Run

Alone

Alone

I helped clear and wash up the dishes and then went to see Caroline.

“What can I do to help?” I asked, standing in the doorway of the greenhouse.

“I know that you and Annabelle aren’t on the best of terms, but Henry brought back some new material and I think she could use some help cutting and sorting it,” said Caroline, picking some of the apples from the greenhouse.

“You mean all of these clothes – Annabelle made?” I said, pointing at Caroline’s long flowing orange skirt and the red blouse with patterned scarves wrapped around her waist and head.

“All of them,” she said proudly.

I nodded, smiled and headed to Annabelle’s room. I knocked on the door and waited.

“Who is it?” called Annabelle.

“Er… it’s Bryony,” I called back.

There was silence and then a shuffle from inside.

“Caroline sent me,” I said.

Annabelle opened the door and gestured for me to come in.

“Yes, what?” she said, not even looking at me.

“I’ve been sent to help you with the new material,” I said, nervously.

“I don’t want you here,” she said and sat down on her bed.

I started to speak, but noticed that she was crying.

“Annabelle?” I asked, perching on the side of her bed.

She turned around and I saw tears roll down her face.

“Do you want to talk?” I asked.

She nodded and I closed the door.

“What’s up?” I said, moving close.

“I feel so lonely. I always feel like people don’t like me, they don’t care about me. When I lost Martin, the upgrader, I felt so alone, and I still feel so lonely. It probably sounds stupid, being in a house with so many people. Though I feel that the more people there are, the more people there are to hate me. I put up barriers, I don’t listen. I just need a friend, Martha has Henry, Mum and Dad have each other, Sophia has all of us, Penny has all of us and now Brooklyn has you. I have nobody,” said Annabelle, inbetween sobs.

“No, no, no Annabelle. Everyone loves you. Caroline was so proud saying you made all the clothes. Clive, Martha and Henry are grateful for your help. Penny loves you, she admires you. Sophia is learning from you, Brooklyn loves having you as a big sister and I like you. You are Annabelle, I like Annabelle,” I said, giving her a hug.

“Thank you, do you want to sleep in my room?” she whispered and hugged tighter.

“Yes please Annabelle, thanks,” I said.

I gave her a piece of cloth to wipe her eyes and gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder. We cut and sorted out materials, I was surprised at the huge, piling heap of material. Annabelle had a list of who needed what:

Caroline – yellow top, patterned scarf, red long skirt

Clive – white shirt

Martha – light blue short skirt

Henry – cream shorts

Annabelle – white top, cream short skirt

Brooklyn – black top, dark blue shorts

Bryony – pink top, lilac skirt, white scarf, light green top

Penny – pink dress, patterned skirt

Sophia – white dress, light green scarf

We sorted out what we needed for what.

Yellow material – Caroline’s top

Patterned material – Caroline’s scarf, Penny’s skirt

Red material – Caroline’s skirt

White material – Clive’s shirt, Annabelle’s top, Bryony’s scarf, Sophia’s dress

Light blue material – Martha’s skirt

Cream material – Henry’s shorts, Annabelle’s skirt

Black material – Brooklyn’s top

Dark blue material – Brooklyn’s shorts

Light green material – Bryony’s top, Sophia’s scarf

Pink material – Bryony’s top, Penny’s dress

Lilac material – Bryony’s skirt

“We’ll be busy, then,” I said, smiling.

“You’ll enjoy it; we only make the clothes every three months. This lot should take us a week or so, as it is all hand-sewn. They get too dirty, ripped, etc. It’s nice to have new clothes and now the summer’s coming we need lighter clothes. Now with your help we can get the job done quicker,” said Annabelle pencilling outlines onto the cloth. We spent the rest of the day, stitching, cutting and designing. We got about a quarter of the load done. We didn’t even stop for lunch.