Burnt Paiges

CHAPTER TWO: PERIWINKLES

In the countryside, houses were sparse and isolated from one another. Smooth mounds rippled throughout the land, carpeted with lush green. Trees began their annual venture of shedding their foliage as autumn approached.

After their mother died, Quinn's hands grew corns, his nails toiled dirt, his sweat watered sprouts, his blood nourished roots. But it was the only job made available to his expertise (none). To be a farmer's slave and to reap his crops. On days when Quinn felt the most burdened, Mr. Doel would lighten his spirits with lashes on his back. All to fade his worries and focus only on the pain needed to push forward and work. But he endured it. He hated the farmer so much, that he would fantasize about different ways to end his life. From burying him in a ditch, to gutting him whole. But who would pay him for his sacrifices? As it was the only means at which his siblings would be fed. Paige had no job, she was mentally incompetent. His job was the only source of income to pay for necessities.

...

Quinn was carrying a load of provisions in a wheelbarrow that can be heard from miles away. It could have been heard by everyone, except Paige. He met her lying in the bed of periwinkles reading a book as usual. It was like she was enthralled by the anatomy of the Opheodrys vernalis. Honestly, it was a moment in time to be captured. The butterflies fluttered delicately in the cool, hair blowing breeze. And as her eyes lit up at the book above her, the heavens parted and at the right angle the sun beamed down on her. But he was the cloud that eclipsed the sun. "Paige," he called. "Paige," he said a second time. He couldn't believe it, was she ignoring him? As he inhaled to call again, Luca opened the door and rushed to his brother's aid. He looked at Quinn apologetically on Paige's behalf. His heart lightened at Luca's plead. He sighed. "Help me carry this in," he said as he handed Luca the lightest sack. He flung the rest across his shoulders and proceeded to the front door, sparing a glance at his sister.

"What is she reading?"

"It's about reptiles, she found a snake," he said matter-of-factly.

Quinn seemed to be taken aback, as he reached for the knife in his waist. His jaw locked hard, and irritation emerged, "I'm going to kill it."

"No! It's harmless, she said it's not venomous," his eyebrows raised in justification, "please Quinnie, I think we should let her keep it."

He hesitated for a moment, looked into his brother's eyes, and ultimately Quinn had already admitted defeat. But he smiled, "Come give me a hug." With arms outstretched, Luca rushed into them, immediately absorbing the warmth that Quinn radiated. As Quinn ruffled Luca's blond hair he said, "You look just like mother." And Luca squeezed him tighter.

When they returned outside, they found Paige cooing at the snake. As she held it towards the sun, the serpent glittered magnificently. But as beautiful as it was, this snake was no common grass snake. It's lime scales layered its slender figure smoothly. However, each scale seemed to have gold freckled tips. While its head rested in Paige's palm, it nudged her thumb affectionately. Its body was long enough to coil her arm twice, draping its tail on her shoulder to reach for her bangs and twirled them. What a mysterious snake, he thought, as it flashed Quinn a glance before it longitudinally blinked its jade green eyes.

"Can we keep her?" Paige nagged.

"Her? How do you know it's a female?"

"She told me her name was Inga," she beamed, "isn't she beautiful? So, can we keep her?"

Luca looked at Quinn expectedly, "Sure."

"Just another thing to add to the hoard. Great," he muttered sarcastically.

After her mother's death, Paige had fostered a routine practice, whenever she would go to the town, she would return with an armful of books. She felt a profound link to her mother each and every time she flipped a page, it was this pastime that they both adored when Elise was alive. Sooner or later, the house became overflowing with books of all genres. Paige had great difficulty with letting go of the very thing that connected her to her mom. She was not conscious of the adverse impact this had on her brothers.

The house was undoubtedly a fire hazard, one of two exits were blocked, there was hardly ever any illumination by the windows because they too were obscured. Cobwebs draped from the ceilings, embodying the gentle rippling of a pond. The musty, stale air hardly ever circulated within their 2-bedroom house. It was the yawning crack in the living room, where the wall and the ceiling were perpendicular, that allowed the atmosphere to be exchanged and reoxygenated. However, owing to this fissure, when it rained, mold and mildew were given an opportunity to colonize. But still Luca tried his best to keep the house as clean as possible. Their single toilet and bath had running water, the kitchen sink was mostly empty, and food that went bad was never kept for too long. It was just the books everywhere! Towers of books were so tall they grazed the ceiling. They piled along the corridor, leading to the bedroom they all shared, as the other was turned into a library by their mother.

On the outside, the house clearly aged dreadfully and had seen better years. Most shutters were either totally unhinged or hanging by one. Quinn over the years, created a patch work out of the back wall of the house. Vines grew to hide the bleaching on the side facing the sun. The only thing that stood strongly, was the flooring. And he hoped to keep it that way, because maintaining the house was an exceedingly difficult job.

Where Luca accepted Paige's behavior, Quinn blamed her for their uncomfortable life. Quinn felt like he was responsible for something he was never prepared for, for something he had no say in the matter. He felt self-pity, as he never had a life of his own. And as the sun melted below the horizon, he aggressively smashed the last nail into the box he made for Inga.