The Fairest Stars

Chapter Three: 'Soon moody to be moved'

‘I’m sure you did brilliantly,’ Seb told her. Ever the optimist, Isis often told her brother he was the ray of sunshine in the seemingly ever gloomy estate which they lived on. Though she didn’t see much of him, her moments with him always buoyed her up.

‘Your day?’ she asked, hoisting herself up onto the work top.

He jerked an elbow, noncommittally. ‘Alright.’

Seb spent his entire life cooking; or so it seemed to Isis. He had a job at the local fast food outlet, cooking fried chicken from 9-3, and another job at a local restaurant, working from 7-12. Isis could tell he loved cooking- and it was handy, he cooked brilliant dinners for them, making the most of the food they had, but along with food shopping and picking up Freya at the end of her school day, she often wondered if he had enough time to himself. 

Freya sat in the corner of the kitchen, reading, her blonde head bent over the pages as she devoured the words. They often tended to congregate in the kitchen after school. It was the only time they really got to spend with Seb, as he would soon disappear to get to his late night job.

‘Have you been in to see Mum yet?’ Isis asked Seb.

He nodded. ‘She was still in bed. I tried to persuade her to come food shopping with me, but she didn’t want to.’ 

Nodding, Isis reached up (a long way) to ruffle her elder brother’s hair. ‘I’ll go and see if she’s okay.’

Heading out of the warm kitchen, she shivered as she opened the door to her mum’s room. The flat was two bed roomed, so Freya slept in with her mother, Seb sleeping in a tiny room only just big enough for his bed, and Isis slept on a sofa bed in the lounge. It wasn’t ideal for their family, but it was all that Seb’s income and the benefits could provide. 

The dingy room was even darker than it should have been; the curtains were drawn, the lights switched off. ‘Mum?’ Isis asked, cautiously. ‘Are you asleep?’

‘No.’ 

Reaching for the light switch, Isis blinked in the sudden light from the singular light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Propped up in bed, Isis bit her lip at the sight of her mother, propped up in bed. After the death of her father, five years ago, her mother had spiralled deeper and deeper into depression. Isis could remember it well- it had been a horrific shock to come home to her mother, crying, and Seb, his eyes wide. Her father had died of a heart attack, so suddenly that her mother had never gotten over it. Isis had loved her dad deeply- he’d always been there to laugh and joke about everything, despite the fact that they had never had quite enough to make ends meet. Seb got that from his father. 

The entire family had been devastated by the loss, even Freya, who didn’t really understand. Her mother had taken it the worst though. After leaving her job, she grew more and more antisocial, refusing to leave first the house, and then her room as she struggled to find a job that would suit her, and then became more depressed about not being able to provide for her family. The savings began to run out, Seb had to start working. Her mother’s depression got worse as she slated herself for being such a bad mother to her children, and thought of how she was letting her husband down… Isis had no idea what to do anymore. 

Her mother was pale, her cheeks hollowed and bags under her eyes. Crippling bouts of insomnia often left her unable to sleep for days, making her too exhausted to do anything.

‘Is there anything you’d like?’ Isis asked, and her mother shook her head.

‘No, no. I’m fine.’

Biting her lip again, Isis wondered bringing it up… she was perseverant, if nothing else. ‘Mum?’

‘Mm?’