Of Roses Red and Violet

Mirrors and Memories

"I'm ready." Gilly turned confidently and Ollie raised up his fist. "We're ready." Gilly smiled gratefully. "All of you are going? Well I suppose that is feasible." The crew stepped towards it but Rose held out a hand. "Remember, think of where you want to go and most importantly, you are ghosts in the other worlds. You will not have an effect on anything or anyone but be warned. What you see may not be what you like."

Gilly nodded and stepped in. The other side was completely grey with blue wisps flowing through the air. "Give me your hands!" She shouted as the air around swirled. The crew joined hands and thought of the prophecy and what might've altered it. Gilly inhaled and exhaled. A voice broke out in the swirling winds. "You asked for an answer. I will give two times. For the answer you seek, is not always simple to find." Jocelyn groaned. "Does everything have to rhyme?" Kayla rolled her eyes and hushed her. The world around them swirled and vision became blurry.

Finally the world swirled into solid ground. "Where are we?" Ollie groaned, "When are we?" Gilly stood up and looked around. "It looks like a watch shop." AG immediately sat up and jumped to her feet. "I know where we are! This is Drosselmeyer's Watch Shop! My father comes here all the time to fix his watch." "I've never seen this place before." Gilly remarked while investigating a nearby cuckoo clock. "Most people wouldn't, it's pretty plain so most miss it." "Ok whatever we're doing, let's get out of here and find some clues about what exactly we're looking for." Jocelyn said and bolted for the door.

When the door opened, the village looked the same but with some differences in fashion and a few shops weren't there yet. The crew walked around looking for any sign of an important memory. Gilly had no idea what to look for. They wandered around the plaza until a little girl with brown hair ran by. The crew barely noticed her but Gilly froze. The little girl was holding a piece of cake and had a party hat on. "Is that-?" "Me." Gilly cut Maxine off. Little Gilly was exactly the same but with more baby face. She wore a light yellow dress and small sneakers. The crew watched her sit in an alleyway and eat her cake.

"Ohhh. I remember this day now. It was my 5th birthday. My parents had yelled at me and threatened to cancel my birthday so I ran."Gilly looked at little her longingly. Little Gilly had small tears but ate her food with a cheery smile. "I've never seen you smile like that before." Kayla remarked. "Yeah what happened to sugars and sweets Gilly?" Ollie asked jokingly as a group of older boys walked towards the alley laughing. Gilly's eyes went wide and she immediately told the group they should leave. "Why?" AG asked but Gilly just shouted to whatever brought them here to take them back. "I remember this now! Take us back!" Gilly kept pleading but nothing happened. As the boys got closer, Gilly said they should atleast go somewhere else.

"Why? what's wrong?" Maxine put a hand on Gilly's shoulder but she shook it off. The boys noticed Little Gilly and stalked towards her. "Hey, Cobbler! Whatcha got there?!" Little Gilly smiled and held up her cake. "My birthday cake!" She said proudly and the boys started snickering. "That the only gift your parents could afford?!" One boy with red hair began laughing at her. "What do you mean?" "Everyone knows your family is a bunch of dirt poor losers!" "That's not true!" Little Gilly shouted but the boys kept laughing. "What are you gonna do? Cry?" Little Gilly's tears grew more and one of the boys grabbed her by her face.

"Aww look she's crying!" He pushed her into the ground and little Gilly tried pushing herself off. "Let me go!" She screamed and another boy grabbed her cake and smushed it in her face. The boy holding her down let go but they started throwing rocks at her and she tried covering her head. "Help!" She screamed but the boys closed off any exits where she could run. They kept laughing until one of them kicked Gilly down and she hunched over crying. "Let's go! This loser isn't worth our time!" The red haired boy shouted and they all left. Gilly laid on the ground hunched over with bruises forming and blood on her arm. She kept crying and hugged her knees to her chest.