The Bright Colours of Misery [COMPLETED]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝚆𝙴𝙽𝚃𝚈 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙴𝙴 -the signs-

Before the year Heidi turned nine years old, I was certain everyone had an adviser. I had already met many on my way. The partners of all my previous humans had very nice ones, especially Julio's. His wife's name was Alma, but I called her soul adviser Blanca. Why? I don't remember. I think I simply thought it suited her. I sensed her presence far more than others. When everything went quiet and our humans would fall asleep, I felt less lonely in her company although I obviously couldn't see Blanca.

I missed that kind of contact and feeling a lot, even if I sometimes sensed the advisers of Heidi's family members, it just wasn't the same. And out on the streets it truly wasn't, I used to be able to sense some, but as Heidi grew older it felt like many of my kind had gone quiet, or left, retreated into the darkness. I felt lonelier than ever as the months went on.

1935 didn't start as a promising year for my human either. Trudy and Alfred had started arguing, or rather fighting over things that were both out of their control and out of Heidi's understanding. Wilma would take all her siblings out of the house as soon as she started hearing any kind of banter between her parents hoping to spare their innocence. Heidi constantly wondered what had happened, what was happening. It felt to her like a switch had been turned on which was far from the truth of course, but from her perspective it seemed like people were talking about this führer and politics wherever she went and that they never had before. It seemed like this red flag with a strange cross popped up everywhere she turned. She couldn't escape it. On the Fischer family's radio old men with deep voices would talk about it too. She understood half of what they said, but got an odd feeling while listening since Helga would always turn the volume down with a sigh.

When autumn rolled around a sign with strange shapes that formed some sort of face had emerged upon Frau Huber's desk. Ingrid Blum had also been moved to the back of the class next to Heidi. The teacher they were supposed to have that year had disappeared, so Frau Huber—to her absolute horror—had to teach four different age groups instead of two. Let's say she didn't particularly enjoy it.

Sometimes Heidi would try to talk to Ingrid through whispers during class. If she ever got an answer, the dark haired girl would get in trouble for it later. So right before christmas, Heidi stopped her whispering, for their own good.

"Could I give a piece of your apfelstrudel to Ingrid later today?" Frieda asked Trudy one morning, when Frau Seide managed to get all her daughters to bake with her apart from Wilma.

"Her birthday was a few days ago"

Trudy thought about it for a long while, people would talk if they saw them, but she also knew things had gotten much harder for the Blum family lately. It took her a while, Frieda waited patiently, Heidi sat at the kitchen table, trying to wipe the flour off her dress. She looked up every time her mother almost answered. Eventually Trudy began cutting half the strudel.

"Ingrid's always been lovely." She started. "I'm not sure half a Strudel will help that much, but I'm sure her and her family will like it."

Frieda nodded eagerly, getting her shoes on already. Trudy looked over at Heidi and nodded toward the door. "If you want to, you can go with her, you made the strudel as well, didn't you?"

Heidi slowly nodded, she wasn't too thrilled about the idea of walking alone with Frieda, but she did want to give it to Ingrid. The girl had been awfully closed off at school lately, and all the things Frau Huber had started saying to her were so bad Heidi had wanted to punch the old ogre's teeth back into her throat. She ultimately nodded and followed Frieda out the door, holding quiet little Gisela's hand, who had also decided to come along.