A New Start (On Hold)

Chapter 2: Memories

Chapter 2

Memories

The house is silent, that means Evanna is still asleep. Maïra tries to be as quiet as possible, she doesn't want to wake her sister.

She opens her closet and looks for her swimsuit, when suddenly she realizes it must still be in a box somewhere. It's a beautiful day anyway, she wants to go swimming. Or just lay down on the soft grass with a good book. When she finds her favorite bikini, she tries it on to see if it still fits. It's been a while since she wore it. It's actually just been a while since she went swimming. More than ten months to be precise.

The bikini fits, though it's a bit tight.

She wears a blue jumpsuit over her bikini and grabs a random book from another, unpacked box.

Still trying to be quiet, she makes her way downstairs. The sun shines trough the big windows and leaves big stripes of light everywhere. It feels like the house is shining too.

This house, well... mansion, is full of happy memories. Memories from the time both their mother and their grandmother were still alive and they would spend the summer here.

You can understand that, for small children, such a big house is just awesome. So many secret places to discover, so many rooms to hide in. And for kids, the house also looks bigger than it actually is.

Maïra and Evanna could play hide-and-seek for hours and still not find one another.

When they were tired of playing all day, they would sit down on the big, comfy sofa next to the fireplace. And as they watched the flames dance, grandma would tell stories.

Amelia Masen-Jollis had always been a hero for the girls. She could be very severe and demanding, but only when it was necessary. She was usually really kind and soft. She had a really good sense of humor and always made everyone around her laugh and feel good. Her optimism immediately spread to the other people around her. She was also an amazing baker and her homemade macarons were always amazing.

But what they loved most about their grandmother, was her imagination. She could tell a story about everything.

Ask her to tell a story about an armadillo with pink, blue and green stripes, and she could talk for hours. You would not get bored because her imagination was so endless she could go on forever.

They listened to her stories for hours, until their mother eventually said it was time for her darlings to go to their warm beds.

Standing in front of the old fireplace, that hasn't been used in quite a while, makes all those memories and stories come back to Maïra. A smile spreads across her face.

She walks toward the fireplace and runs her fingers across the marble that's covered in dust.

The cleaners are coming tomorrow but Maïra wanted to move in the second they arrived here, so everything is still dusty and she lets out a few coughs..

In the shining light of the sun she sees the dust flying around. She walks to the big window and looks outside.

The mansion's garden was always the most beautiful part of their grandmother's home.

Green grass, beautiful flowers and trees. A small pond and a bridge to cross the water. It looks like it came right out of a Disney movie. Except for the pool. Grandma had it build when they were eight years old. There was a gardener who came every Saturday and Wednesday to keep it all beautiful, otherwise, nature would've taken over and it would be a jungle by now.

Maïra looked at the blue sky. The weather is wonderful. Why not go for a swim right now? She opens the backdoor that leads to the garden and goes outside. She inhales the fresh air and enjoys the warmth of the sunbeams on her skin. The grass tickles her bare feet as she basically runs to the pool. She drops her jumpsuit on the grass and walks toward the diving board.

But when she is about to jump, she stops. A sudden, dizzy feeling makes her sit down on the board. Suddenly the water doesn't seem inviting anymore and the blue sky is sickening.

All those happy memories, that's not how life is. Life is cruel. How could she be so foolish to think for one second that that isn't true? How could she be so foolish to think that everything is always gonna be okay? The garden looks like a Disney movie but it isn't. Life does not always have a happy ending.

She sits there for quite some time, she doesn't know how long, looking at her reflection in the water and thinking about her life. They moved to Aurora Skies to live in their grandma's mansion. Now they were finally there, what was she going to do?

Maïra is watching the still water of the pool, when she hears birds singing close to her. She looks up and sees two blackbirds, who are hopping around in the gras, chirping to get eachothers attention. She smiles. Birds have such an easy life. They eat, sleep, breed and die. And when something bothers them they just fly away. Well, except if they're injured and can't fly anymore.

She sees that one of the birds has trouble flying. It tries to fly but isn't able to. The other one looks impatient, waiting for the other to come and doesn't understand why it can't. A bird with a broken wing. She feels like she has a broken wing too. Not being able to fly away from trouble anymore. And no one understands why she doesn't just fly like everyone else.

A tear slowly rolls down her cheek and she watches it as it hits the water of the pool and creates circles that keep getting bigger. The water is not still anymore. She sighs and puts her big toe in the water, creating more circles. She feels the heat of the sun on her back and a small breeze on her cheecks.

She really hopes that the people here in Aurora Skies are nicer and less judgemental than everyone is in Bridgeport. She hopes that they won't be looking at her like she's a freak or a little bird with a broken wing. She hopes that they'll just accept her. As they would accept any other young woman.

She wants to start over, but how? It's not like she has a degree in anything, so how will she find a good job?

While she's wondering, Maïra doesn't notice that her sister is awake.

When Evanna woke up, she couldn't find Maïra. She did not go look for her, she knows it's better to leave her alone sometimes. Evanna too, noticed the beautiful weather and also decided she would relax outside for a little while. She dressed, grabbed her sunglasses and looked for a good book to read.

She walked outside, but saw her sister. Sitting on the diving board. She looked sad. Evanna stopped to watch her.

Five minutes, that was how long Evanna stood there watching her twinsister before the tears also started welling up in her eyes. Maïra's pain was her pain. She couldn't stand seeing her once so optimistic and enthousiast sister so small and alone, she'd changed so much. She used to be open and happy. Spontaneous and funny. Now she closed herself up, turned into a basket case, but Evanna knew that Maïra needed time to find herself again. Evanna sniffs. She wishes she knew what her sister was thinking. She misses the time they used to tell eachother everything. They barely talk anymore and when they do, it's not much. Her sister shuts everyone out. It's like there is no life left in her. Just a big black sad hole. Tears. Evanna wipes out her eyes and walks further. She won't bother her now. She'll just sit under that tree, read a book and forget, as usual.