sighs and desperately says to Tulippe,

"Oh Child, but who are you to keep him? Who are you to decide his feelings? Love you may, but keep is not yours to say"

Tulippe bows her head. For a moment, the room is quiet, save for the odd gulping noise from the heart. Tulippe reaches for her silk handkerchief and pat her wet cheeks. She straightens her blouse, her skirt, then her back.

"Mrs. Seam" she said flatly "I do not wish for my heart to be mended"


Mrs. Seam put her needle, and look at Tulippe right on her eyes.

"What do you wish for then?"

Tulippe does not reply. She casts her eyes outside, the rain has stopped. The flowers are swaying with the wind, softly pushing the grey clouds away.

"I wish him to come back to me"

Mrs. Seam puts down the heart pieces. She sighs,

"Even when you win him back, your heart will not be unbroken. There will still be pain, when you look into his eyes. When he wraps his arms around you, when his lips touches yours, instead of warmth, you will feel the chill of doubt. No, my child, this is not a curse. This is truth"

But Ms. Tulippe O'Pewty is both determined and stubborn in her silence. Mrs. Seam says nothing more. She wraps the heart pieces along with the needle and the threads.

"There, child." she said, handing the neatly wrapped package to Tulippe, "If you ever need it"

Ms. Tulippe thanked Mrs. Seam. But deep inside, she believes only her gentleman will be able to mend her heart. There will be no need of needle and thread.

A knock on the door is followed by Ms. Deena's appearance. She looks quite dry. Complaining a bit about the rain, she then politely bid farewell to Mrs. Seam. Ms. Tulippe follows the cue. Ms. Deena sends her to fetch the carriage, purposely lagging behind, before she addresses Mrs. Seam,

"How did it go?"

"As we expected"

Ms. Deena sighes. She plays with the gold ring on her finger, a certain habit she develops ever since she got engaged.

"She has a needle and a thread. At the very least, I hope it will help"

Mrs. Seam watches Ms. Deena carefully, before continues.

"And when will you announce your engagement?"

Ms. Deena shakes her head, her eyes glued to the ground.

"Indeed" replied Mrs. Seam, "If he can do it to her, he can do it to you, love"

"There is no perfect man, Mrs. Seam, even gentlemen has flaws"

"And so say all of them"

There, the conversation stops, as Ms. Tulippe announces that the carriage is ready. Mrs. Seam bids both girls happiness, and as their carriage slowly swallowed by the dust, Mrs. Seam closes her door.