The Bright Colours of Misery [COMPLETED]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙴 -the chaos of it all-

After everyone had seen Heidi's little nod, a short silence filled the room, before frau Fischer interrupted it with a frown and a few words.

"Have you been calling Heidi 'girl', Alexander?" She inquired, Alexander went pale at her very slight threatening tone. Heidi almost laughed at him, Helga Fischer wasn't exactly the threatening type, and Heidi was used to a much more firm and insisting glare than this. Alexander couldn't utter a single word.

"That isn't so nice, is it Alexander?" Frau Fischer insisted. Alexander shook his head, his eyes remaining fixated on the floor. Herr Fischer met Heidi's gaze, his eyes narrowed with confusion when he saw her almost laughing. If Heidi was trying to be discreet, she was failing immensely. I can't quite recall what she was thinking exactly, but it must have been something along the lines of my mother is so much scarier than your wife, herr fischer. Because that's what she eventually explained to him, as Alexander was being scolded, getting one of his first lessons on kindness and politeness. I must admit that the only thing I focused on during that short moment, was how comfortable Heidi was with talking with Herr Fischer. They exchanged a few giggles when Helga raised her voice, and herr Fischer managed to hush Heidi just before his wife noticed. Poor woman, honestly, no one was taking her seriously, especially not Alexander after he realised his father and friend were chuckling in the background. Frau Fischer almost turned red with anger.

"Alexander-" She started , but to everyone's luck, her husband gently took her hand, with a tenderness Heidi had never seen between her parents.

"Helga, Liebe." He started gently. "Calm down, will you?"

Heidi watched, astonished as Helga's expression softened, her mother would never have calmed down so quickly, especially not under the orders of her father.

Or maybe she would have? Maybe this tenderness could be found between her parents, but she had not noticed it yet? She promised herself to be observant during dinner and see for herself.

***

The entire day, in the back of her mind, she thought of her parents, wondering if they ever were as kind and gentle toward each other as the Fischer couple was.

The more she pondered on it, the more she started doubting her parents even loved each other.  What if they didn't? What would happen then? Married people had to love each other right? That's what all the stories Wilma told her before bed said.

When she came inside she was met by the sight of her father and mother sitting at the kitchen table. Alfred rubbed his temple, a worried expression etched upon his face as he gazed at his wife. Trudy's eyes remained fixated on an important sheet of paper—that Heidi didn't understand the importance of–even after Alfred slid his hand across the table to grasp hers. She simply would not stop staring at the alarmingly long number written on the paper. Heidi watched the scene worriedly, her  mother was about to get angry, she felt it in the air.

Everyone felt it.

"Trudy-" Alfred started, but his wife held a hand up to his face, clearly stating that he needed to shut up. He did, for a whole minute no words were spoken inside the house. The only sounds you could hear were flies buzzing around and slow breaths being drawn. Heidi watched from the entry, Alfred watched from the table as an unusual scene unfolded before their eyes. Trudy stood up slowly, her dress sweeping the floor as she drifted across the room, with a grace and composure that felt very foreign coming from Trudy Seide. She took a deep breath, let her hair loose, and came back to sit opposite to her husband.

My theory is that she somehow sensed what Heidi was holding between her small delicate fingers, the old coffee stained letter contained more value than Heidi could ever have imagined.