Four Seasons

Chapter 3 - Winter

Winter hummed to herself as she finished her delicious food, and was so glad that the electricity had given them an extra hour to cook this morning. Though of course now it was gone, but they were kind of used to this now.

Well, she was anyway, she knew it still got on Summer’s nerves and it forced Autumn to wake up way earlier than she wanted to. Today was a Wednesday though, so Autumn had a lesson early in the morning. So that meant today was the day she had to get up early like the rest of them.

There was a time that Summer didn’t have to get early before, but she did it anyway to help them get ready for school. 

In fact, she used to work nights, and mornings were her rest time until she lost her job two months back. Well, her client anyway. Its was a really sad day when that happened. She had lost the job she used to care for her sisters because she had been taking care of her sisters’ petty needs.

Yeah, they were petty, though she would never say that out loud to anyone. Autumn liked to pretend it wasn’t her fault, and Camellia was too young to understand what she had done, but it was their fault. 

Packing away her lunchbox, she turned to her best friend, Selena, who was finishing up some of the food that Winter had shared with her. Summer was a great cook, and whenever Winter got to carry something that Summer made for lunch, she always made sure to share it with her friend.

“Yum, you are an awesome baker, Winter, but your sister is the bomb when it comes to cooking, I miss the days when I could invite myself over to your house on weekends, just to have a bite,” Selena said packing away her food.

Selena was the only friend that Winter had, they had been friends for a long time now. They had met in primary schools when her parents had still been alive, and when her mom’s job paid for all their school fees. 

Most people wondered how they could afford to go to fancy private schools when their parents were gone but no one understood the sacrifice that Summer had made to make it possible. Sacrifices she still made even now. Even Autumn and Camellia barely acknowledged it and now with Summer’s most paying job gone, Winter was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to keep going to the school she was used to. 

And ever since two months ago when Summer lost her job, Selena had stopped visiting their house at Winter’s request. She did not want to add more pressure on her sister who already had too much on her plate.

She knew of all the days that Summer had stayed awake worrying over their finances instead of resting.

While both Winter and Autumn were making money online, it was not quite enough to cover much and Summer preferred that they use most of the money on themselves anyway.

For Summer to have asked for some money from her, things had to be really bad.

“You are so quiet today, not that you ever talk much, but today it’s more than usual. In fact, you were quiet yesterday too. What’s up?” Selena asked.

“Summer asked for some money again last night. I gave it to her obviously and would have given her my card too, but she refused. I am really worried about her,” she responded. 

“Did she ask Autumn too.”

Winter looked at Selena quietly asking if she had lost her mind before she shook her head.