Yawns Are Contagious [Steffenee]

[Sarella]

VIOLET MACCIN

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Listen and hear,
Don't say a word,
Observe your surroundings,
Don't be absurd.

Pick up a leaf,
And hold it tight,
'Till you can leave,
'Cause this place isn't right.[/center][/font]

I wake up from a dreamless sleep, my cat gone. He must've gotten up in the night. I lay there, thinking about last night. I had followed Willow everywhere. Again. Nothing new. Deciding I had nothing interesting to think about, I turn over slowly and look at Willow. Waking up first is always boring. I really don't want to wake her up. I hate getting woken up, and so why should I wake her up? No reason, I guess. Slowly climbing out of bed, I creep across the room, and into the front of the house. Nothing. I'm not gonna open the door though, too cold still. I sit against the wall and stare into nothingness. Nothingness, where all my thoughts lay waiting.

I hear the doorknob twist and my head immediatly jerks to it. I stand up, and run towards Willow and I's room. Oh goodness, I'm already near tears. I don't want to see him! Not dad! I shake her, "Willow, it's dad!" I say. I back up and give her room to stand up. I've got my fingers crossed he won't come in, but I know he will. He'll check to see if we're here. I'm lost, trying to figure out what to do. I'm frantically looking between Willow and the door. "Willow...." I say, whimpering. I'm so scared, what'll we do? He's gonna come in and see us, and, and then...

His figure appears in the door frame. I'm shaking hard, having no idea what to do. He sways on his feet and rolls his eyes. He looks likes he's ready to throw up. Hopefully he won't, it's smelly when he does that. I'm right, he throws up right in front of us and I feel like throwing up myself. He's blocking the only way out, which is worse. He stumbles over and sits on my side of the bed. "Alright then.....William" He says, "How are yuh?" I look at Willow, and yawn. I'm tired still, who knew?

[Steffenee]

Willow had been sleeping mostly peacefully, having been able to find enough food the day before to actually fill her and her sister's stomachs. She wasn't so hungry anymore which allowed her to sleep in some before she got up to go stalk the streets for more food. She was tired of walking, looking, stealing, pick-pocketing, living in the slums, she was tired of it all. She wanted it to stop ad she didn't know how to make it happen. She and her sister had never attended classes, never learned a single thing from school, the only thing she knew how to do was read to make sure she got the right food or the right medicine to keep her sister healthy, she didn't care much about herself.

She was woken up by her sister shaking her fanatically because their father was coming in the door. She was trying to get up to push something in front of the door so that she could figure a way to get them out. She hadn't even made it to a sitting position before their father was in the door. She tried to hide Violet from him as she waited to see what he would do. He decided that he should vomit all over the place, Willow groaned, she would now need to clean that up before going out to get them some food. She stopped getting her father food a long time ago, deciding that maybe if he starved she could get rid of his body and no one would notice considering the two girls were already so independent. She didn't even know if they had records of the girls. Maybe their birth but no school records no housing records or food records. She looked at her father as he sat down and said something about asking how she was or something alone those lines.

She looked at him "dad go to bed please in your room" She said hoping that he would. She didn't want to have to spend the time dealing with them beating them that early in the morning. She had vomit to clean up and food to find. She didn't want to have to deal with everything that was happening right then and there and maybe she wouldn't. Could she get a hold of her sister's arm and her bag before their father got a hold of them? Hopefully he would just leave and then she wouldn't need to find out. She may act brave around him, but she was terrified, if she acted it though, he was meaner and that made her sister even more scared. She had to act as though he wouldn't dare touch her or Violet and hope it was enough to make him leave them alone.

