A head's conviction (EN)

The day the world stopped turning (1/4)

It was still early when Ivy sneaked through the massive wooden door into the room of Zephyr. She navigated herself on her memories because the room didn't have enough light this early in the morning. The only light that crept inside was that of the sun painting the curtains with an orange glow, giving the illusion as if everything was made out of gold.

The soft giggles of Ivy had caused Zephyr to wake up. He kept his breathing slow and his eyes tightly shut pretending to be asleep. What was she planning this time? He felt how she pulled the blanket down slowly until it reached his feet. Next she pushed herself onto the bed that was slightly too high for her to reach the floor. She crawled up right next him and finally laid down. Next up she rolled closer until her cold skin pressed against his and as she felt comfortable she pulled the blanket back up until it touched their noses. Zephyr had seen her do this so many times with their father, but when their father had disappeared she had started to do it to him. Every morning again, when she was tired she would crawl in bed with him, if she wasn't she would wake him up one way or another. But there wasn't a day that she didn't get into bed with him. He didn't mind, he knew like no other how much Ivy missed their father now that she couldn't have their special moment with him. He could see it in her eyes, how these two widely opened mirrors to the world looked around the room every time the name of their father dropped in a conversation. And every time again she got disappointed realising that he truly wasn't there. So if this ritual of her caused her to feel better then who was he to send her away.

'Zephyr are you still asleep?' A soft whisper came from her side while she grabbed his arm with her ice cold hands, her nails pressing softly against his skin without actually scratching him.

'How am i supposed to be still asleep when a small bunny made out of ice crawls into my bed?' he replied. He moved his hands to her sides and tickle her. Her giggles started to fill the room with sounds and to get away from him she rolled to the side of the bed. Him being just in time to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her back to make sure she wouldn't fall. 'Watch out idiot.' 

'Zephyr, Ivy, wake up!' It was the voice of their oldest sister Britt followed by a few knocks on the door. Britt was ten years older than Zephyr and was forced to help their mother out in chores around the house which also meant she carried some responsibilities in caring for her younger brother and sister.

'We will be down in a minute.' Zephyr shouted back to Britt knowing that she probably wasn't listening anymore. 'You were late this morning, are you not feeling well?' While asking Ivy the question Zephyr slipped out the bed.

Ivy shrugged and let herself out of the bed. 'It was really cold this morning.' She defended herself against her brother. Her voice was high pitched and sounded somewhat like the squeaking of a mouse, but at the same time it was cute by the melodic way she spoke.

'Shall i do your hair?'

She nodded. He was careful with her and took his time, not like her mother and sister that had not enough time and so always rushed it. By rushing they hurt her most of the time, pulling on her hair by accident or pressing the tips of the brush just a little too hard against her scalp. Ivy followed Zephyr through the door to the bathroom where she took place between him and the sink so he could easily do her hair. Their mother had bought two wooden stools for the children to stand on and look into the mirror. It had been her intention for them to stand next to each other but instead the children always placed the stools behind one another to help each other out and to be caterpillars as they called themselves.

Zephyr took the long white hair of Ivy in his hands and pulled it carefully back over her shoulders, it reached just a few inches over her waist. Something the girl was very proud of and received many compliments about. Even though people thought her hair was beautiful their mother had suggested multiple times to cut short, that way they had to spend less time on it. So far Ivy had won the battle over her hair with the promise that her mother and sister didn't have to help her anymore. Instead of that she tried to do it herself but this didn't always work out well and so Zephyr helped her occasionally.

Ivy was watching how Zephyr brushed her hair carefully. Like she had done so many times before she was comparing herself with her brother. While they were family they didn't look like each other at all. He had a tanned skin with brown hair dark enough to almost look black and a pair of teddybear brown eyes. Unlike Ivy who seemed to be made out of snow. Her skin was always pale, she had white hair and the only colour the girl had came from her grey-blue eyes. It often made her look like she was sick, even when she felt alright. But the differences didn't matter to the children, they might not look like each other but deep inside they knew they were family and that was all that mattered to them.

'Ready.' Zephyr laid the braid that he had made over her left shoulder so she could see it. He smiled wide, proud of his own creation. She nodded and turned to place a kiss on his cheek before jumping off the stool and leaving the room without another word. Zephyr stayed a bit longer in the bathroom to wash his face and brush through his own hair. He changed out of his pyjamas into some fresh clothing that his mother had put on the chair in the corner the evening before. When he was finally done he followed his sister down the stairs into the living room.

'There is bread for you on the table.' Britt said when he came downstairs. She didn't even look at him while speaking, too busy with cleaning the windows.

Claire, their mother, was busy in the kitchen to clean her favourite spot in the house. The whole kitchen smelled like the fresh lemony scent of the detergent that she used. This she did every day because it was important to have a clean room where they could cook and eat together. Every morning the whole kitchen smelled like lemons and in the afternoon like the delicious food that was cooking on the stove. When she saw Zephyr she smiled at him. 'Good morning darling.'

He smiled back. 'Good morning mommy.' He then continued his way to the dinner table where Ivy was already sitting. He pulled a chair back and climbed on top of it to grab a piece of bread. While tearing the bread to pieces and eating it he watched his mother clean. She was beautiful and sweet, he loved her so much. Even though she was always working hard she still took enough time to play with Ivy and him and teach them new things. Things they needed to know to take care of their mother when they were old enough to do so, just like she was taking care of them now that they were still little. Despite the fact that their father had left their mother had been strong and did everything other mothers did and more. She was a father and mother in one. Simply putting it, she was the best mother in the whole wide world.