Purple Sweater

Stay Calm

Lawndale enjoyed a relatively bright and sunny day now that the cloud cover had been taken by the Northeast winds, the peaceful town would soon dry up after the daybreak rain and everything smelled of pine trees, wet gardens and freshly mown lawns.

The Morgendorffer House looked great now that its stylish windows reflected a bit of good direct sunlight, it was just as red and beautiful as ever, the birds started to sing and chirp here and there and yet Helen still felt sad, cold inside and most uneasy as she looked up at the sky standing alone at the middle of the garden...

What on Earth was this awful and strange feeling somewhere in her heart? Why was she so worried, if it was nothing but a school trip? How could it be explained, that she just could not stop thinking about Quinn?

Helen did not like this feeling at all, and so she just hurried to get back inside of the house as she tried to convince herself that everything was perfect...

Jake was there, sitting at the living hall and happily watching a very anticipated football match, and so the worried Helen just went and sat down beside her husband.

"Yeah! That was perfect! What a pass! Come on, the Touch Down is yours!"

"Jake, I am worried! I have this feeling, there's something wrong with this trip..."

"What do you mean?" Jake replied, now cheering wildly after his team had scored the touch down indeed- "Look at the weather! It's great now! They must be having loads of fun, Helen!"

"You know, I'll call the Visitors Center! Just to make sure the girls are alright..."

"Fine, call them!"

Helen stood up and quickly made her way to the lonely kitchen of the house, where Quinn had left the yellow wireless a few hours ago, and at least at first, everything felt normal. Then, that cold and awful feeling came back just when the wireless came into view, and then it was ringing, now somebody was calling before Helen could call anyone.

"Who is this?"

"Miss Morgendorffer?" Miss Morris asked, all the time trying to keep her voice steady as she prepared to deliver the terrible news- "Helen Morgendorffer?"

"Miss Morris?"

"Miss Morgendorffer... Please, try to stay calm... There's been... an accident..."

"JAKE!"

"Helen! What?!"

The screams, cries and sobs were so hard, that even the neighbors realized that something terrible had happened. Jake arrived when his wife was just about to drop the wireless, and soon after that, Helen passed out. The unthinkable had happened, tragedy had struck, this just could not be, and yet, they knew that it was not just a nightmare...

"Daria! Daria, look at me! Daria, I am here for you!"

Daria stared into the deep blue eyes of her very best friend, and yet it seemed that Jane was not there at all, it was like Jane was unreal. There was the forest, and the rain and the wind, and her fellow students now dispersing as they followed Police orders, and the medical helicopter that awaited to take her back to Lawndale in a hurry.

All of that seemed real enough, and yet Daria just could not believe that Quinn was dead...

"Why do we have to go back?"

"Daria, look at me... Quinn is dead!"

"That's impossible! The Quinns of the world are protected, nothing bad ever happens to them..."

"Daria, this is real! They called your parents already! We are flying to Cedars of Lawndale!"

"Then, Quinn is injured?"

"Your sister is dead!"

"Can I talk to her?"

"Daria..."

The medical crew had already taken all of Quinn's remains on board, the pilot said everything was ready for the take off and finally it was time for Daria and Jane to get on board...

"Here! She's the eldest sister!"

"Just family! Are you a familiar?"

"I am Daria's best friend!"

"Yeah, she is..."

"Fine, whatever! Hurry up would you?!"

Daria and Jane climbed on board together, the engine roared and after that the helicopter took off, quickly gaining elevation and soon accelerating in its travel back to Lawndale...