Splendid Fall

Ch. 40 The light

Chapter 40

"It's good to see a smile on Maya and Heyder's face," Mavi said as she led Birdie down the hall towards Rye's chambers.

Birdie nodded. She stared at the tall woman with greying hair and wore out eyes. Mavi was still as elegant and beautiful as ever. She moved with effortless grace, almost as if she was floating on air.

"How have you been?" She asked when Birdie did not speak for a while.

"Fine," Birdie lied.

She was very much not fine. Her nights were haunted by nightmares she could not escape from and her days were tormented by guilt she could not pull away from. She knew she needed to hold it together for her family's sake but day by day it was becoming impossible to pull herself out of bed or find the will to smile or speak. The constant hollowness inside of herself made Birdie feel as if she was a bottle lost at sea, left to the ruthless currents to toss her around.

There were moments where she was so disconnected from everyone and everything that it would feel as if her body was on autopilot and she was watching a movie. A movie about a girl sitting at the dinner table having dinner, a movie about a girl sitting on the front steps, a movie about a girl sliding farther and farther into the bathtub until the water began to burn her lungs and pull her back into her body.

"Birdie?"

Mavi's voice caused Birdie's feet to stop. She looked up and realized she had moved on while Mavi had stopped at the door a few feet away.

"Sorry," Birdie muttered as she walked back.

Mavi turned the door knob and made her way into the sitting room. She politely greeted the nurse aid and the chamber maids as they stood and bowed their heads. Birdie's eyes glossed over all of them until she found the one person she had been looking for.

"Mimzy..." her voice caught in her throat as her eyes landed on the small figure sitting by the window with her feet up on a round ottoman.

"I heard our baby bird came home," Rye's voice was warm and soft, Birdie could feel how tired she was with each word the woman spoke. "Come here. Let me look at you."

Mavi stepped out of the way as Birdie made her way over to where Rye sat. She reached out and took her great grandmother's fragile hand and turned to look at the evergreen queen.

"Oh, look at you," Rye smiled. "You look........sick."

"Mom," Mavi frowned.

"She does!" Rye said defensively. "Look at her skin. Has it always been this pale? She has no meat on her bones."

"Mimzy," Birdie sank to her feet, her eyes filling with tears as she spotted the empty seat beside the old woman.

"I know, it's tragic," Rye sighed. "I've aged like a grape."

"Mom, Birdie just found out about dad," Mavi walked up to her mother and placed her hands on Rye's shoulders. "She wanted to come see you and make sure you were okay."

"Is that why you are crying?" Rye arched her brow. The folds around her eyes were deep set, making her grey hair blend in with her grey eyes.

"I wish I got to say good bye," Birdie frowned.

"What for?" Rye shrugged. "You'll see him someday."

Birdie looked up at Mavi, her eyes silently asking if the woman was okay. She seemed so calm and unbothered.

"Come here," Rye tugged at Birdie's hand. "Sit down."

Birdie did as she was told. She wiped her eyes and placed her hands on her knees as Rye took a hold of her chin.