Janelle Chevalier

1. She was There

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"The little girl told the fox that she wasn't hungry but that he could go and search for berries if he was," Janelle read aloud to herself, moving her finger under each word to help her focus on reading the foreign language. Since her teacher had chosen a children's book to start with, the words were easy. It was her first time reading without any help. Exhilaration filled her as she read the words with relative ease without the guidance of her teacher.

"The fox stayed in its place. 'Oh no,' it said, 'I am not going to leave you here.' The girl thought this act was kind..." Janelle trailed off, trying to imagine how the fox's refusal to go search for food was kind but then shook her head, thinking that the words meant something else in French.

She was through half the twelve-page book when she felt a tug pulling her towards the general direction of the door of her room. She could ignore it, it was weak enough to be passed off as just mere discomfort but she was taught to be wary.

The tug, however, it was pulsating. As if it was a heart, but weaker, like the thrum of rain droplet against the ground. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a frantic knocking on her door.

"Entre," the words came naturally to her in French.

A maid came in, pale, shaken and out of breath. Janelle's stomach rolled uneasily.

"Mademoiselle Janelle," the maid paused, taking a deep breath and trying hard not to fidget even though her fingers kept playing with the hem of her spotted apron.

Janelle waited for her to finish. "Oui?" She urged her to continue.

"Lady Cécile is...dying, Mademoiselle."

Janelle's heart dropped instantly. "What?" she all but shouted. "Where is she?"

"Everyone's in the parlour, Mademoiselle."

Janelle had never run so fast in her life, flying down the stairs and long hallways, skidding to a stop at the door of the parlour. Panting, she lifted her hands from her knees to find everyone already there—her father, two brothers and her uncle, all crowded around her mother's bed.

Her mother that was motionless.

"Maman!" Janelle pushed herself between her brothers to look properly at her now very pale mother. "Non, maman..." Her tears streamed down her face. "You can't be...you promised me..." She hiccuped. "You promised me you will stay alive." She sobbed, touching her mother's face gently, a few tears falling down on the woman's cheeks.

One of her brothers bent down and put a comforting hand on her back, rubbing it up and down in an attempt to calm the younger girl.

Shhh now, dear.

Janelle looked up in surprise, her eyes red and watery. "Wha..?"

Your mother finished her job in this realm, now to finish yours.

"Who's there?"

You will know soon enough.

"Jella?" The voice of her brother, Julian, took her out of her thoughts. "Jella, are you okay?"

Janelle looked at him as if he had grown a second head. "No, I am not...Mother is dead and..." She wanted to scream the words, but her throat was constricting.

"Shh, this isn't what I meant. I meant...you were speaking to air just now." Julian's tone was kind, silently telling her that he was there with her and would never leave her alone. Her other brother, as if noticing what was happening between the two, nodded his head.