Chapter Twenty-Three
Hester House, October 2003
A kaleidoscope of the last of October fell around Sonia and Max as they walked the path to Hester House, the five year old feet kicking up leaves with glee.
“Will Uncle Andy show me his stars?” asked Max, jumping and tugging on Sonia’s hand.
“If you ask nicely Maxxie I’m sure he will.”
“Can I play with Ella?”
“If she’s not sleeping.”
“Will Auntie Amara draw with me?”
Sonia hesitated. “Auntie Amara may be tired, honey.”
Max pouted. “She never plays with me anymore. I hate sick.”
They neared the house and Max ran at the sight of his Uncle standing on the back porch.
“Hey Max!” he called, and Ella giggled in his arms.
“Can I see the stars?” he asked excitedly, bouncing up and down.
Andrew shot a glance at Sonia. “In a while, sure. I have to talk to your Mum for a while first. Maybe after lunch?”
Shoulders drooping, Max stared at the ground. “Can I go explore?”
“Sure honey,” said Sonia, taking a giggly Ella from Andrew. “Don’t bother Auntie Amara though, ‘kay?”
“Kay.” Max ran into the house, momentarily happy.
“How is she?” Sonia asked, giving her niece a peck on the cheek.
“Amara is…quiet.”
“Is she spending time with Ella?”
Andrew watched his daughter giggle in her aunts arms, blonde ringlets creating a sunny halo around her head. “She does, but there’s this…fear in her eyes.”
The twins retreated to the kitchen, where Ella slept peacefully in Sonia’s arms. Upstairs Max walked the twisting halls of Hester House, dragging his old stuffed rabbit behind him. “Hurry up,” he scolded it. “Or we’ll miss the train.”
Max came to the east corner of the house, where he knew the sun would rise. His Mamma had told him about the east and the west, the moon – Uncle Andrew taught him the stars, Uncle Winston plants.
Stopping in front of a door he looked up and reached for the handle, but it was locked – Max didn’t have any problems with locks. The door swung open and he stepped through, the first living person to enter in five years. The white furniture was coated in dust, the delicate opaque curtains pulled tight across the window, still in the stale air.
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Surviving in Harmony
FanfictionThe Wizarding World is finally at peace, but the Bowen twins still have one challenge to overcome - how to go on without their mother. Still reeling from Hazel's unexpected death, brother and sister must survive in a world they've never fully been p...
