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Part sixteen of the Robyn series.
Sunlight seeped in through the un-curtained window. Its light was absorbed but not beaten by the plain black walls which formed the room and filled it with warmth. In its temperate wake it missed the sleeping occupant of the bedroom and could not pass the heavy curtains surrounding the four poster bed. It could not stir the sleeper and encourage them to greet the new day. Not giving up the light continued to fill the room in its silent duty. It continued unnoticed by the selfish eyes that hid themselves behind veils of darkness.
A hard knocking on the door summoned the sleeper to wakefulness but they would not acknowledge it. They wanted more rest. They wanted to stay in the dark realms of sleep and the peace of dreams. The real world continued its ceaseless knocking and kept the occupant of the room held back from the dreams they so eagerly wanted to resume. Unnerved by the cruelty of the restless hand now banging on the door the occupant of the room groaned and got up.
The disturbed sleeper walked the short distance to their bedroom door and opened it to see the knocker with their hand raised ready to land another tirade of knocking upon the already tired wooden door. Fixing their tormentor with a threatening look which warned them away from knocking any further they closed the door again. Leaning back against the door they ran a hand down their face before going over to the mirror.
Smiling at their immaculate reflection the sleeper complimented themselves, "Robyn, you look really good for a non-morning person."
Still smiling Robyn admired her reflection. Her long black hair was tied back in a loose ponytail which boasted the freshly implanted silver braids which complimented the silver streaks worked through the strands. Her ears sported piercings all the way down along the edges in various sizes. A nose ring was the only piercing accommodated on her nose and one of her slender eyebrows was pierced.
Someone calling her from downstairs diverted her attention from the mirror and she shouted that she'd be down in a minute. Her voice held an unfair amount of annoyance directed towards the caller, it had been the first time they'd called her.
Two minutes later she left her bedroom and walked downstairs. Entering the kitchen she saw her mother preparing breakfast.
"Morning mum," Robyn said blandly taking a seat at the table.
Lily turned round from her work and smiled nervously, "Morning sweetie. Have a nice sleep?"
"I did until Cain decided to try and knock my door down. Why does he always have to do that? You told him to stop it."
"I…I forgot to tell him. There's been so much going on lately…you're father abandoning us like that…it's been hard." Lily stuttered with a distinct tremor in her voice.
"Do you think I care about that? He probably left because you're so weak. It's your job now to do things like telling Cain to get lost and leave me alone every morning. Why do you have to be so pathetic?"
Scorned by her daughter's wrathful tone Lily began to cry. She dropped the knife she'd been using to butter a slice of toast and held her head in her hands. It was too much, it was just too much. Knowing that she'd be tormented even further for her weakness she ran wailing from the room.
Rolling her eyes Robyn got up from the table and picked up the piece of toast her mother had left behind. Taking a bite out of it she threw the rest in the bin. She'd had her breakfast for the morning. Looking out of the window she was happy to see that no one was outside. The town was her oyster and she could do what she liked with it, no one dared stand in her way.
"Still making plans for world domination sis?" Cain asked walking into the kitchen and straightening his tie.
Robyn turned around and smiled sarcastically at him, "None that you'd know of. What job is it you do? I forget."
"I'm a Lawyer. The sole breadwinner in this family until you get off your backside and do something useful instead of torturing mother."
"Cain, Cain, Cain. Always playing mother's advocate aren't we? It seems like you never do anything else."
"That might be the case but remember who pays the bills. By the way, it's your turn to take uncle's pie over. Have fun with your day while I'm earning lots of money I can spend on myself."
"Why don't you use it to buy yourself a ticket to Timbuktu and leave me the hell alone?"
Cain smiled and kissed his sister on the cheek before picking up his briefcase and leaving the house.
Alone in the kitchen once more Robyn looked over at the oven on the top of which a pie dish had been placed. Inside it was one of her mother's cherry pies, a pie she had to deliver within half an hour or risk getting her ears boxed if she was late. It was something she hated doing but it couldn't be avoided. Her name was on the roster to take it and once it was over and done with she didn't have to do it for another three weeks, something which suited her perfectly.
Going upstairs she put on her normal attire which consisted of a black long-sleeved crew neck shirt, a black skirt with lace overlay and unsurprisingly black high heeled boots. She retied her hair into a ponytail and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. This done she walked back downstairs and into the kitchen.
Walking over to the oven she picked up the pie dish and carelessly wrapped it in an old tea towel before leaving the house. Already it was rather warm outside but she didn't care for the heat. She didn't relish being outside, being indoors was more her thing. In her opinion there was a lot more to do indoors and if whoever governed her life had intended her to spend it outdoors they wouldn't have invented windows.
Not altogether fussed about her time limit she took her time getting to her uncle's house on the other side of the town square. No one had actually stressed to her that she had to hand the pie to him and often if she was running late she'd just drop it on the doorstep and let him pick it up himself. It seemed to be most activity he'd get in a whole day. A few minutes later she arrived at his house. Standing on the doorstep she hammered her fist on the door trying to get a response from her tardy uncle.
"Will you get out of your pit and open this god damn door!" She called becoming impatient.
The door opened and revealed her uncle Sportacus, all twenty stone of him. "Is it pie day already?" he grumbled rubbing his prominent belly.
"Yes its pie day, our despicable way of making you even fatter. I must dash, people to do and things to see."
Grimacing Sportacus snatched the pie dish and slammed the door in Robyn's face. His unfazed niece turned away and headed for home. She took less time returning to it than she had taken leaving it and went straight up to her room. Shutting her bedroom door she leant against it and noticed that her TV was on standby.
"I didn't leave it like this." She said to herself and walked over to it.
A face she recognised very well appeared on the screen. "No you didn't."
Robyn gasped the face on the screen was her own and it had just spoken to her. Completely freaked out she sat heavily on her bed and stared at it. This was just too weird.