When Paris was mine

Please be aware of strong language used throughout this novel.

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Chapter I

The ghastly warm air burst through my shutters and the vile aroma of human excrement woke me from my deep and peaceful sleep. Sleeping was my coping strategy, my escape from real life and I tried as hard as I could to spend as long as possible in my slumber state. As my eyes fluttered open like a newly formed butterfly, Mama burst through my door with great purpose.

"Juliette, you must hurry quickly." She said. "Jules is missing. He did not return home last night." I instantly threw my raggedy blanket to the side and leapt from my bedding of compressed foliage to the door, still in my white stained nightdress.

Jules was my brother, six years my senior. He loved Mama, Papa and myself dearly although he rarely showed it. I was the only one who knew who he really was. He came across very abrasive and unkind to most people so he had few friends but I knew this was because he was just scared of becoming attached to people and loosing them. Probably due to the loss of three of his older sisters in a house fire before I was born. Jules would often wonder the Parisian streets at night and sit by the Saine to gather his thoughts. He told me that it was his happy place. The only place where his thoughts would reveal themselves and where he could be in total peace and harmony with the world. However, he would always without fail return in the morning and he would tell Mama that if he wasn't at home in the morning that something bad would've happened. I knew that something was wrong, I could feel it in the air as I grabbed my only coat, tied up my boots and ran into the crowded street to follow Mama.

The stench of sewage mixed with the aroma of fresh bread from the bakery next door. I loved Paris. Despite the people being constantly miserable and the severe poverty of my street, I felt I belonged there and that everyone would sick up for each other like a family if we needed to.

I kept my eyes fixed on Mama's long brown plait as I ran between the villagers, occasionally tripping over the odd wonky cobble in the path. We reached the banks of the Saine within a number of minutes and as my eyes eagerly darted around looking for Jules, in the distance I spotted a lanky boy of around 18 with mopped brown hair and shabby clothes with a beautiful blonde girl of around the same age in his arms. It was Joules, I would be able to tell it was him from miles away. He was smiling for once and I shouted to Mama "there, over there!" Mama's look of desperation slowly turned to anger as her larger frame stormed down the river towards her only son.