The Storm Silenced

Childhood (2)

"Pardon me?"

"Lillian, open your ears. I said we are leaving to go downtown and buy some food. Hurry along." Aunt Brank was not pleased with the shape Lillian came home in a few days prior to today.

Her clothes ripped, covered in mud. Her hair falling out, knotty and tangled. Her friend James Carter trailing behind her with mud all down his face. To say that Lillian's Aunt Brank was not pleased would actually be the understatement of the century. She claimed that even though Lillian was only ten years old, her etiquette was atrocious and her manners were horrendous.

Lillian saw the angry look in her Aunt's eyes and fell into a line behind her sisters. Ella trailing close behind her, slightly tugging on her hand. As soon as they walked out the door they were hit by a cool breeze. Winter was approaching. They needed to stock up on food today so they didn't need to go shopping much in the long, cold winter months.

Today's shopping trip was one of the many they were taking this week. Although, as soon as they arrived in town Aunt Brank made the girls run along to the park and play for a bit as to not distract her.

Lillian was counting her steps to keep herself entertained as she parted ways from her sisters and Aunt and walked along.

33, 34, 35, 3- her thoughts were cut off she bumped into someone. Apparently walking and looking down didn't mix together well.

Lillian slowly raised her head to see who she had bumped into when she came face to face with a storm. The eyes she saw literally captivated her. Even though she was merely ten years old, her words failed her due to a sudden slight crush on a complete stranger. She couldn't even begin to comprehend why she couldn't speak, why she was tongue tied.

The boy who appeared to be a few years older than her cleared his throat subtly. Lillian blinked thrice quickly and shook her head slightly.

'I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't watching where I was going.' She said giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

He simply looked at her and briskly turned away from her. He took two steps before he felt a slight tug at his shoulder and turned around to look at the little girl in front of him.

'That was very rude, sir. You should forgive someone when they apologize.'

Apparently, the boy thought, this little girl didn't know who he was, didn't know the power he will soon possess.

'Indeed?' The boy replied. His hands were behind his back and his posture was as stiff and proper as the king of England.

All he received from Lillian was a nod. After a moment, he responded.

'Forgiveness is a waste of time.' He stated in a matter-of-factly voice, a voice that said he was right and no one in the right man would defy him.

Again, he turned to walk away, only to feel no tug at his arm. Instead, as he walked along he heard footsteps running to catch up to him. He turned the corner. The footsteps still followed him.

Suddenly, the boy heard a voice.

'I never introduced myself, mister.' The little voice said. Her voice was so cute and pure. She sounded like an angel sent directly from heaven able to talk as freely as she wished. 'My name is Lillian Linton, but my friends call me Lilly!'

'My name is Rikkard Ambrose. Mister Ambrose to you.'

'But sir,' Lillian's voice spoke again, 'why Mister Ambrose? Why not just Rikkard? You're only a few years older than me.'

'Age doesn't matter in this particular situation.' Rikkard said to her, 'It's the fact that I am your superior and you are to address me with respect!'

Lillian shrugged her shoulders. She was ten, what did she care?

A few minutes had passed and they both kept walking side by side, Rikkard slightly faster than Lillian. It had been a while since either of them had talked and Rikkard was indeed ready to be rid of the little girl following him.

'Shouldn't you be strolling along with your parents? Do they even know where you are at this moment?' He asked clearly oblivious to Lillian's current parental situation.

'No, sir.' She said sadly. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and Rikkard had an urge to stop and turn to her.

'Why not?' He asked.

'Well Mr Ambrose,' she started, tears dwelling in her eyes, 'they died when I was young. I have no parents so they don't know where I am. I have a very bossy Aunt and Uncle though and many siblings!'

She laughed a little at the mention of her sisters but quickly became overwhelmed with emotion and started crying. Tears slid down her face at a very fast pace. Her eyes were red and puffy, her nose red and puffy, the noise of her cries filling the streets.

Rikkard didn't know what to do. Sure Adaira cried a lot, but not because she didn't have any parents. Rikkard and Adaira's parents were both alive and well. Rikkard didn't know many children whose parents were no longer and he didn't know how to comfort Lillian without actually comforting her.

Mentally, Rikkard started to weigh out his options. Option A, he could hug and/or comfort her with his words. Option B, he could ignore her outburst completely and walk away. Or option C, he could tell her to stop crying over nonsense and then walk away.

Benefits of helping her: no more annoying child, no more obnoxious crying and Lillian would know it's okay to grieve her parents.

Benefits of plans B and C: walking away unscathed, no annoying child.

Rikkard shook his head, he knew what he had to do. Slowly, he made his way towards Lillian and wrapped his arms around her little body. Immediately, she hugged him back, crying a little harder. Her hands gripped the little extra bit of material on his tailcoat at the shoulders.

The hug lasted a while, a lot longer than Rikkard had hoped. After a moment they parted, but stayed facing each other. Rikkard Ambrose was holding Lillian's shoulders and she used her sleeve to wipe a bit of snot from her nose. Lillian took a deep breath to calm down.

'Thank you for today mister, but I must go now.' She said to him. He simply nodded in return.

She watched him for a minute longer, taking in and remembering every detail of him. His voice, his face, his body. Then, she turned and ran back the direction she came from. Rikkard sighed as he watched Lillian's retreating figure flaunt away from him.

***

'Lillian where have you been?' Aunt Brank has whisper-shouted the moment she saw Lillian return.

'Nowhere, Aunt. I just... uh... got a little lost is all. I'm fine now.' Lillian kept thinking of the boy from the park. He seemed rather odd and parsimonious and she couldn't quite forget him.

'Well next time don't take so long!' And with that, Aunt Brank turned away from Lillian and toward home. The girls quickly got in line behind her like little ducks and followed her just terribly anticipating the horrendous dinner they were about to eat. They were all so hungry!

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So y'all I'm really happy right now because S&S, ITEOTS and SIG came in the mail today!! I've waited so long to own the paperbacks!! However, I'm really mad because S&S was damaged and now I have to wait like, a month to read it because I need to return it. Oh well.

So, I'm in my local theatre's theatrical production of Grease and our stage manager quit with only two months 'till opening night! I know, bizarre! So our musical director (aka my friend's dad AND a science teacher at my school) talked to the director and now I am the stage manager! I'm super pumped about it but I'm also not pumped because I'm playing Patty Simcox and she's in a lot of scenes. It's a LOT of work and is keeping me really busy, so I apologize for any late updates!

MJ :))

Mar. 27/18