The Bright Colours of Misery [COMPLETED]

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙾𝚁𝚃𝚈 𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽 -Christmas spirit-

"Oh, uh, I'm good. It's Christmas, and Wilma and Walter are coming." Heidi started, the woman hummed, she knew this of course.

"Ah yes, that's lovely." My dear human nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but mum and Frieda have been completely consumed about it for the past two days,"
Helga put a pair of mittens on and rolled her eyes.

"Ah, yeah you could say that." She started. "I noticed already three days ago, Trudy couldn't talk of anything else." Heidi couldn't help but notice Helga's fond smile as she spoke of her mother. They truly loved each other, ever since it had been clarified and pointed out to Heidi, she saw it everywhere, in almost every interaction they had.

"And that was all you could talk about at dinner the same day." Alexander said, taking a long sip of his glass of water.

"I might have mentioned it, yes." She opened the oven, lighting a match to get it going. "Anyway, it is reasonable, Trudy hasn't had a full house in a while, and can't wait to see Walter again, I suppose that's the case with your sister as well."

"Oh Frieda can't wait, she keeps pretending she can though." Heidi turned to Alexander. "Gisela caught her 'peacefully' reading a book upside down." She whispered into his ear, trying to stop herself from laughing hysterically at the image of it. Alexander grinned and nodded.

"What? Are you telling me you don't do that, Heidi?" He joked. "Everyone reads books upside down when they are very concentrated and peaceful."

Heidi rolled her eyes. "Ah, yes of course, now that you point it out, it happens to the most patient and peaceful of us all does it not?"

Helga was already rolling her eyes at their little charade, but Alexander and Heidi found it highly amusing.

"I usually find myself reading books upside down while shooting impatient glaces out the window like a hawk."
Alexander burst out laughing and so did Heidi and once they calmed down and their faces were all red. Helga told them to mix some cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Heidi had missed that smell. It was rare to come by nowadays. The Fischer's had a cupboard filled with cinnamon for some reason, and Heidi dreaded the day it would all run out, if it came because of this stupid war. What would they do without Helga Fischer's cinnamon buns? They had brought her so much comfort, and their golden yellow and brown colour would definitely be missed by many.

"What are you planning to eat tonight, Heidi?" Helga asked, wiping flour off the counters. Something told me she knew what Heidi would say. She probably suspected they barely would eat anything that evening. Nonetheless, Heidi did not know she was already aware and sort of stopped, and struggled to come up with an answer. She didn't want to lie, in case she actually checked later and also just out of pure moral reasons. However, she felt she couldn't tell the truth. Her family's situation was already far too obvious to everyone, as she and her siblings looked almost ill because of how thin they were, but they weren't the only ones, it had unfortunately become more and more common, because most of the food in the country was given to the armed forces as the conflict went on.

"Heidi?" Helga insisted, as the girl didn't answer, eventually she had to cave in.

"We don't have anything, apart from a few apples and bread." She admitted, feeling shame with every single word. Helga nodded, she expected this, and yet her eyes still widened in horror once she heard the words come out of Heidi's mouth. It confirmed her suspicions for certain. Alexander looked up at his mother, looking like a helpless animal. It was obvious what question they shared.

What can we do?

Helga answered it with grace, throwing an apron at Heidi and pulling her son up from his wooden seat.
"There are some things in the cupboards." She explained. "I went to the christmas market yesterday."