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[Sarella]

Oh goodness, he smells awful. Where has he been? Dad rubs his forehead and smiles at Willow. "And if I don't go to my bed?" He asks, laying down. I start playing with a strand of hair, twisting it and pulling it. I wrap it around my finger over and over, staring at him. "Nolthts," he slurs, "Don't go anywhere." Well if he falls asleep I'm definently not staying. Can't I just have a normal day? Follow Willow around for a bit? See the flowers blooming? I guess not, or at least, not a good wake-up. Maybe Willow will think of something. She's good at coming up with ideas. I watch her, waiting for someone to move. Nobody moves. Dad keeps his eyes open, and I'm too frozen to move. I've no idea what's going on in Willows mind right now. Maybe I should think of something. But I'm no good at that! I'm terrible at making plans. I guess we could just wait him out. There's a plan. A good plan? Could be, could not be. It mostly depends on his mood.

He shifts in the bed, getting on his side to face us. I close my eyes and breath slowly. I might say something, but my throat feels blocked off. Like I've been made mute somehow. I do open my mouth though, and another yawn comes out, and it's a bit hard to stiffle the noise. I'm good at stiffling the noise though, so it's barely audible. Well, if your in a crowded room. "YOU go to bed" He says, pointing at me, and I stare hard at him. I'm trying to be like Willow. She doesn't act as scared as I do, so I'll try and be like her. Wait, no, dad gets mad at her for that. I cover my face, blocking the sight of him far away. I don't want to see him. Or smell him, for that matter. I breath through my mouth, trying to keep the hideous smell out of my nose. Is it his clothes or his breath? Probably both. He's been gone a few weeks. Completely possible he fell asleep in a pile of poop. Although I don't really want to think about that, it's disgusting. I peek out at him, and see his smile. A tooth! He's missing a tooth! What was he doing?

I think he sees my reaction, and he scoots into the middle of the bed. He closes his eyes, and almost immediatly starts snoring loudly. Oh goodness, how're we going to get rid of him now? I look over at Willow, then hug her. "He scared me, Willow!" I whisper, hanging on, "I wish I was like you." I guess now she's going to want to leave and go look for food. Of course, we've got the vomit right in front of us at the moment. I'm just happy he fell asleep before he went crazy. Maybe he'll leave soon and we can come back. He looked pretty sleepy though, and he might just sleep the day away. Happy Saturday.

[Steffenee]

Willow was not happy that he was here, why couldn't he have just died by the fence like their mother did. She was out of the bed at least before he laid down and trapped her in. She didn't want to deal with him that day. She was tired, had been pulled from her sleep and was about to blow up because she had so much to do and didn't have time to deal with him. He didn't seem like he was going to sleep any time soon and her sister looked scared. What was she suppose to do. She grabbed her drawstring backpack ready to grab her sister and run as she pulled it up over her shoulders. Their father didn't notice it, thank god. She looked at him as she slowly started to back towards her sister. He was talking to Violet so he didn't realize what she was doing. Not a second after she had been prepared to run with Violet out of that house and never coming back he fell asleep right in the middle of their bed. She let out a small sigh of relieve and grabbed her sister's hand stepping around the vomit, let him sit there in his own smell. She went over to the window and opened it before grabbing their long sleeve shirts and sweatshirts that Willow had found towards the beginning of winter to keep them warm.

She held out her sister's and then pulled her own on before stepping out of their bedroom and waiting for her to come out as well. She then closed the door behind them ever so quietly as not to wake him. She then ran and grabbed one of the wooden chairs that were sitting in the mostly empty kitchen and pulled it over putting it under the doorknob and then she tied two knobs together to lock him in their bedroom. She would keep him locked in there all day, and if he didn't crawl out the window during the middle of the day she would leave him in there the rest of the night to and not let him out, they had their father's room to stay in that had a bigger bed and nicer sheets. She looked over at Violet saying nothing as she grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the small house shutting the front door behind them. She was just happy that their father had decided he needed sleep more then he needed to hit the two little girls that he shouldn't even have because they have to take care of her house.

