Dreamer's Ball [ENOLA HOLMES]

prologue; in the beginning

prologue; in the beginning

1878–Paris, France–a beautiful place for the aristocrats. A time for living a high-class privileged life in their cottages and estates without a care in the word (at least now that the revolution was over and Napoleon was gone)... unless you were the Bissonnette family. A family full of wealth but not free of sorrows. A family that could never seem to catch a break from hardships that life threw their way.

The matriarch of the family passed away nearly five years prior to 1878, leaving the patriarch to raise a moody 17-year-old boy and a clueless 5-year-old girl. The man did well by himself, successfully keeping his political career in tact and taking care of the children (with the help of nannies, butlers and maids of course).

But that was the past, I hear you saying. Every family goes through at least one hardship with death. True. But that death took a tool on both men in the house, effecting both more than anyone could've imagined. The girl was too young to truly understand what was occurring. Death shapes those in many ways... the son turned to hide himself while the father learned to open up. Two different sides of the coin... Death truly was inevitable and those left behind by the person who died had to cope.

Unfortunately for the Bissonnette family, death would return this year, this time to take the father. But we're getting ahead of ourselves. We're not quite there yet. Instead, why don't we meet this family and try to understand what exactly is happening?

A young girl rested underneath an old oak tree, a bulky sketchbook against her long skirt. Her hazel eyes glistening in the sunlight, one light stream striking her face. Her eyes carefully watched a dove, meticulously picking out the little details on the small bird. Her pencil danced along the page, drawing the small details her eyes picked up on the page. This was Amélie Bissonnette, the youngest and only woman in the family–well, not quite a woman as she only just hit double digits with her most recent birthday. She was the brightest light the Bissonnette family had right now–always happy and smiling, radiating such positivity, it was infectious to everyone around. Even in the time of her mother's death, despite not understanding it, she tried to make everyone around her happy... and succeed she did. Amélie truly was a light at the end of the tunnel for her family who was suffering.

Currently, it was just after breakfast time, the perfect time to be outside in Amélie's opinion. Not too hot, the sun at the perfect angle, the birds coming in to eat at the bird feeder–the perfect time for drawing. Drawing was an outlet for her, an outlet for all her creative ideas. Ideas and stories flowed through the girl constantly and loved to write down all her ideas and thoughts to share them to anyone who would listen.

Creative consumed her at the moment, her full attention on her drawing.

A young man exited the house, unbuttoning his long coat as he did so. His posture upright and proper, but soon loosened as he leaned against the wall closest to the door with his arms crossed. He watched the girl sitting underneath the tree with a soft smile. This was André Bissonnette–the eldest and only son of the family, Amélie's senior by twelve years. A man, even in his early twenties, who was well respected in society due to his fast and up-and-coming political career, but held a reputation for being quite serious and cold to others. In reality... there was no doubt in his reputation, but he secretly did have a few soft spots, and one was for his little sister Amélie. Like any older brother he cared deeply for his sister, but always found himself quite annoyed with her sense of imagination and her constant nagging of questions about the world–many of which André himself didn't even know the answer to.