Rose sadly whispers, “My mommy’s name a-be’s Juniper. She was a-named after a pretty little tree, ‘cause of her beauty.”
Piper responds in a hushed tone, “That’s a beautiful name.”
Rose nods, “She a-named me, too. The rose be her a-favorite flower. The day she a-got taken, she a-says to me, like she a-did every morning, ‘I’s a-love ya, Rose, don’t ya ever forget it. Even if I’s don’t be here, my love will always be a-with ya.’”
Rose sniffles, “I’s don’t even a-‘member her. I be too a-young when she was a-taken. My daddy a-told me that story. I’s won’t never forget it.”
Arrie smiles sadly at Rose. I can’t imagine the pain they all must have felt. First they believed that Juniper was dead, then they had the hope that she was alive again, only to receive her dead body.
Arrie speaks with a tear falling down her face, “Juniper be the smartest girl I’s ever a-met. She a-learnt so much about plants, that’s how James a-got ta be such a good doctor. Juniper a-taught James everything he a-knows. Everyone a-knew and a-loved Juniper. Juniper a-used ta be the only one who could a-make Nikolas truly laugh. Juniper be me and Spara’s a-best friend. Nothin’s a-been the same since she…” Arrie trails off.
We stand in silence as Arrie attempts to blink away her tears. Even the little children seem to know to be quiet out of reverence.
Arrie takes a final deep breath before saying, “Ya young-uns can a-go a-see yer moms and dads if they’s be a-here.”
The two little boys take off running into the fields, tripping and screeching all the way. They practically tackle a woman who’s bent over near the corn. The woman smiles tiredly and gives them a strong hug.
Arrie says, “They’s be a-twins. Poor woman, she never a-has a moment of peace.”
The other boy, who seems to be about three, totters off to a man near to us. A woman, who Arrie addresses as Willow, joins Arrie and holds the baby close to her chest, murmuring into the baby’s ear.
Rose and Marrielle stay near to Arrie, giggling and chattering as normal.
I still can’t seem to accept the fact that all these children know their parents, and get to spend time with them.
Does that open them up to more pain? I saw the loss on Rose’s face when she described her mother. Even though Rose doesn’t remember her mother, she still feels the pain of where her mother is missing. Rose has to grow up seeing other children’s mothers and knowing that she’ll never have one.
I’ve never met my parents, I don’t even know who they are, but that was the same for everyone else in the Complex. We didn’t feel any pain from the absence, because we didn’t know we were supposed to.
Just like everything else in the Complex, we didn’t think that things could have been different.
Is it better not knowing your parents so that you don’t have to go through the pain of losing them? Is it good to distance ourselves from them?
I watch Willow holding her little baby, a soft, blissful smile on her face. Did anyone ever hold me like that?
The baby’s eyes flicker open. The baby giggles softly, Willow’s face cracking open in a grin. Arrie and Willow continue to coo over the baby, causing it to laugh even more.
Did anyone make me laugh when I was a baby? Were we taught even that young to be quiet and emotionless?
I force myself once again to push away the thoughts of the Complex. That life is over and I need to stop comparing things to it.
YOU ARE READING
987 (Complex Series, #3)
Science Fiction-third book in the Complex series- Dana has been captured by Officials. She doesn't know who to trust and who to avoid. Anything she says or does could quickly cause her death. How long can she protect the secret of her and her friends' past? How lo...
