Hello, my dear readers. How have you all been? Well, I am sorry for any of you who could be waiting for some new chapter of The Living Legend, but... well, this is a fanfic I wrote about RebeccaAnn's fanfics, "The Writer and the Actress" and "A Reason for Distance". This fanfic is entirely approved by her, and if any of you does not believe it, then he or she may ask RebeccaAnn about it. I'm trying to be as clear as possible in this.
It was partly to try out my luck at a different thing, partly as a gift for Thanksgiving Day, although, as far as I can tell, Americans don't actually deliver gifts in Thanksgiving Day (I'm Portuguese, and we don't have Thanksgiving Day here, so I can't tell for sure) and as a way to thank RebeccaAnn for all the valuable help she gave me.
I'm not sure how many of you read her fanfics - but well, I hope you like this one, and I also hope my grasp of RebeccaAnn's character isn't too lose for them to be totally out of character.
November 24th, 1921
Maureen turned her eyes from the meal she was cooking to the watch she was holding, checking out how longer the meat should be on the stove in order to be ready.
The watch said the meal should be on the stove for yet another minute, but Maureen turned the gas off, the smell coming out of the crack between the pan and the lid being enough for Maureen to know her Thanksgiving dinner was ready. The flames disappeared slowly, but Maureen's eyes kept locked on the place where they had been for some time. It had been because of fire that this Thanksgiving Day was without her mother and poor little James – only with her younger sister Ann. But fire was the only thing that had allowed mankind to be where it was today. The irony of how the same thing could have so different uses almost awed her.
For a brief moment, Maureen was about to start dwelling on those heartbreaking memories. Some months had passed, but it was still a dreadful thing to remember. Her poor mother had been through so much. Poor James was so young…
Stop! Maureen commanded herself. You know far too well that if you think about Mother and James for too long, you may end up breaking in tears like Annie does so often. AND YOU CAN'T DO THAT!
Maureen winced after her self-scolding. At times, she deemed her way of not thinking of her mother and James as cruel. But there was a reason for that. Maureen knew that if she allowed the thought to start blossoming on her head, it would soon cover her thoughts like ivy could cover a wall, and she wouldn't be able to stop her tears. And Maureen wanted to cry as little as possible. She had to be strong for her younger sister Ann – if she wasn't, nobody would be.
After shaking her head lightly to get rid of the thoughts caused by the flames, Maureen put a large oven-glove on each hand, and held the pan by it's handles. Inside it was the dinner for her and her sister – Thanksgiving turkey.
Well, alright, it wasn't the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. It was Thanksgiving meatballs – made of turkey's meat. She knew the tradition was serving a whole turkey, roasted or baked, but, even if some could find her action of making turkey meatballs disrespectful to the national holiday, Maureen cared more for her future and her sister's than for a tradition. A better future required saving money they couldn't afford to spend. And even in this time in history, with economy growing more and more in the United States, turkey was a luxury not everyone could afford to have. The plays Maureen was in normally allowed her to have enough money for her and Ann not to have financial problems, but, like everything, their lives had ups and downs. And although all around America most people seemed to be on an up, Maureen's last play had definitely been a down.
And it wasn't a reasonable thought to have roasted a whole turkey either. There were only two of them in the house, and neither Maureen nor Ann had too much of an appetite. Maureen knew for sure that if she had roasted a whole turkey, instead of fourteen turkey meatballs, then she and Ann would have to eat turkey until they had turkey coming out through their ears – as she doubted the turkey would last for long without getting rotten.
After twisting her lips to a disgusted look at the idea of her and her sister having slugs made of chewed meat crawling out of their ears, Maureen moved to the dining room with the pan in her hands, grasping it as firmly as she could with thick oven gloves in her hands. The table was ready for the Thanksgiving meal, with two bases for the pans on it, a large spoon to put the food on the dishes, and two seats on the table. Each of those seats had a plate, a knife, a fork, a glass full of water, and a napkin in front of it.
Ann sat on one of the chairs, slumped forward, her head leaning on her arms, and her gaze pinned on the plate. Maureen felt her heart heavier with concern. Usually by now Ann would have already smelled the food and be ready to eat – although it was more out of education than out of hunger. But, even as Maureen set the pan on one of the pieces of the same fabric the oven glove was made of, Ann kept looking at the plate as if something very interesting was there.
Maureen walked back into the kitchen to get the second pan, this one with mashed potatoes, which would be eaten with the meatballs. She tried to ignore the bad feeling that had started to gnaw at her gut. She knew it was a bad sign that Ann was paying such attention to the plate.
