New York City 1776
It was a cold January evening, my brothers and sisters were sitting on the floor playing games with one another by the fire, next to my father who always sat in his favorite chair and read a book. My mother used to sit in the chair across from his, until her untimely death. I’ll never forget the moment I realized I had lost my mother forever. I was 14 and next to our house, we had a little barn where we kept our cows and horses. For some strange reason, while my mother was in our barn, tending to the animals, it caught fire. I was too busy writing letters to Jacob to notice. He had joined the Patriot forces and getting into contact with him was close to impossible, but we made it happen. I was just finishing writing the words “You’ll be in my heart, forever and always, Rose” when I smelt the smoke. By the time I got there, I was far too late. Our beautiful barn with its red walls and perfect little ceiling, turned to ashes. I couldn’t even remember the last words I said to her that day. The next thing I remember, I was rewriting my letter to Jacob explaining how I’ve lost my love for him and that I wish to never cross paths with him again. Consequently, he died a year later.
“Rose, darling, bring out some more tea, my fingers are numb from the cold,” my father demanded. As I scurried off into the kitchen to boil up water, the ground quaked beneath my feet. Bombs. My siblings in the other room, screamed and my youngest sister Gabrielle came running after me, clutching my legs.
“Rose, Rose, what was that? Why won’t it stop?” she pleaded. I crouched down so my face was level with hers. Out of all my siblings, Gabrielle looked the most like my mother, aside from myself. We both had the same long black hair, same petite nose, and the same warm brown eyes.
“I don’t know, Gabby, go back inside and play with the kids. Try to ignore the noise. Think of it like you’re on a horse, galloping across our orchard.” She nodded her little head and smiled. I had to admire her courage, which of course, she got from our mother. The rest of the kids didn’t really seem as phased by the bombs are Gabby was. Mostly considering they’ve gone through it before. I was the eldest 17 years old, then came Kyle who was 14, Jenny who was 12, Michael who was 8, Hanson who was 6, and then Gabby who was 4. As the eldest child, it was my duty to protect my family, I’d do anything for their safety.
After Jacob, I never actually fancied any other boy. Sure I came across a few hopefuls, but I wasn’t interested. Something inside my body would tell me that they were the wrong person. I don’t know what is was, but I listened to my gut and rejected every call I’d get from any boy. No matter how gorgeous they’d be. I remembered a time where John from my class had tried to kiss me when I was around 15. He leaned his head towards my lips, and then I slapped him right across the face. I wasn’t being quite fair, I was flirting with him and giving him the wrong idea, but I just couldn’t bring myself to kiss him. It just wasn’t right.
The kettle whistled announcing the water’s perfection. I poured the steaming tea in two cups and took them out to the living room. Another bomb went off and I almost lost my footing.
“Be careful there. Don’t want you dropping tea now do we?” my dad teased and took the cups from my hands and set them on the table. I sat down in my mother’s chair and hugged my knees against my chest.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked after a couple minutes of silence. I shook my head and buried my face in my knees. I hadn’t noticed the unwelcome tears making their way down my cheeks, and right then and there, a sob escaped my chest. My siblings looked over at me, worried, and came to my side and they all rested their heads on my shoulders, arms, knees. I hugged them all tightly, latching on to that perfect moment. Soon my father joined and we just sat there, in a perfect little stance. That was exactly how I wanted the rest of eternity to be like.
