Chapter 1: Memories
I came home from getting our weekly supply ration to hear giggling. I know right away it's my younger sister Bette. Ever since mom and dad died, she, along with the family hotel, where left in my care. She then was nine years old. I was eleven.
"Now, where is Bette... I could have sworn I told her to go to bed earlier tonight..." I said playfully.
"Is she behind... the front desk?" I asked, peeking behind the front desk. "Or perhaps she is hiding in here?" I continue, checking in a chest. I search all the least obvious places in the lobby. "Oh well, I guess she disappeared!" I exclaim at long last, starting to walk out of the room.
Bette jumps out from behind the curtain and surprises me with a hug.
"I'm here Milo!" she exclaims.
"There you are!" I tell her. "Didn't I tell you to go to bed at eight?"
"I wanted to help you pay the bills. I even have some money." Bette explains, holding out several gold nuggets and an iron ingot. "I was going to buy a horse, but you can have it."
I'm a little surprised. Still, I don't want to crush her spirit and turn down the money.
"Tell you what- I'll take half of it and you save that money to buy that horse." I replied. "Why are you so worried about the bills?"
Bette looked down shamefully. "Lucy says we're poor. I was walking home today and she said that I was a poor person. Then she pushed me in a puddle and laughed and ran away." Bette told me. "Are we poor Milo?"
I hesitate. Yes, Sky City is heavily guarded, but not every crime is caught.
"Yes...we are a little poor. But once the inn business kicks in, we'll be rich." I respond.
Bette looks up, excited. "Even richer than the founder?" she asks.
"Not that rich. But pretty rich."
"Can we live in a castle?"
I pull out a piece of paper. "Well then, if we can get the supplies... yes. We can have a big castle. With a pool and a garden, and lots of trees..." I say, sketching Bette's fantasy home. "And of corse, lots of animals. Cats, wolves, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, donkeys, mules...and of corse, lots of horses."
"Lots of horses?" asks Bette.
"So many, we'll need fifty million stables... maybe more." I tell her, handing her my finished drawing. "Now off to bed. Goodnight Bette."
Bette nods. "Goodnight Milo!" she tells me, running off to her room.
It all seems like yesterday.
Now, I'm twenty, and homecoming doesn't involve Bette hiding behind the curtains. When I hot arrested, Bette was permanently taken from my care. I still kept the hotel, but I wanted her more than the hotel. You don't get ore than one Bette in a lifetime.
"Greetings Milo." greets Phillipe, my trusted friend and who runs the hotel when I am away.
"Hello Phillile. Any new guests?" I ask him.
"Not since yesterday. And they only stopped in to ask for where they could find Oak Street." Phillipe responds.
"Any luck on finding... well... her?" I ask hopefully.
"Milo, you know looking for her would involve you being arrested again. But... no sign of her yet." He responds.
I look to see a framed photo of me and Bette over the fireplace. We were sixthteen and fourteen, outside the hotel after I got the permission to make a community garden passed. I'm holding up the signed petition and Bette is next to me. It was only days before that fateful day where I lost her forever.
Phillipe walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder.
"We'll find her Milo. Even if it means breaking the law." he tells me.
"She'll be eighteen next week. I hope I can find her by then." I tell him.
Still... what are the odds?
More on the story as it develops...
This is Summer saying Sayanora!
Wow, auto correct got my outro down! Nice!
Anyways, see ya soon!
