Tug of War, Fight 'Till Death

2. Blocking Them Out

Elaina's Home   6:17 PM

   Reading Macbeth for the hundredth time is not what I call preoccupying. But it's for English, so I'd like to refresh my perfect memory.  Perfect memory....I loathe my perfect memory. It gives me perfect clarity of my inescabable past.  I can re-live and watch it like a pitcure show.

   The silence in this room is so loud. My house is so empty. There is no one ever in it but me. This place used to be filled with tears, laughter, fights, and love. Now it is an empty shell.  I live in this deserted forest in my families old manor. Sometimes I can still hear them talking to me; encouraging me to keep breathing. I can still smell my mother's floral perfum, sometimes... and hear my baby sister's giggles. I can even feel his cold embrace. 

 May 13, 1872  Embriam Manor

"Momma?" I struggle to get up from the plushy sofa. 

"Yes, dear?" Momma bustled about in a frantic disposition. Today was a huge event. It was very important to her. She's made this very clear. Xavier Wood is visiting. He is a couple years older than I. 21 at the latest. And I at 17, turning 18 in November. Not only is he the most respected man in Upstone Town, but he saved my life a few years back. I was drowning in the Tyre River at a picnic when I was 14. My dress was so tight, I couldn't breathe.  So I  toppled over the stone wall. He jumped in and rescued me. I haven't seen him since  then. But when I heard he was visiting, my heart thumped unevenly in my chest and I started to get nervous. 

"Can you loosen  this corset? I cannot breathe at all."  Momma smiled sweetly, understanding the torchers of a woman. 

"In hushed tones, I will for the sake of this: We don't want you fainting again." Momma tisked. 

"I was just thinking about him; the man who saved me? Xavier, I mean. Do you think He'll recognize me?" Mother loosened the strings so I could talk without running out of breath. 

"How could he not remember you, darling Annette?" Momma smoothed my long brown hair and adjusted my sleeves.  Momma's kind blue eyes warmed my heart. Her poofy blonde hair was, for once, untidy.  Even when she's bustling around, trying to make everything perfect, she still finds time to nurse my worries.  My thundering heart beat slowed as she calmed me. 

Momma swished away, shouting, "Those candles don't go there, Melissa! Come now, child, I'll show you where."  Savanna dodged Momma within inches as she raced through the house. Momma didn't notice. 

"Anne! Wook! I found Buttons!" Savanna ran to me with her raggedy bunny. Her brown curls bounced around her angelic face. Her white gown was ruined with mud. 

"So you did find him! You found a stain on your pretty dress, as well." I pinched her little cheeks. "Let's go up to our room so I can find you another one. Momma's already in a panic over the party tonight. She shan't worry about you, as well. "  I grabbed her little hand and led her upstairs.

"I found Buttons by the pond! Why would he be out there, Anne? I was so worried! But he's otay now!" 

   Tears fell from my eyes as I remembered my precious family.  I want to block them out. This house made it impossible. Startled, I look up in the darkness, and see that I am in Savanna's room. My fingers grasp Buttons, and I hold her close. Her high-pitched bell-like laugh rang in my ears, piercing my heart. Momma's eyes flashed before mine and the wind was knocked out of me as the pain ripped my heart to pieces. 

   I hate being in this house. But it's the only thing left of them that reminds that they were real.