Don't be so surprised. a voice told Maureen at the back of her head. She reacted exactly the same way when we had Thanksgiving dinner for the first time after Papa's death.
No, not exactly the same way. At least that time Ann had lifted her head from the plate when Mom had entered the room with the roast turkey, and although her eyes were bloodshot and wet from the tears, she had tried to smile.
But this time, when Maureen walked back into the room with the pan full of mashed potatoes, Ann again didn't react. Maureen laid the pan with the mashed potatoes on the second basis for pans, but Ann seemed as if she was carved out of stone. The only difference was that her face appeared screwed up into a look of deep sadness, instead of the emotionless appearance of the typical statue.
"Annie." Maureen whispered softly.
For the first time, Ann looked up to her sister. Her eyes looked even more bloodshot and wet than when they had been on their Thanksgiving Dinner without Papa, and she didn't even try to smile.
Just the sight was enough for Maureen's own heart to twist with the sadness she felt. But she tried to put a strong and comforting look, if only to help Ann feel better. She dug a handkerchief out of her skirt's pocket, and cleaned Ann's eyes with it.
When she finished, Ann looked a little bit better. Her eyes were still red, but at least, the marks of tears had disappeared, and her eyes appeared dry for the time being.
Maureen was almost asking what was wrong with poor Ann, but it was pointless to ask a question that she could answer herself. Instead, she thought it was better trying to take Ann's mind away from that matter.
"How many meatballs do you want, Annie?"
"Three, please. If I want more later, I'll ask – or serve myself."
Maureen slipped the handkerchief back into her pocket, took the lid off of the pan, held the large spoon in her hand, and used it to place three meatballs on Ann's plate. Then, she opened the pan with the mashed potatoes, and served Ann a spoonful.
"Is it enough?" Maureen asked.
"Yes, Maureen. I'm not hungry, anyway."
Maureen's sadness increased even more. Ann's appetite wasn't particularly big, but she had never been the kind who had to be forced to eat either. Of course, she had moments when she was too sad to be hungry. Maureen only hoped this wasn't another of those moments. Trying not to look particularly troubled, Maureen served herself four meatballs, and a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Putting the pan, still with the spoon inside, back on its basis, Maureen sat down on her chair, right at Ann's side.
A rather religious person, Maureen made the sign of the cross in front of her, and then joined her hands, saying one of the usual Thanksgiving prayers her family said before Thanksgiving dinner. This prayer was meant to thank Jesus for what they had, but it had also other purposes: ask for forgiveness for their mistakes, and ask God for help to those who needed it.
"Dear precious Lord,//We bow our heads in thankful heartfelt prayer;//For all the ways You've blessed our lives//And your loving care…"
As Maureen carried on with the prayer, she threw sideways looks at Ann. She was trying to look as firm as possible, and for now, if she had any signs of deep sadness, she was hiding them fairly well. Although her look wasn't happy, it looked neutral. It would be asking too much for Ann to break into smiles. She was quiet, but that wasn't a bad sign. Although Ann sometimes had joined Maureen and Mother – and also Father, a long time ago – in saying the Thanksgiving prayers, but keeping quiet also wasn't unusual for her. Maureen kept her prayer with the hopes Annie wouldn't have another attack of sadness.
"…Forgive us for our many sins//And keep us close today;// And bless this food You've given us,//In Jesus' name we pray //Amen." Maureen concluded.
She then grabbed her fork and knife in her hand, but, still not liking very much to be the first to start a meal – an act reminiscent from her younger days, when she waited for her parents to plunge their cutlery into the food before she ate herself – she looked at Ann. Her lips were now trembling, and she looked about to burst in tears.
Setting the fork and the knife down on the table, Maureen lowered herself until she got at eye-level with her sister.
"What's wrong, Annie?" she asked gently.
Ann turned her head to Maureen, delivering a full display of her trembling lips and deeply sad eyes. Maureen waited patiently until Ann managed to bring herself to speak.
"Maureen, can I ask you something?" she finally said.
"Of course, sweetie."
Ann repressed another wave of sobs before speaking.
"I know Thanksgiving Day is a day when we give thanks to God for what we have, but how can we give thanks to God after all of this?"
Maureen's eyes widened. The question had been too much of a surprise for her to have an answer ready. Ann had never questioned things that had to do with God. The only thing she managed to do was ask, "What do you mean Annie?"
"Why did God have to take Papa away? Why did God have to take Mother and James away? That is nothing we should be grateful about!"
Maureen sighed. It was dreadful to see her poor younger sister breaking in tears. But that served as a bigger determination for Maureen to try to stop them.
