Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
Part two of the 'Robyn' series.
"Daddy! Daddy! Come and play with me!" A small voice called cheerfully.
The owner of that voice began tugging at Robbie's leg and he smiled in his sleep. After several more tugs Robbie fell out of his orange chair and landed on the floor with a bump.
"Oh no! Daddy!" the small voice cried and Robbie heard small feet running from his legs which came to a stop next to his head.
Opening his right eye so it was just a slit he peeked out at the little girl, he smiled again. It was a game they played often, the little girl would pull him out of his chair while he was pretending to sleep and he'd not wake up when hitting the floor. The little girl would run up to him and he'd peek out at her through closed looking eyes.
The little girl placed her small hand on Robbie's chin; very gently she pulled it down and giggled when Robbie opened his eyes. Once he'd opened his eyes Robbie shut his mouth and his eyes followed drawing more giggles from the girl. After a few minutes of this game he pretended to wake up and made a massive yawn.
"Really Robyn, you should really stop waking me up so early. It's only eight in the morning." Robbie said with mock anger.
Robyn laughed again and let Robbie get up to make her breakfast.
Four years had passed in Lazytown since Robyn's arrival. As much as the four years had been a confusing and difficult time for Robbie it had been rewarding. He had a wonderful relationship with his daughter and loved her very much. She had changed him in ways no one else could and he was grateful for her. Much to his pleasure she was a lot like her uncle Sportacus; gentle, kind and loving. Robbie himself had seemingly unending patience with Robyn and his experiences as a child taught him all the things NOT to do as a parent.
The newest family in Lazytown had moved onto the surface from underground. Robbie's lair held too many unhappy memories for him and since Bessie had moved in with the Mayor and Stephanie her house was vacant. Robbie had grown used to waking up to light of the sun rather than waking to darkness under the ground and he loved it. It had taken some time to adjust to the change but Robbie was absolutely convinced he wouldn't change back to the way he used to live.
Sportacus was in his airship, he'd just finished breakfast and was about to brush his teeth when a letter flew through the floor of the airship. It was unusual for a letter to arrive this early. Upon opening and reading the letter the colour drained from Sportacus' face, it read thus:
Dear Mr Sportacus,
I am sorry to inform you that your sister, Lily, passed away two days ago. She died of a massive brain haemorrhage which may have been caused by a previous head injury. You may be confused as to why this didn't happen sooner but things like this can take many years to form.
I offer you my sincere condolences and will send you your sister's personal affects at your request. If you should choose to attend her burial it will be held at the Crazytown cemetery at noon tomorrow.
Apologies and Condolences again,
Doctor Cranium.
Sportacus read the note over and over again. It didn't make sense. How could Lily be dead? She was only three years younger than him. He remembered that Lily had suffered a head injury when Stephanie had kicked her in the backs of the legs when she was trying to attack them. Lily hadn't hit her head that hard surely? She'd been knocked unconscious but he'd thought nothing of it at the time. All of the fighting had happened nearly five years ago; it had taken Lily that long to die.
Part of Sportacus was glad that Lily was dead, this was and extremely small part of him though. No matter what Lily had done she was his sister; he'd always hoped he could change her from the cruel, spiteful person she was to a kinder and gentler person. No matter what he had tried he'd always been thwarted and now Lily had paid for her bad deeds with her life. He didn't know if he should tell Robbie about her death or not. It was his duty to but Robbie had had more than enough of Lily and the mention of her name might reawaken old hurts and fears.
With breakfast out of the way Robyn started to think about the most important part of her day, playing. Robyn and Ziggy had formed quite a bond. Despite being four years younger than Ziggy they were both still the youngest of the children and played together the most often. Ziggy always knocked on the door at a quarter past nine every morning without fail. Robbie was getting used to seeing Ziggy every morning and if he and Robyn happened to breakfasting late he'd invite Ziggy for breakfast also.
Looking at the clock Robbie noticed it was almost that time for Ziggy to knock, he could picture the young chap running over to the house and this time thought he'd try something new. Robbie went over to the front door and opened it, on the door step was Ziggy. His hand was raised ready to knock and he was a little surprised at first but smiled and then laughed. Robyn giggled at the scene and ran over to the door. She was just about to run out when a gentle hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Where's daddy's kiss?" Robbie asked with a faked hurt expression on his face.
Robyn smiled and Robbie knelt down so his daughter could place a kiss on his cheek. At Robbie's nod she ran to join Ziggy who hated to watch 'kissy stuff'.