Where the Clouds Don't Reach

Chapter 1

There were two Iwans in our class. The one that my sister was going to marry and Iwan two. The two Iwans had similar features. Not identical, like my sister and me, but too similar to make one into a nickname.

Malou's eyes were red from crying. The emotion had been overwhelming her for most of the day and she just couldn't keep it together. But that was my sister, she'd always been emotional.

I didn't show, nor feel, that sort of emotion. Our lives were moving on. I didn't even know wether I'd miss our days at school or not. It probably depended on the job I was to be given. I just wished for something good. Like my brother, who worked on the docks. He certainly lucked out. Especially when compared to my father and my oldest brother who's days were lived inside a dark and filthy factory. They only got to see the sun on their way from and to work. If that were to be the life I was heading to, I was gonna miss school.

The teacher ordered Malou and me to take a seat in the middle of the circle our classmates had formed. We sat down, our backs touching one another. I was grateful for my sisters presence. I could count on her support, wouldn't have to endure this alone. I bet she felt that too.

I sat right across from Iwan one. I looked at him and felt his gaze go right through me, to my sister. We should have switched, Malou and I. He was one of the few people who was able to tell us apart anyway. However, it wasn't hard to tell us apart today. Malou was crying, I was not.

I wasn't really gonna miss the people at school. Looking around at my classmates, it didn't tear me apart to leave them. I would still see them, though not daily. At public affairs, holidays, maybe even at work. And even if I wouldn't, I just couldn't cry over it. I didn't have a lot of friends at school anyway. I didn't have a lot of friends anywhere really. Malou and I looked alike on the outside, but we were opposites on the inside.

Miss Willans, our class teacher, gestured to Malou to sing the first words of the song, while she held up a red flower and passed it on to Kara, another friend of Malou's. Malou sang the first words, but couldn't even finish the first sentence. Knowing my sister well enough to know it wasn't gonna get any better, I took over. The song was a bit stupid in my opinion, but it was a tradition that had started far before I first walked into school.

Where the lands are big

And the world is wide

It is there I'll go

After my last night

After my last night

Remember me now

Like the flowers blooming out

I am heading out

Leaving my first smiles

Leaving my first times

Even though it was a short song, there were few people who made it to the end of without breaking. A fair amount could keep it together until somewhere near the end, when the flower had gone all the way round and was finally offered to the person in the middle. Some could barely even start the song, like Malou. She wasn't that much of an exception. I was though, belonging to the few who sang it out. I'd honestly only seen two people do it before me. Two boys, I remember. One, I didn't know at all. I was about seven grades lower than him. It was quite something that I still remembered him actually. The other one was Vaughan, he was one grade above me. His leaving ceremony had been about a year and a half ago. He was one of those weird kids that just somehow didn't quite fit in with the rest. He was an outsider, which was probably the reason he managed to sing out his song. I didn't expect to ever see him again, though the fact that both he and I sang it out made me feel some strange sort of connection. And to be fair, I had always been quite an outsider too. It was Malou who made friends for both of us, but I wonder how many of them would have cared for me if Malou hadn't been there.

Our classmates applauded. I knew I was gonna be remembered for singing out the song. I was kinda proud of it. But then, Malou would be remembered because everyone adored her. From the lowest grade to the teachers, there wasn't a single person here who didn't love, let alone know, my twin sister.

Miss Willans came up to us and shook our hand, teary eyed. Then she pulled both of us into a hug. Now it was out schoolmates turn to hug us and shake our hands. Everybody came up to us, in perfect order of age. Malou's crying had gotten worse, and somehow I also felt a lump in my troth. So I just smiled until the last people had said their goodbyes. I wrapped my arm around my sister. She leaned her head against my shoulder. Together we walked the steps of the stairs that led us all the way down the building. A good five minutes later we stood outside, with all the noise and our school years left behind us.

Neither of us said something during our walk home. What was there to say? Nothing really. And when we got home our mother was waiting for us at the kitchen table, like she had been doing since Seans first day of school all through her four children's school years. Today was the very last time. Just like everything would be the very last time. I felt the lump in my troth again and Malou's eyes became teary once again when mom poured us our tea. Though I'd never liked the earthy taste of moms home-brewed tea, I had always cherished the moment it came at. Especially in the years that both my brothers were stil in school. That had been a while though. Sean was 25 and had been out of school for over seven years. Malou and I were eleven when we participated in his leaving ceremony. Our other brother, Caspar was only a year older than we were, so it hadn't been that long since he had gotten his job.

My mother smiled at us sweetly. She too had tears in her eyes. Suddenly the urge to run to my beloved woods rose up in me. Whenever the indoors felt tight, I longed for the spaciousness of the woods. The natural feeling of a tree trunk against my hands and feet, when I climbed it until I couldn't go any higher. That was the only thing — I had often thought — that didn't feel off in some strange way.

But I kept the urge hidden inside and instead smiled back at mom.

A/N

Hi guys!

Thanks for checking out my work. This is an idea I've long been passionate about, so I hope you'll find it interesting like I do! Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, please do comment and vote! 

Love,

Anne