She started debating if she even would go back there with her sister at all, maybe they would find somewhere better to stay, they could always sneak into a shop store room or under a low hung bridge. They could probably start a fire and be warm. She wasn't sure what their father would think though if they didn't come home. She was just standing outside their front door thinking about what she should do; should she go back into the house and grab blankets and pillows and then find a place to set up camp for the night or the week until their father leaves again. Maybe when he leaves again she can figure out how to make their house father proof until the peacekeepers come and take it, then they can grab everything they need and find a place to set up camp and live there for a while. She was sure that they could survive if they found a good sturdy place to live that was pretty warm in the winter. She shook her head some coming out of her daze and started walking towards town. "Everything will be okay Violet, don't think about him".

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[Sarella]

I put on the shirts and hop over the vomit. I watch silently as Willow gets the door lodged shut. Good thing too, that smell is very overpowering, and I can still smell a bit from here. I'm guessing we would sleep on his bed, it's nice since he never sleeps on it. He'll most likely go into a fit when he wakes up with nothing to drink. Serves him right, why should he get what he wants? I go out the door after Willow and stand next to her, looking a her closely. She was standing there in her thinking mode. She had something on her mind. I try to pry into her thoughts, but fail miserably. Mostly because, well, I got a headache from consentrating too hard. I watch her a little less nosey, not trying to read her mind. Whatever was going on in there was serious. Maybe it was about dad. Or about getting rid of him. Maybe even we would end up going away and living somewhere else, where he couldn't find them! Oh, that would be wonderful.

Willow shakes her head, and I know she isn't in deep thught any more. She begins to walk, and I follow, just like I always do. "Everything will be okay Violet, don't think about him." She says. I can always try to push him out of my mind. I nod my head, and start glancing around. Looking for something someone may have dropped. Something nobody cared about anymore, except the people who found it. That would be us. Hopefully, anyways. Sometimes things like that didn't work out. We'd see someone else carry off something they found. I look at Willow, and try to read her thoughts again. I quickly lose interest and go back to glancing around. Only thing on the ground is crumbs, and you can't eat those. Actually, maybe if you gathered them all you could make something larger. But who's going to got hrough all of town picking up crumbs? Someone very desperate, I guess.

I can notice that due to it being spring, many flowers are attempting to bud. Not many are budding yet, but the early ones are. It's the ones in May that cover the town in glory. I can't wait until May. There, I'm successfully not thinking abou dad. Oh goodness, shouldn't have done that. Now I'm thinking again. I close my eyes and try to concentrate on another matter. When I open them, I examine the people around us. The feeling I have isn't boredom, it's just a mutual feeling of haing nothing to do. It's how I usually feel, so I guess I'm fine. I look at Willow a third time, but I don't try and read her thoughts. I just look at her. Then I turn my head back in front of me, and focus on the people passing.

I don't know anyone, naturally. It's Willow who does all the talking. I'm not starting now, though. Anyways, I can't get dad of my mind right now. I wonder what he dreams about. Nothing? Mom? Drinking more? I have no idea, and feel like turning around to go read his mind. I know I can't though, and it's so unlogical to go back there. Going back might wake him up, which scares me a bit. What if he wakes up before we come back? What if he's angry we left? Ohboy, what is going to happen? I cannot shake this out of my mind, it stays like glue. What if's race through me. A queer little thought comes to me. What if I don't see him? Maybe he'll get up and dissapear, forever. Never come back. Ever. I don't wish him dead, I just wish him away. If he died, well, that'd probably just be better for him. But what would Willow and I do if they caught us alone? Wouldn't they take us some place else? Too many questions. I need to get simple now, I am growing a headache from all the what ifs.

I look at Willow again. "What do you want to do now?" I ask, not bothering to try and figure it out myself. Hopefully I won't need to say too much else today, I already feel queer with all these people around me. We blend in fine, it's the fact they are here in general that bothers me. I'll just keep quiet and stay by Willow. That'll be fine. Like any other day.

