thompson sisters week: prompt 5- sisters


It's what sisters do.

Patty didn't remember the first time that Liz spoke these words. She only remembered the ache of hunger that squeezed her belly tighter as she begged the only person who listened. The faint memory misted over, and suddenly Patty remembered soggy bits of bread touching her fingers. They were cold, cold as her toes felt and cold as their father's neglect. But Liz was colder.

She pushed the food into Patty's weak hands, screeching at her to wake up, Patty don't close your eyes. Wake up!

When the youngest one could hardly lift her head at the noise, impatient Liz brought the morsels to Patty's mouth and shoved them in roughly.Swallow it whole for all I care! Eat the entire damn thing! And she left once again to god knows where, leaving Patty alone to devour her first meal in days. There was no taste, only desperation.

It's what sisters do, Liz said later as she chucked a half full bottle of water by Patty's feet, sneering at her wince. It's the funniest thing in the world, she thought. And the funniest thing is how a sister could be so cruel.

Years later, the girls lost their home and abandoned their parents—both of them. They hid from their troubled father, and they rejected their mother's alternate lifestyle. Patty had nowhere to go, but she knew that a socialite mom with a new child and husband had no room for one more. There was only one other person who she turned to, and that was Liz, who seemed troubled at the sound of Patty's pitter-patter coming from behind.

Go to mom, she growled over her shoulder.

But Patty didn't hesitate when she reached for Liz's hand, twining their fingers so that they could walk together. Even if the other struggled to loosen the hold, and even if harsh words flew from her mouth, she stayed.

It was there where Patty learned of Liz's brutality and her resolve to live. It was like watching a fire that tried to fuel itself with its flames. And it was there when she figured out Liz's innate sensitivity towards Patty's needs. She steeled her own heart in ways the younger sister could never understand. Though, there were times where Liz would forego meals and where she stayed up all night on watch… these were the tender moments that Patty remembered.

There was no such world where this life was ideal, but somehow, if sisters could survive like this, then there was no problem. It's what sisters do.

That was a confusing time in their lives that passed as quickly as it came. Troublemakers are surprisingly not always the ones who instigate, but they are always the ones caught up in the crossfire. The girls found themselves in such a situation, one where they couldn't free themselves despite their desire to survive. But a ward entered their life, curious of both and even more curious of their strength as a pair.

This took Liz aback—she'd never seen them as a pair or anything of the sort. They were sisters, just sisters. Patty, though, reached to hold her elder's hand, squeezing it warmly as she welcomed the young boy into their messy family. She couldn't tell what the other was thinking, not in the slightest, but she hoped that it would be ok in the end.

It had to be.

There came a night in the Gallows when Liz crawled into Patty's bed to seek warmth in the middle of her winter. She buried herself under the covers, careful not to stir the sister's slumber. But Patty hadn't been asleep that night, choosing instead to remember nights much colder than these. She pressed her toes against the Liz's legs, snuggling closer in hopes for a hug before drowsiness settled in. And a hug did she receive.

It's what sisters do.