𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐘, 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
Beverly experiences a flood of memories when she is under cryo. Every sensation from her past - touch, smell, tear, kiss, and emotion-resurfaces in exactly the same form. S...
For the next two years of her life, Beverly lived comfortably. The family was well-off, with their father working as a telephone operator and their mother having money inherited from her through the death of her parents years ago. We lived happily, at least I did. Since I was old enough to notice it, I've seen Beverly acting and treated differently to me. We are similar in many ways, but in many others, we are different.
One of those ways is how much older I am than her. Today, I am turning 5! My arms are being shaken as I lie in my bed, my body swinging side to side at the feeling. I crack my eyes open, looking at the ceiling. A face hovers over my own, looking down at me. Her smile breaks out when she sees that I am awake. Her teeth seep through her lips, white and jagged.
"Haby Birtay!" She tries to say, failing miserably.
It is cute, though. She is still too young to be able to say small words. She can't fully pronounce my name still, opting to shorten it to Howy. She jumps onto my bed, sitting beside my body. I sit up, facing her and rub my eyes, getting the residue of sleep off of them. Before I can react, she grabs my hand, pulling my body out of bed and through the door. Her strength surprises me for a 2-year-old. Even her grip is tight. She isn't stronger than me, shut up!
She pulls me down the stairs, through the hallway, and into the living room, seeing a table stacked with wrapped presents. She stops in front of the table, looking up at me with huge, wide eyes. She looks happier than I feel to see it all. Once again, she grabs my hand, pulling me out of the room. Up the stairs again, but this time towards our parents' room, opening the door and pulling me towards the bed. They groan at the interruption, looking up at us.
"What?" Our dad complains.
"Come on." Beverly whines.
"Fine. We're coming." They begin getting out of bed.
She pulls me out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and back again into the living room. She sits in front of the table, waiting patiently for everyone to come inside the room. She jumps slightly in her seat, excited beyond belief. Eventually, everyone is in the room, sitting and watching me walk over to the table, reaching over and grabbing a card. I open the biggest one first, seeing that it is from our distant family, too far away to visit. Placing that on the table, I grab the other card, it messier and scribbled on it. The card is hand drawn, a drawing of a small princess in a pink dress, her tiara sitting on her head. Next to her is a taller person, holding a sword and sitting on a horse. Above their heads are their names - Beverly and Howard. The handwriting is messy and the spelling questionable, but that doesn't matter.
"Thank you, Bevy." I pull her in for a hug, kissing the top of her hair.
I place the card beside the other, standing it proudly. I grab a present, sitting down with it in my lap. Pulling the wrapping paper off of the box, revealing folded clothes. Colours vary in brown, leather, black, white, and beige. Beverly grabs me another present, standing next to the table and waiting to hand me another. I open many more presents, saw toys, a watch, shoes, and a radio. All expensive with little meaning, but I'm still grateful for them.
The last present Beverly hands me is badly wrapped, the air seeping through the cracks and making it seem bigger than it actually is. Beverly sits next to me, closer this time. I pull the paper off of the item, placing it next to me. When I look at the item in my hand, a teddy's face and body stare up at me. Its brown fur softens my hand, the skin feeling smooth. Its black, button nose connects to its eyes, yellow and green. I look over at Beverly, seeing her smiling widely at me.
"Is this from you?" I ask her.
"Uh-huh." She nods her head.
"How did you get this?"
"I cleaned my room for you. I bought this teddy, Howy." She beams.
She cleaned her room, which for her is a task, probably getting paid by our father, and used that money to buy me a present. She didn't need to, the card would have been enough. I smile at her, pulling her in for a hug again. She reciprocates the hug, pushing her face into my chest.
Mother stands from her seat, announcing that she is going to begin making breakfast for everyone. With my arms still wrapped around Bev, I pull her towards the table, grab two of the toys I got and sit down on the floor. We sit on the floor, playing with the toys together. Beverly plays the princess warrior, fighting against me, the bad guy. Her sword stabs into the side of my toy, and me dropping my toy to the floor and gasping. She giggles at the sight, her laugh becoming louder the longer she looks at me.
"Beverly! Too loud!" Our father shouts.
Beverly halts, her laugh abruptly stopping. She turns her head to face her father, looking at him guiltily. I grab her arm, making her look back at me. Her eyes are filled with tears, threatening to fall. She gulps, pushing them back and swallowing them. I stroke her arm, comforting her.
"Don't worry, Bevy. We were only playing." I whisper.
She nods her head, secretly sniffing. I pick up my toy again, pushing its face to her cheek and making a kissing noise, making her giggle. Her tears shorten, the guilt washing away. Suddenly, our mother walks back into the room, peeping her head through the doorframe.
"Toys down now. Breakfast's ready." She exits the room.
We drop our toys, standing up and racing towards the kitchen table. When we get there, the tall table displays an array of food, drinks, and colourful plates. Our father takes out my chair, letting me sit up on it. Our mother picks up Beverly, placing her in her feeding seat. We all sit at the table, silently eating our food. The only noise that can be heard is the clanking of the metal cutlery against the plates. Mother sits next to Beverly, feeding her and herself. A spoonful of eggs falls onto Beverly's shirt, staining the white material with the bright yellow food. Mother drops the spoon, it hitting the ceramic plate.
"Beverly! Why do you have to be so messy when eating." She groans, clearly annoyed.
Those same tears build up in Beverly's eyes, hating being shouted at for something she couldn't control. Before they fall down her cheeks, I drop my cutlery, gaining the attention of our parents. They both look at me as I drop from my seat, standing next to the table.
"I'm done eating now, Mommy. Can Bevy and me go play now?" I ask.
"Fine." She sighs.
♥︎♥︎♥︎
The candles from my cake light up the room, slightly burning my chin as I wait for the song to end and when I can blow them out. Mother, Father, and somewhat Beverly sing Happy Birthday to me holding the large cake in front of my face. They all have big smiles on their faces, beaming down at me.
"Happy birthday, to you." The song ends.
"Can Bevy blow them out with me?" I ask, smiling at her.
"Don't be silly, Howard. This is your day, not hers." Mother shuts down the idea quickly.
I pierce my lips together, blowing out a gush of breath and taking out the flame, blowing out the candle. With the lights turned off, the room falls dark and silent. It is interrupted by the clapping of hands, Mother and Father happy. The lights are turned on, illuminating the room. When the lights are bright enough, I can see Beverly. She stands by herself, hands held together in front of her legs. Her face is sunken as she stares into space, not fully in the room. Her lips quiver, more tears wanting to trickle down her face. I stand there looking at her, feeling sorry for her.
