The Bright Colours of Misery [COMPLETED]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝚃𝚆𝙾 -cold and grey-

Big hugs.

Your terrible sister.

The letter was stained with tears, and Heidi closed her eyes at the word 'terrible', imagining just how terrifying it must have been for her to receive that letter. And all I could think about was how unfortunate it was that my dear Heidi always put others feelings before her own.

She spent the rest of her day in her nightgown, concocting the best reply to this letter, but she didn't know what to say. There was no perfect reply, other than a simple 'see you at christmas.' which she first thought was a waste of paper. However, ultimately, she just wrote it, and in the evening she got some real clothes on, and posted it at the post office. It was unusually cold outside, and snowing, the flakes seemed to be getting bigger by the minute. She giggled, hoping she would be able to build a snowman with Manfred soon, he had been plaguing the whole family about wanting to build one and call it Hans, for some reason. Heidi, much like her mother, had stopped questioning many things her younger siblings said or did long ago by this point. She pushed the door open only to find Frieda had just got home from school, without a word her sister embraced her and held onto her for a solid minute, before pulling away and waltzing into the kitchen like nothing had happened. Now, I know what you might be thinking, why? Heidi wondered this too, she obviously wasn't as shocked as she would have been a few years ago, but it still raised a few questions. She got her scarf and coat off, before following her into the kitchen. Her mother was warming yesterday's soup, and didn't bother to turn around at first. Heidi sat down right next to Frieda, around the small kitchen table.

"Who's there? Frieda or Heidi?" She asked, exhaustion lacing her voice as usual.

"Both." They answered in perfect unison. They both quickly turned to each other and let out a slight giggle afterward.

Trudy stopped for a second, her whole body seemed to be rigid for just a split second, and then I noticed a tear trickle down her cheek.
"Both of you, huh?" She wiped it quickly and turned around. Her wooden spoon was hastily put on the table.

They both nodded.

"Did you post your letter Heidi?" Trudy eventually asked as the silence became rather uncomfortable. Heidi nodded.
"Yeah, yeah" She said, having very little to tell her about.

Trudy also nodded, looking over at Frieda who seemed to have a lot on her mind contrary to my dear Heidi.

"Oh dear, what is it, Frieda?" Trudy asked, pulling a chair out to sit down. Frieda's teary eyes looked up at her.
"Lila and Helena's brothers died." She whispered, barely able to articulate the words. Trudy and Heidi's faces fell. They all knew everyone in their small town, it hit hard but without surprise.
"Oh dear.." was all Trudy could say. "Recently?"

Frieda nodded, trying to wipe her tears. "They got telegrams during the weekend."

"They're dead." Trudy reached for her hand over the table.

"They were the same age as Walter."

The young girl burst into sobs. "Helena is my friend, Lila sits next to me."

Trudy nodded, understanding—remembering the feeling.

"And they weren't in school today because their brothers were killed."

Her voice wavered as she repeated that dreaded word.

"I'm just like them, that could have been absent today, and I possibly will be tomorrow!" Tears flowed down her cheeks as if her eyes were fountains.

"Walter could get killed, he could be dead right now!"

No one said a word, not even when she kept bawling. They knew it was true, comforting words wouldn't change facts.