The Great Gatsby Drabble (Daisy Buchanan)

[sickprincess]

So my all time favorite book is The Great Gatsby by the incredible F. Scott Fitzgerald. If you haven't been forced to read it in school yet, go read it right the fuck now because it is AMAZING. SO GOOD. Part of the reason I love it so much is because of Daisy Buchanan. She is this gorgeously complex character who everyone THINKS they "get", but no one really understands her. 

One of my favorite parts (of course) is a flashback description when Daisy has a cold and Gatsby comes to see her. It's very short in the book, so I had a thought... what if I expanded on it?  I used a quote from the book, the only part where her cold is mentioned: "She had caught a cold, and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever" (it continues, but I didn't use the rest of it). 

Hope you like this! I enjoyed writing it

Gatsby waits for her, shuffling from side to side with nervous excitement. He clutches a bouquet in his shaking fist—wildflowers, picked by hand, petals limp and earnest in the crisp fall air. Their colors are too bright against the white picket fence and the twilight sky.

Daisy appears on the porch, and his heart floats among the stars. It is one of the first cool nights, signaling the end of summer, and she shivers in the night air. Her cheeks are flushed pink upon her white face, and her normally bright eyes are glassy. But she smiles with her perfect mouth to tell him that everything is lovely and will always be lovely, as long as she continues to exist in the world.

She skips to him, and stops just short of his lips. “Hello, darling,” she sings. She had caught a cold, and it made her voice huskier and more charming than ever. 

Gatsby cups her fevered cheek in his hand. Even in sickness she is like nothing he has seen. 

“You are unwell.” The urgency in his tone is poorly masked, but Daisy only smiles and throws her arms around his neck. 

“I am always well when my Gatsby is here,” she murmurs against his skin. He shivers delightfully at the sound of her voice, raspy and musical. 

Eyes twinkling with mischief, Gatsby lifts her off the ground, sturdy arms around her waist. She turns to the side, her dark hair tickling his face, and sneezes. “Hehtschoo! Uh-hetschuhh!” 

Marveling at her angelic human-ness, Gatsby watches as Daisy sniffles helplessly, her delicate finger pressed against her pink nose. He offers her a handkerchief, and she takes it gratefully, turning her back to him to blow her nose softly. 

Gatsby wants to take her inside to rest—it scares him to see her so fragile. But Daisy insists they stay outside—“The stars are begging me not to go,” she purrs, and Gatsby won’t deny her of anything. 

So he drapes his jacket across her shoulders to protect her, and his heart swells at the idea that he could save her, even from something as trivial as catching cold. 

She speaks to him in her enthralling, hoarse whisper, and he is captivated by her vulnerable perfection. 

[groundcontrol]

Yes! I love this! I remember reading that part of the book and thinking it was a shame Fitzgerald never went into more detail. A lovely addition to one of my favorite books.