Thunder booms overhead, rattling the old windows. The green girl jumps and then resumes her hurried pacing back and forth across the dorm room floor.
"Oh, Elphie. It's just a storm. Now can you please stop pacing so I can get my beauty rest?" Glinda huffs and throws herself back onto her bed. Elphaba turns to look at her petite blonde roomie, as if just noticing someone else is in the room.
"Sure. Sorry." She perches stiffly on the edge of her bed. Then slowly lies down. Glinda rolls over and falls asleep quickly. The thunder continues to roll as Elphaba remains wide awake, her eyes staring unseeing lay at the window as memories flood in.
"Elphaba! Go get Nanny! Now!" Young Elphaba curls in the corner as her mother's screams of pain resound in the small house.
"But, it's raining." She draws her knees closer to her chest at the thought of going outside in the downpour. Frex tears his eyes from his wife to glare at his daughter.
"Now, Elphaba. Your mother is dying because of you. Go get Nanny." The hatred in his voice scares the small child into action, and she runs to the door with silent tears streaming down her cheeks. She yanks open the heavy, wooden door and runs outside.
"Nanny? Nanny!" Elphaba calls for her caretaker, sobbing now from the physical pain as well as emotional. She run towards the shack near the house and wrenches open the door. "Nanny, Mama needs you! The baby's coming," Elphaba sobs.
"No! It's not time! She's not ready!" The old woman grabs the toddler by the hand and they race back to the small house. Halfway there they hear a scream rivaling the noise of the storm. Nanny picks up Elphaba and closes the remaining distance as fast as her age allows. She opens the door, but it's too late. Frex turns with a newborn child in his hands, her legs abnormally tangled together. As he hands the baby girl to Nanny, a thousand emotions displayed throughout his being. Love. Disbelief. Anger. Loss. Denial. One speaks clearer than the rest. Hatred.
"You witch! You disgusting, repulsive,title monster! This is all your fault! None of this would have happened had you never been born!" He punctuates each insult with a blow to the green girl's little body. "Your mother is dead because of you!" He stops punching the child to hurl the final insult before resuming the beating, now too angry, too emotional, too broken for words. With a final blow to the head, she crumples to the floor as unconsciousness reigns. The storm continues to rage outside, seemingly merely a reflection of the happenings inside the house.
"Elphie. Elphie!" Glinda shakes her roommate by the shoulders in a desperate attempt to wake her. Elphaba gasps and sits up immediately. "Are you okay, Elphie?" The blonde's brows furrow with genuine concern.
"I'm fine." The response is hoarse from the long minutes from the long minutes of terrified screaming. "I just, don't like storms." The green girl glances to the window, relieved to see that though night has fully fallen, the rain has finally stopped. "I'm going to try and get some sleep now. Sorry for bothering you." With that, she turns over to go back to bed.
"Well, okay." Glinda replies hesitantly. "Good night." The blonde returns to her side of the room and crawls into bed, wondering if she'll ever understand her peculiar roomie.