Post by Ligeia on Mar 3, 2006 11:11:20 GMT -5
We're tired of walking, so I look at my sister. She nods and we sit down on the snow.
There's no way to tell where we are, everything is white, white as our faces, except for the pale blue sky that stretches above us. I have to look up constantly to make sure I haven't gone blind.
"Was this the right thing to do?" my sister asks.
"I don't know," I confess.
"At least-" my sister stops to yawn. We're tired and bitterly cold. "At least with Olaf we were safe."
"True," I say, losing interest. What's done is done, and I don't want to dwell on it.
Then thinking for a moment, I say, "What were our names?"
"Tocuna and Flo," says my sister.
"No...no, I mean the names our parents gave us."
My sister looks guilty, and in a small voice, says, "I don't remember."
With a sudden movement, I reach a hand across and touch her face. White powder, the kind which Olaf made us wear, is rubbed off, and my sister flinches.
Then she reaches a hand to my face, and wipes off my powder, and we giggle like we're children again.
Then I stop. A scene flashes in front of my eyes.
I'm sitting at a table, next to my sisters. We're talking about something, some inane subject that doesn't really matter. Our mother comes in and puts down a plate of cookies. We're polite enough to wait for another sibling to take the first one, then, realizing no one will, we all laugh and reach for one together.
Then that scene is replaced with a new one. It's so warm, which feels nice at first but quickly becomes scary. The world is on fire. My skin stings and burns. I try to cry out, but only choke on the smoky air. I feel someone grab me and pull me out of our mansion. I collapse on the ground outside, and stare numbly at the flames extending from our roof. Then the person who saved me sticks out his hand, ready for me to shake it. "I'm Count Olaf," he says.
I open my eyes, surprised to find that they were shut before, and find that I am staring into the eyes of my sister.
The snow is swirling and our lips are pressed against each other's, and I don't know which one of us is which, but it doesn't matter
And despite our bodies pressed close, it's just too cold and there's no way we'll survive, we're already so tired, but it doesn't matter.
We will die together. It won't be like our sister before.
I want to tell her "I love you", I want to tell her all of these wonderful, newly discovered feelings I have for her, but I'm too weak to move or talk, so I stay silent. Maybe she already knows.
I feel her breathing slow, and my own too, I think, but I don't let go. Neither does she.
And as we fall asleep, I am at peace, for the first time since the fire.
There's no way to tell where we are, everything is white, white as our faces, except for the pale blue sky that stretches above us. I have to look up constantly to make sure I haven't gone blind.
"Was this the right thing to do?" my sister asks.
"I don't know," I confess.
"At least-" my sister stops to yawn. We're tired and bitterly cold. "At least with Olaf we were safe."
"True," I say, losing interest. What's done is done, and I don't want to dwell on it.
Then thinking for a moment, I say, "What were our names?"
"Tocuna and Flo," says my sister.
"No...no, I mean the names our parents gave us."
My sister looks guilty, and in a small voice, says, "I don't remember."
With a sudden movement, I reach a hand across and touch her face. White powder, the kind which Olaf made us wear, is rubbed off, and my sister flinches.
Then she reaches a hand to my face, and wipes off my powder, and we giggle like we're children again.
Then I stop. A scene flashes in front of my eyes.
I'm sitting at a table, next to my sisters. We're talking about something, some inane subject that doesn't really matter. Our mother comes in and puts down a plate of cookies. We're polite enough to wait for another sibling to take the first one, then, realizing no one will, we all laugh and reach for one together.
Then that scene is replaced with a new one. It's so warm, which feels nice at first but quickly becomes scary. The world is on fire. My skin stings and burns. I try to cry out, but only choke on the smoky air. I feel someone grab me and pull me out of our mansion. I collapse on the ground outside, and stare numbly at the flames extending from our roof. Then the person who saved me sticks out his hand, ready for me to shake it. "I'm Count Olaf," he says.
I open my eyes, surprised to find that they were shut before, and find that I am staring into the eyes of my sister.
The snow is swirling and our lips are pressed against each other's, and I don't know which one of us is which, but it doesn't matter
And despite our bodies pressed close, it's just too cold and there's no way we'll survive, we're already so tired, but it doesn't matter.
We will die together. It won't be like our sister before.
I want to tell her "I love you", I want to tell her all of these wonderful, newly discovered feelings I have for her, but I'm too weak to move or talk, so I stay silent. Maybe she already knows.
I feel her breathing slow, and my own too, I think, but I don't let go. Neither does she.
And as we fall asleep, I am at peace, for the first time since the fire.