❝"I want to save them."
"You're just saying things that I already know, Nellie."
"You're not going to try and stop me?"
"On the contrary, my little Witch. I'm going to try and help you."❞
***
Viatorem Atramento: Ink Travellers. That was what Noell...
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Noelle's boots crunched the dry leaves smattering the pavement in a splash of autumnal red as she walked the familiar path to Spencer's shop. Spencer Yung was the manager of the local corner shop, and was an old friend of Noelle's mother and father. "You look just like your father," he would say, a sly smile dancing on his lips, "but instead your hair is brown like your mother's."
More often than not Noelle would find herself studying her own appearance in the mirror, as if it hid all the secrets about her absent father that her mother wouldn't tell her. All she knew about him was his last name, which she took rather than her mother's, and that she retained some of his habits, as Spencer would often point out when she took a great deal of offence every time he ruffled her hair. When she was younger Noelle would ask her mother why she didn't have a dad like all the other children at school with all the childish innocence and upset in the world.
Of course, six-year-olds have the emotional and social sensitivity of a doorknob. She had barrelled her mother with unrelenting questions about where he was, why he wasn't here, why did she never talk about him; if he was gone did that mean he didn't love them?
It was the final question which made Noelle realise maybe she was going a bit too far with her curiosity when she witnessed her mother breakdown in front of her. After a very tearful cuddle, Eira Walsh carefully explained the fickleness of love.
"Sometimes Noelle, some people don't go very well together," she started, smoothing Noelle's hair down with a fond smile as Noelle scrunched her nose up cutely in protest.
"Like a jigsaw puzzle?" Noelle asked with a tilt of her head. "I was doing a puzzle yesterday, and Amira had to help me find the matching pieces because I kept getting them stuck."
Eira nodded. "Yes, exactly like a puzzle. Your dad and I liked each other very much; he was charming and handsome and everything I had ever wanted, but...we just didn't fit. He had sharp corners and I was more rounded; we both couldn't stay together because we had different things waiting for us, our own responsibilities. So, I decided to leave and have you all by myself."
Noelle was silent as she processed the words. "Do you miss him?"
Eira hummed, "Mm, yes and no. Once upon a time he did make me happy, but now I have you," Eira wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter who giggled at her words. "You're my happily ever after, Noelle."
Growing up she was less intrusive about her mother's partnership with the man, though she couldn't deny that with her age her curiosity grew too. That's where Spencer came in; he would fill in the gaps about her father when she asked, but she still noticed the restrictions when it came to the more specific questions.
