Hello lovely people! I got bored, and decided I would do a re-write of Life is For Living. So I dug it out of my hard-drive and started writing. Yup. True story. Considering I'm 5 years older than I was the first time I wrote it, I'm expecting a lot more length and such. I already have a ton of ideas for filler chapters, because I've realized how jumpy this is already. Anyway, enjoy!

Columbus, Ohio

April, 1911

Esme glanced behind her, a wide grin on her face as she spotted her best friend, Thomas, running not far behind her. He'd left his twin sister, Lily, far behind him. It wasn't her fault that she was faster than both of her best friends. Of course, Lily had objected to what she'd deemed as 'childish behavior', so it was really no wonder she wasn't really trying.

Grumbling, Thomas called after Esme. "Aw. Come on Esie! Give me a chance! We all know you're the fastest. You don't need to rub it in!"

In response she giggled and pushed herself faster. "Yes. I am fastest. This is called Tag, Tom. The goal of the game is to run away as fast as you can, and stay away from the person chasing you," she teased. Once he was far enough behind Esme that she felt safe, she began to scale the giant oak tree that sat a fair distance from the small farm house she lived in.

"What are you doing Esme?" he asked panting as he approached the tree.

"Getting a safe distance away from you. We all know you are deathly afraid of heights," she called down triumphantly, pulling her jacket more tightly around herself to combat the cool April air. Just then Lily approached them. If there was one thing Esme knew, it was that Lily was not pleased. She didn't exactly approve of the fact that her best friend openly rebelled against being a 16-year-old girl.

"Esme," Lily told her in a stern voice. Always acting older than she is, Esme thought rolling her eyes. "You get down from that tree this instant. Climbing trees is not ladylike!"

"Aw. Lily come on! Having a little fun will not kill you!" Esme smiled climbing up higher, until she reached her favorite branch and perched on it, looking down at her two friends with a smirk. Tom looked exasperated, but it was obvious that Lily was drawing nearer and nearer to murderous with every passing second.

"I will go get your parents," she threatened, folding her arms, shooting a glare at Esme that rivaled even that of her mother..

Esme sighed. Lily knew her weak spot better than anyone. Esme's mother would kill her for playing tag with Tom let alone climbing a tree.

"Alright. I'm coming down. Calm down, Lily. You look like you're ready to blow your own head off," Esme laughed, and looked down, slowly beginning her defeated decent. On the third branch from where she could jump down without injury, the bough she was standing on snapped. Esme looked quickly at her two friends with a look of panic in the moment before she started falling. They both looked horrified. Not nearly as horrified as Esme felt. What if she died?

The ground seemed to approach in slow motion, although Esme could tell she was going to hit the ground soon. Hard. She was positive that she was going to break, or at least sprain something. She closed her eyes tightly, bracing herself for the inevitable moment she would collide with the hard, unkind ground below her. Esme felt herself hit and although it seemed to be detached from her, as if this was all happening to someone else entirely, she waited for the pain of the blow to fully come to her awareness.

"Oh no!" Lily started sobbing almost immediately. "She's dead!"

"Lily. She is not dead... I hope," I heard Tom's voice, much closer than Lily's. "Esie? Er... Es? can you hear me?" he called hesitantly.

"Of course I can hear you Tom, you silly boy," Esme replied gritting her teeth, her eyes still shut. The worst of the pain was coming from her lower body, although honestly? Everything hurt. "Go get my parents Lily, will you?" Esme opened her eyes and looked at her friend. The poor girl was shaking with tears streaming down her face. She nodded and started running back towards the house.

"Esme, are you alright?" Tom asked kneeling next to Esme. He looked truly worried.

She nodded, and sighed. "I think so. I'm pretty sure my leg is broken though, I can't move it."

"That's no good. And it's all my fault. I'm the one who insisted we play. I mean, sure we're teenagers, but why do the kids get to have all the fun? And now look at you, you're hurt!" Tom shook his head, tears welling in his blue eyes. "I'm so sorry,"

"Thomas Bentley, this was not your fault," Esme scolded. "I'm the one who climbed the tree, after all. Not you. And you didn't force me to, either. I was showing off,"

"I... I know. But still. I'll tell your parents I dared you to climb it. They spend enough time angry with you for not acting as you should, I can live with taking the blame for once," he shrugged, smiling.

Despite the pain, Esme found herself smiling. "You'd do that just so I don't get into as much trouble?"

"I'm going to. I hate seeing you get yelled at. You're my best friend, Esie,"

"Thank you, Tom. Honestly. You're the most wonderful friend I could ever hope for," Esme shook her head. "But I can't let you do that. I'm used to being yelled at. I'll be all right,"

"I don't care. I'd like to see you try and stop me," Tom replied, folding his arms.

"What's going on?" Esme's father, Richard, asked wearily as he approached. "What happened this time, Esme? Lily ran inside so hysterical we could barely make out that she was trying to tell us that you'd gotten hurt,"

"Er, it's my fault, Mr Platt. We were running around, and I bet Esme that she couldn't climb to the top of the tree," Tom lied smoothly before Esme could protest. "I didn't think she'd actually do it, then when Lily caught up to us, she threatened to come tell you that Es was climbing the tree, so Esme came down."

"Then I fell," Esme cut in, sighing.

"What have we said about climbing that old tree?" Richard asked, shaking his head.

Esme locked her gaze on yellow daffodil a few inches away, her cheeks flushing bright red. "I'm not supposed to, I'm supposed to act my age," she grumbled, plucking the flower from the ground and holding onto it.

"Like I said, though," Tom added. "It's my fault, not hers,"

"Esme has her own free will, Thomas. She chose to climb the tree, it had nothing to do with you. You need to quit encouraging her," Esme's mother scolded.

"Yes, Mrs Platt," Tom sighed, looking down.

"Now, you two had better head home."

"All right. C'mon, Tom," Lily agreed immediately, grabbing her brother's arm and pulling him along with her.

"See you later Esme," Tom glanced back, looking at Esme, a look of sadness at his forced departure on his, still slightly chubby, face.

"I'll see you later Tom." Esme told him frowning, as her father lifted her off the ground where she had landed.

"Well, we'd better get you to the hospital," he sighed walking toward the house, behind his wife.

"It's really not Tom's fault," Esme said, looking up at her father. "He didn't even dare me to climb, I just... I just did,"

"I know. You're lucky to have a friend like Thomas, Esme." Richard told her, a small smile on his lips.

"So... so you aren't angry?" she asked timidly.

"No. I'm not angry. I'm frustrated, Esme. You're sixteen years old. You need to start acting like it." he replied, shaking his head. "I'm hoping you'll begin learning that behavior such as this isn't acceptable anymore. Especially if you're hoping to marry,"

Esme's cheeks flushed again, and she remained silent as her father lifted her into the passenger seat of the truck that was usually only used for farming duties. This was, however, a special circumstance. Glancing down at the daffodil that she still held onto, Esme sighed. Growing up wasn't fun at all.