When We Fall

Chapter 3

                                                                               A p r i l

Leigh scratched the piece of paper on her desk vigorously with her drawing pencil. She was so focused on her drawing she couldn't see anything but the piece of paper in front of her. It was like the world around her had gone black. She sketched different shapes of different sizes, gripping the pencil and hardening her focus. She was like a machine when it came to this. She could hear Helen, her little sister, babbling to her. She looked up from her desk, and beside her Helen was tugging on the rim of her dress, her eyes pleading. 

"Bla-bla-buh," She sounded like someone who was trying to speak underwater. Leigh couldn't understand what she was saying, but it looked like she was asking for something. 

"What Helen?" She sighed, leaning back in her chair and setting down her drawing pencil. Helen continued blubbering nonsense, and Leigh cocked her head while staring down at her. She really had no clue what she was trying to communicate. "I can't understand." Helen looked suddenly desperate for her sister's understanding, and she began to pull harder on her dress and point to the door leaving her bedroom. Leigh looked out the door. There was nothing there. But Helen continued to tug on her. "Fine, I'll come." She stood up from her cluttered desk and let Helen continue to drag her out to the sitting room. She looked around. Still nothing there. "Helen, listen. I. Do. Not. Know. What. It. Is." She spoke slowly, and she kneeling down to the toddler's level. Helen became furious. 

"BA!" She pointed at the floor. When Leigh looked down she saw multiple - no, dozens - of her drawings on the ground... scribbled over?! 

"HELEN WHAT DID YOU DO?" She shouted, giving Helen quite a scare. Helen tried to explain but she could only muster the words:

"Draw." Then she sat down and started admiring the over-drawn drawings. Leigh stood in shock. Together, it had taken her a month to draw all fo these. The one of the royal carriage, the one of the jungle... and, oh dear, her favorite one. A large black-and-white sketch of the meadows near their house. She had drawn it almost a year ago, and now her prized possessions were ruined. Her face turned red, her heartbeat climbed a massive rate. 

"HOW COULD YOU? MOTHER!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, filling the whole household with worry. Both her father and mother came running from their room into the sitting room, with Kitty following close behind from the kitchen. 

"What in the name of the heavens, Leigh?" Her mother cried frantically. Albert had already assessed the situation. He rubbed the temples of his forehead staring at the mess. 

"Oh, no," He mumbled under his breath. Leigh was still staring down at her drawings, her face teeming with anger. Albert put an arm around her. "I know you worked hard on these." Kitty bent down and began shuffling through the papers. 

"No, Helen. Bad!" She scorned her laughing little sister, who suddenly realized she was in trouble and began to bawl. Ida picked her up and cradled her in her arms. 

"It was just a mistake. She wanted to draw, like you, Leigh." She said softly. Leigh scoffed and crossed her arms. 

"That's it? You're not going to punish her?" She yelped. Ida clicked her tongue. 

"She's only three, dear." Her mother continued to comfort Helen in her arms, while Leigh watched in shock. Kitty tried to come to the rescue by taking Leigh's hand, but Leigh moved away. 

"So? She needs to be punished just like I was when I attacked Gus!" Her voice was shaken with anger and she backed away. Albert looked more sympathetic like he agreed with Leigh, but he wasn't the one to call the shots on punishments. That was always Ida's job.