After the death of a certain Dollanganger, five siblings are persuaded by their fortune-hungry mother to hide in an attic or their grandparents house, where they endure unimaginable treatment at the hands of their grandmother.
Maaria the oldest gir...
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Maaria's POV
Everyone was up and cleaning the attic except for the twins. I helped Christopher with moving the furniture to make more space in the attic for the twins and Cathy cleans furniture. We hear the door creaking and look up to see Mother, with a tray that had paints, parchments, and brushes.
"Figured since I couldn't get you a real garden, that you could build a garden in the attic." I looked at Mother suspiciously and Christopher smiles.
"What about Grandmother? Won't she punish us?" Cathy asks and I haven't said a word nor moved from my place of where I was standing.
"She's claustrophobic, she'll never climb the stairs." Mother sets down the tray on a small box and exhales sharply. Christopher steps forward and comforts her.
"You should take it easy Mom." We all sit down on the furniture and I sit besides Christopher.
"It's okay. It's just a willow switching. My pride hurts worse than my back." I rolled my eyes and looked at her.
"But why? Why did Grandmother said those things about Dad? About us? What happened?" Mother looks at all three of us and starts explaining.
"When I was little, I turned to my Father for love, we did everything together. Sailing and horseback riding, even hunting. That only made my mother more jealous and she took every opportunity she could to torment me and shame me, and she succeeded. Over the years, my Father became more and more busy with work and I became more withdrawn and lonely, and into all of this came my Father's half-brother. His Mother had recently died and my family took him in. He was only a few years older than me. He was so handsome and so kind, and, uh...so full of life. My Father treated him like he was his own son, and I'd never met anyone like him." Mother touches her necklace and I softly gasp, realizing who she was talking about. Cathy followed on as well.
"You're talking about Dad?" Cathy asks, Mother nods her head.
"We tried to keep our feelings a secret, even from each other. I mean, we were related by blood, he was my half-uncle. And when we eloped, my family threw into rage and my Father disinherited me, and my Mother said that my children would be born with hooved feet and forked tails. She was wrong, God didn't punish me, not with you. You are perfect. You have to believe it, no matter what anyone says. I hope you can understand that love doesn't always come when you want it, sometimes it just happens, against your will." Oh my god....but what about me?
"I don't care what you did, Mom, or do. I'll always love you." Christopher hugs Mother. Classic classic Christopher
"Then why did Grandmother let you come back?" I asked.
"Because she's been waiting twenty years to say "I told you so." Trust me, Maaria, I'm as much a captive of this place as you are."
"Then what about my Dad? Not Cathy or Christopher's Dad, but my Dad, who is he?" Mother looks at me stunned by the question I asked.