[Steffenee]

[/b] She asked. She was one of the ladies that would always give them a little food and something to drink with it and even some money if she could afford it. She liked the old woman and the woman liked their company. She was happy to sit with the old woman and talk about what she thought about the district in turn for a meal and a little extra for her and her sister to take home. She thought that the woman felt bad for the girls which is why she would give them so much. They wouldn't be able to spend all day with the old lady though, because they had to go to a few used clothing stores so that they were able to get what they need before they go back home for the night, if they go back home. She let go of her sister's hand once she was sure that no one was following them for her taking that man's five dollars. "Or do you want to go to the store first?" She added on almost as an after thought, they hadn't eaten yet that day so she figured Violet was hungry and would want to go to the old woman's house first.

She almost didn't want to go to the woman's house, she always felt bad eating her food and drinking her water or lemonade, even though she could afford it. She thought that maybe the woman had grandchildren that should be about their age and she was taking good care of them because she wasn't able to see her grandkids. She was happy that she liked them, but she didn't feel right taking advantage of the woman. She knew they weren't though, or hoped that they weren't. Despite stealing, she didn't like taking things from good people. She knew that some of the people she stole from were good people, but she didn't have a choice. If she didn't she and her sister would go hungry, and cold, and would end up dead. She rubbed her face some rubbing away the sweat. Sh needed to calm down, they wouldn't be taken away, or killed, by the peacekeepers, they didn't even know who the little girls were. There were no records so they couldn't even guess it was the small girl's that were the daughters of a drunk and a woman who killed herself.
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[Sarella]

Do I want to? Willow looks like she doesn't want to, and I got to eat yesterday. I guess I could wait for a bit, as long as it didn't take too long. I like Ms. Willus, she is a very nice lady. I like going just to see what she will say, although her food tastes great. She's also good at keeping conversations not too complex, and doesn't ask me too many questions. And when she does ask me questions, they are always easy to answer. A yes or no question is common, I think she understands I don't want to talk. She can be funny too, and makes me laugh sometimes. I want to go see her, but I don't think Willow wants to. I don't want to do anything Willow doesn't want to do. So, should I tell her I want to see Mrs. Willus or we should go to the store? I guess we could first go to the store, then go to Mrs. Willus' house. Oh yes, that seems like a good idea. We'll go to the store and do what Willow wants to do, then we can go talk to Mrs. Willus. I just worked it out with myself! "Lets go to the store, and then I want to go see Mrs. Willus" I say, and rub my head. The headache is seeming to be fighting to dissapear for me. That is good, headaches are an unpleasant thing. I don't get too many, but that doesn't mean I don't get them at all. Everybody gets headaches though, it's part of life. Might as well just deal with them, right? I would bet even Willow gets headaches. Okay, enough about headaches, it's giving me a headache. I smile a bit, thinking about that. Thinking about it is what not to do. So I need to not think about it, but it's so hard to not think about something you are trying not to think about. It's like if someone told you not to think about Sidewalks, and suddenly that is the only thing that you can think about. Like when Willow told me not to think about Dad, although I managed to guide myself away from that topic.

Keep it simple Violet. I get off topic so easily. I look at a flower that seems to be in full bloom, it is absolutely magnificent. I look at Willow and smile. March flowers can be just as beautiful as May flowers, even though May has more. Mom used to bing home some flowers and give them to us. She'd explain the types of flowers, and when we were very young, would tell us about the colors. She used to take violets and joke to me about how I must be a flower in disguise. Then she'd make up a fairytale about a flower (a Violet to be exact) that escaped the flower bed, turned herself into a human, and joined people in life. I liked that story, pretending to be a flower was fun. "If I'm a flower, Willow must be a tree!" I would joke. I would stand still and dad would look at me and say I had transformed back into a flower, and he didn't even recognize me. Now he would never do that. He's too busy ignoring us. Oh, what I would give to play flower again. I miss being a pretty little flower, and dancing around with Mom. But I guess all good things have an end. Don't they? Maybe bad things have an end as well. In stories, people always get happy endings, but life isn't a fairytale.

