TW: Implied mental distress and burnout, light emotionally neglectful parenting.
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Saturday, April 11, 1911.
At the Rose Family Manor...
Two dark-haired children sped down the hallways of an elaborately decorated mansion. The taller one of the children quickened ahead of her counterpart. Her black, cape-like tunic swished behind her. The other child persists after their friend. They clutched their safe-green, carnation embellished hat as it began wavering from the amount of effort she ran with. Old portraits and oil paintings were strewn across the walls of the halls become mere blurs to the young girls as they speed past them.
"I'm catching up, Eva!", boasted the shorter child as they pursued their opponent.
"Hah!" The taller child, Evalynne, cried out to her friend behind her. "Close your head, Delly!"
"Oh please! I'm right behind you!" The following child, Delia, insisted as she picked up her speed with every word.
"No you're not, De-", and just before she could deny her friend's pace, Evalynne's foot got caught on a rug and her feet slipped from beneath her. Eva landed with a swift and loud thud that rippled the floors with the sheer force behind it. Delia called out to Eva as they stumbled to a halt, almost tripping herself.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? How can I help? Are you okay?" Delia spewed at her friend, concern that bordered on fear flooded her voice. Evalynne didn't answer and just sharply shook her head. Evalynne made a high-pitched grumble and rocked her body back-and-forth, her head pinned on the ground. Delia sharply pulled her attention to the rug responsible for such a heinous crime and began wrestling it to the ground.
"Get off my friend you... rug!" Delia demanded of the crimson floor decòr as she pummeled it with all her five-year-old strength.
Several sets of feet quickly approached from behind the two children. Two women gasped in shock as they looked upon the scene. Delia turned from her fistfight with a rug to see both her parents and Evalynne's parents looking down upon the two. Evalynne's older siblings peered their heads out from behind a turn to watch the scene.
"Evalynne Harper Rose! What have you done to my rug!" Evalynne's mother, Elizabeth, scolded. "Up with you for goodness sake, child." Elizabeth was exasperated.
"As for you, Delia Mae!" Emelia, Delia's mother, demanded. "This is now how we act in another person's home!".
Emelia and Elizabeth looked to their husbands and made a silent agreement before the girls' fathers picked the two up from the floor. Delia's father, Benjamin King, did so with significantly more sympathy than Evalynne's father, Carlyle.
Elizabeth and Emelia shook their heads as the girls stood before her. Delia stuck up her nose at the two women, stubborn as her father placed a supporting hand on their shoulder. Evalynne kept her nose pointed to the floor.
"Evalynne, I thought you knew better than this." Elizabeth sighed, fixing at her hair in a mirror mounted on the wall next to her. Elizabeth Rose turned back to face the girls and looked at her husband, "Carl, I shall take the girls to your study then you and Mr. King here and continue your business while Emelia and I handle the two. As long as that's alright with you, Emelia."
Emelia King waved her hand in agreement with Elizabeth. Then with that, Evalynne and Delia were guided off by their mothers.
Delia and Evalynne stood side-by-side in the study of Carlyle Rose, facing off their mediocre rich, white mothers. Delia stood solid and tall as a mountain peak, while her companion to the right of her was more of a squished-up pile of moss.
"Young ladies, I'm very disappointed in the both of you," Emelia stated, peering down at her watch for a moment. "You are ladies," she said, "you're supposed to act as such!". Elizabeth nodded, affirming Emelia's point.
"I believe I've been a good enough mother to teach you, Evalynne, to never rough house like you were doing today." Elizabeth scolded, but her daughter remained to stare at her own feet.
"Look your mother in the eyes, Eva.", Emelia put her hand under Evalynne Rose's chin and lifted it to meet her mother's eyes. Elizabeth thanked Emelia for her 'kind gesture' and Delia rolled her eyes.
It couldn't be more clear that Evalynne didn't want to be there, and the forced eye contact just made it worse. Eva had often complained to Delia about the feel of the floors in her father's study and how she despised it. She kept realigning her feet time after time, and Evalynne's breaths got a tad more tedious for her to keep on regular pacing. Delly looked sideways to see Evalynne's eyes. Evalynne was grimaced on the inside. She was feeling anything but comfortable at that moment. It was almost like an actual fire was blazing in Eva's eyes and Delia could see the dancing flames in Eva's brown Irises. With a flicker of those flames in her eyes, the candelabra on Carlyle Rose's desk lit and the fireplace to the left of Delia began blazing out of nowhere. Weird— And scary!
"Dear goodness!" Elizabeth shouted.
"You see, this is why you don't leave embers burning in your fireplaces or let your candle wicks keep too hot." Emelia King added in a matter-of-fact tone. Emelia blew the candlesticks out so Elizabeth and her could continue their lecturing of the girls.
Delia couldn't stand the constant rambles of these women when Eva was not happy. Delly stepped just a bit closer to Eva so they'd be standing shoulder-to-shoulder, and reached out their right hand to touch Eva's left hand. She locked her pinky onto Evalynne's pinky and held on tight. Evalynne stopped her repetitive shuffling around for a moment and her breathing settled into a natural feel for a moment. Nearly easing down to a regular pace. Delia tried her best to see if they could telepathically communicate with Eva. They tried to use all their mind power just to say: 'It'll be over eventually. I'm here with you and we're here together, so we will be fine.'
Nearly twenty minutes passed of just Elizabeth and Emelia going back and forth lecturing their daughters on how ladies 'should' behave. By the end of it, Elizabeth instructed a passing valet to guide the young children away to Evalynne's room. The attendant did just that. The moment Delia and Evalynne got into the room, Evalynne sat on the floor beside her bed. She crossed her arms over her knees and buried her head in them, she began rocking a bit. Tapping her left index finger against her arm. Delia sat down beside Evalynne,
"You don't like that floor, do you?" Delia said in an attempt to light up the mood. Eva remains silent. "Why don't you like the floor in your father's study?" Delia asks again. No response.
Delia and Evalynne sat in silence, the only sound being that of distant chatter from somewhere else in the house. Minutes pass by and Delia speaks up once more, "You know... Out moms don't know what they're saying a lot of the time... I can tell because it's always the same stuff.".
...
She continues.
"It's always, be a lady this, and be a lady that. It's very boring to listen to."
...
Delia sighs. They had seen Eva get like this before. Usually after, or during, a time where Eva had to wear a dress that she hated the fabric of. Or eating food that she didn't like the feeling of. Or even if she was in a large gathering of people she didn't know or like for too long. Delia hated seeing her friend like this and wanted to help. She didn't know how to help, but all she did know was that she was going to stay with their friend no matter what.
"That's okay, you don't have to talk. I'm always gonna be here for you anyways. Just like how you're there for me when I need you! Even if it's a gross situation like standing in your dad's study with our moms again. We'll always be together and we'll never leave each other. I'll always be your best friend.".
Evalynne lifted her head for a moment, her eyes a bit glassy, like two flames frozen in slow-melting ice. She said,
"Promise?".
Delia smiled and outstretched a pinky, and Evalynne locked her pinky onto theirs. Delia confirmed,
"Promise.".
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Word count: (About) 1400 Words
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