Protégé moi (in English)

~ Memories ~

Summer of 1853.

"Give it back Andy!" Little Remington pouted up at his older brother. "Only if you say please." He grinned mischievously, holding up the tattered teddy bear by its arm. "Please." Remington stomped his foot down onto the grass.

"Andy, your dad's here." Sebastian peered from inside the kitchen timidly. Andrew handed Remington his toy and walked through the house. Rem followed behind as he watched his brother go out the front door, into that scary wagon. Remington had never seen Andy's dad and didn't really want to, he sounded like a bad man. He remembers that he used to hurt his momma, and for that he didn't like Andy's dad. Remington's father disappeared when Emerson was just a baby and he didn't understand why. The big, ugly world was too much for his tiny innocent mind to wrap around.

Andrew stayed silent and stepped in with the cloaked man, to disappear down the road. Remington blinked away tears as his brother vanished again. As he did time and time again. Andy always had the nicest clothes, the best toys and Remington didn't understand why he, Emerson and Sebastian didn't also deserve them. It wasn't fair.

Sebastian came from behind the somber boy and closed the door slowly. "Come on, momma woke up."

Three small boys stood around a makeshift bed in the living room. Their mother had grown sick and frail after their father went away, all of them too young to be able to really help. Emerson clung tight to his brothers' arms as he watched his mother, or more so the shadow of his mother take a sip of the water on the table beside her. She used to be so different, but her weakness never destroyed her heart of gold.

With chapped and pale lips, she gave a thin lipped smile to her little angels, inviting them up onto the couch to cuddle, as if nothing was wrong and as if her heart wasn't in pieces.