I shove my mind back into reality. We are going to go to the store, and Willow is going to buy some things. I don't know what, because I have no idea how much money she stole. Nonetheless, what she is thinking about spending it on. Maybe new clothes. Actually, that is likely, if she got the money for it. If not she's probably going to spend it on some food. I push my hair behind my ears. Rubbing my eyes, it feels like I'm rubbing my sleepiness away. That is a good thing, being sleepy all day won't help anyone. "Lets have a really good day" I say, glancing at Willow, "I woke up happy, you know. Lets talk about something." I think hard, trying to think of a subject to talk about. I'm very terrible at making conversation, even with Willow, but I want to turn this into a good day. Good days are easy, so my new goal is to have a good day. Then it comes to me. "I think the flowers" I go silent for a bit, forgetting what I was going to say. Then I remember, "I think the flowers are really pretty now." There. I told her something, and now she could tell me something. I like listening to her, even if she only gives me a few sentences, I could think about them while we walk. Think about them until she says something else, then I can think about those words. If she gave me a whole bunch of things, I can just listen and listen while we walk. Either way is good, unless she doesn't say anything. Then I'll feel really akward, and I will only think about wierd things. Just a few words. Please.

[Steffenee]

Willow looked over at her sister as she said she would go to the store and then they could go talk to Mrs. Willus. She nodded a bit to her sister not saying much at all she didn't see the point while she was thinking about what they could do. She thought it was a good idea for them to go off on their own, but at the same time it would be a bad idea because what would happen if they couldn't find shelter or if they were in the rain or something? It would turn out badly for them, cold and sick and eventually dead is how they would end up. She shivered some at the idea but made sure that Violet didn't see. She walked in silence not only for her benefit but also for her sister's. She didn't like talking and she knew that, so why push her sister into talking about something when she didn't like to talk in general. She nodded some when her sister mentioned the flowers "Yes they are very pretty this year" She said in a very grown up tone, she was in her grown up mind set so she didn't want to talk about childish things like flowers when she had food and shelter to worry about for her and her sister. She walked to the shop and they finally reached there and she walked over to the clothing section. They needed some new-old dresses because they were growing out of the ones they had. She pulled two off the rack one for her and one for her sister before walking over to the shoes and telling Violet to sit down. She was going to measure her feet.

They both needed new shoes, there was no doubt about that, but she was already spending ten dollars on her and her sister's dresses and she still needed to buy them some food. She sighed. Maybe she would need to wait a bit to get shoes. She found a few pairs and set them on the floor next to the bench for her sister to try on. It was no surprise that Willow would think of herself last and her sister first. She sighed a bit and set the dresses down waiting for her sister before finding a pair of shoes that fit her well. After finding a pair for ten dollars she decided she could look for a pair for herself, they were simple leather lace up boots that would normally last them until they wore out. She would trade in the shoes they had now for some credit, they were the same kind of boot, most of the children on their side of town only had one pair of shoes so the leather boots worked really well. She picked up a pair for herself for seven dollars and then grabbed up some new tights for them both. She was spending a total of $35 of the $75 she had. If she spent twenty on groceries then she would have a little bit in case they needed it. She had about forty dollars hidden outside their house in case they really needed it, and was always adding to it if she could. She rubbed her face a bit and walked to the food section of the store and picked up some old bread that was just slightly stale for $4, a package of dried meat for $9 and then two apples for seven dollars, it was never much that she could get with only twenty dollars on food, but she did her best. She led her sister to the counter and put everything on it and traded in their boots. She spent a total of only fifty dollars instead of fifty five dollars, so that was five more dollars they could add to their stash. She handed her sister her new things and pointed to the bathroom for her to go and change while she put the food in her backpack along with the left over money, she would use their dresses and tights to make blankets if she ever got enough money to by expensive thread.

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