"And what about us?" Maureen asked. "We still have each other, Annie. We're still a family. A small one, but still a family. Shouldn't we be thanking God for being together today?"
Surprising even Maureen herself, the question she had just voiced caused a crack in her determination. On an impulse she couldn't control, she clutched her younger sister in a tighter embrace.
"I, for one, thank God that Mother let you stay with me that night, otherwise you…" Maureen's voice wavered slightly, but she concluded "…would have died as well."
Ann didn't seem to feel better at all.
"Why couldn't God save Mom and James as well? Why did he only save me?"
Ann's sobs became stronger. Tears started rolling down her face. Maureen sighed deeply. If she could, she'd just grab some rubber and erase Ann's sadness forever. But she couldn't. The only thing she could do now was try to give an answer.
Taking another deep breath, Maureen started speaking, "Annie, please don't ask me to know how God thinks, because there's no human who can answer that question. Sad as it is to admit, I don't know everything. But there's one thing I'm certain about. Wherever Mother, Father, and James are now, they're together, and they're happy together. And they would expect us to be happy together as well."
Finally, Ann's sobs slowed down a little bit, and she looked at her older sister hopefully.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Annie."
Maureen kissed Ann's forehead, and then again extracted the handkerchief from her pocket, cleaning the fresh trails left by the tears. When she finished, Ann had managed to make a small smile.
"If you're sure… then I'll try to be happy down here for them… regardless of how hard it may be at times."
"That's the right thinking, Annie." Maureen said with a smile. "Now eat before the food gets cold."
Ann finally held her fork and knife, but instead of starting to eat, she waited for Maureen to start first. Maureen understood Ann's logic, and cut one piece of meatball, taking it to her mouth with the fork, while Ann did the same to one of hers.
The rest of the meal passed in silence, but Thanksgiving was meant to be a solemn event, so conversation was hardly something necessary. After Maureen and Ann had eaten their meals, and had used their napkins to clean their mouths, the two sisters prayed together another Thanksgiving prayer. This one was much shorter than the one Maureen had prayer before starting dinner, but it was also meant to give thanks to God for everything they had.
"Jesus, thank you for loving us //And providing food, shelter, and each other//Every moment of our lives is a gift //And we appreciate all the time//You have given us.//Thank you for all our good fortune. Amen." Maureen and Ann said together.
When they finished praying, both Maureen and Ann made the sign of the cross. Then, the two of them got up from the table together.
"Annie, would you please take the dirty dishes to the kitchen while I put what spared of our dinner in the pantry? It should be good to eat tomorrow – if you don't mind, that is."
Ann nodded, and started gathering plates, forks, and knives in a pile, while Maureen grabbed the pans with meatballs and mashed potatoes, and took them to the pantry. The food wouldn't last for very long, but Maureen intended to use what spared of their dinner for the next day, and as she had cooked just enough for two meals, she assumed both meatballs and turkey would last long enough.
Closing the pantry's door, Maureen went back to the dining room and moved toward the window. She didn't open it because it was too cold outside, but she looked into the sky. She knew her family was up there. She also knew God would be with them. And she hoped he would hear what she had to say.
"God, once again, thank you very much for Ann being with me that night." Maureen whispered into the night sky. "But, if anything should happen to me… please, take good care of her."
Maureen shivered. The idea of poor Annie all by herself on this world was unbearable. She had no intention of leaving her younger sister, but life had shown her far too many times that such things could happen. She prayed with all her might for them not to happen again.
"Is everything alright, Maureen?" a voice whispered.
Maureen gave a startled jump when she saw Ann at her side, a worried look on her blue eyes.
"Yes, sweetie, everything's alright." she said with as many confidence as she could.
Ann didn't seem convinced, but she seemed to have already learned not to question these moments too much, and trust her sister.
"Can I help you with washing the dishes?" Ann asked.
"I don't really need help." Maureen said. "But you seem so eager to help me I'll let you do it. You can use the drying cloth on the dishes after I wash them."
Ann nodded, and walked back into the kitchen. Maureen stayed where she was for some more time, looking at the sky. She hoped God had heard her request… and that He would help Ann. Maureen was sure that if anything ever happened to her, Ann would need all the divine protection she could get. Hopefully, though, Maureen would stay around and healthy for many years.
And hope is the last thing to die.
Maureen turned away from the window, and walked into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Well, this was it. Short, probably, but I just couldn't get out anything longer than this. Once again, sorry if I made anyone appear out of character, or if the story wasn't an enjoyable read. But, my dear readers, there's only one way for me to know that for sure - please, I beg you all, review!