More Than You Can Imagine (Part 1 of 3)
It was a rather cold evening in a small quiet town in Paris, and a mother and daughter could be seen, sat on the corner of the street, talking quietly, It was pretty obvious they were immediate family, they looked ever so similar. They both shared the golden hair, the bright blue eyes and the fair skin. Colette Maria and her daughter Aimee Maria lived on the streets. They were outcasts, friends of the gypsies, and of course, that was looked down on in the society they lived in.
A few days ago, they had left the area surround Notre Dame, and Aimee, being quite curious, wondered why.
"Mum, why did you decide not to go into the town around Notre Dame?". Colette sighed, her daughter knew nothing of her past and family, and it came into play with the reason why she had decided against entering the town by the treasured cathedral, Notre Dame.
"There is someone who doesn't want me there, so don't you worry about it". Aimee gave her a grumpy look,
"Who?". Colette laughed, a little nervously, but Aimee didn't pick up on it,
"Oh, you ask too many questions, just like your father". The two fell silent; they rarely talked about Anthony, Colette's husband and Aimee's father. He was killed two years ago during a raid on a gypsy camp the small family were living in. He had tried to protect his family, and the many innocent gypsy people. Most survived, but had fled in different directions, which meant both Colette and Aimee hadn't seen any of their friends since.
It was Colette, who broke the silence a few moments later,
"You hungry?". Aimee gave her mother a concerned look, with a frown to accompany it,
"Not really...but you've gotta have the next food we get". The young girl was worried, her mother was losing weight and getting weaker every day, and Colette was giving up all her resources just to make sure Aimee survived out on the streets.
Colette wouldn't even be on the streets, if it wasn't from her harsh, strict and cruel family, whom she has had no contact with for many, many years. It was actually family, her brother in fact, which had made her decide not to go to Notre Dame. Colette was brought up in a wealthy household, in an upper-class family, and yet never saw why the scorned the gypsies. Against her father's wishes, she became close friends with them.
She had also had a planned marriage awaited her. Her soon to be husband was rich, very rich. However, he was crude and mean. Colette had actually met an English man, who had moved to Paris. The two had fallen in love, and Colette constantly lied to protect her true love from the wrath of her father and planned husband.
One night, Colette's arranged husband grew impatient, and took advantage of Colette. He put her through a merciless night of sexual activity against her will. She told her parents, and her brother Claude Frollo, but they turned a blind eye and told her she was lying. Colette came out with the story of her true love, the English man Anthony, and her family turned on her.
Her father shouted and cursed, her mother complained and spoke of her severe disappointment with her daughter, and her brother who had once cared about her did nothing, seeing nothing but hate for his sister. Her parents chucked her out near her 20th birthday, Colette was alone, and unknown to her, pregnant. Not with Aimee however...
She found Anthony, and told her what happened, with both her family and her former fiancé. Anthony craved revenge but Colette told him he had no chance against families of the upper-class, and so the two went away and lived with the gypsies. Colette soon found out her evil fiancé had impregnated her, and gave birth to a healthy boy. Anthony accepted him as his own, and the two raised him despite the fact he was the child of a rapist.
She tried to seek out her brother many times, just to realize he had become powerful and controlling, the Judge of the Palace of Justice. She almost feared him, for he was exactly like her father. She just hoped that Aimee wouldn't have to meet him eventually.
Colette snapped out of the thoughts of her past, her son went away a long time ago.
"Don't be silly honey, you need to eat", she murmured, she fumbled around in her bag for some bread she had saved. To her dismay, she couldn't find it. "Damn it, those soldiers must of taken in when they searched my bag...those stupid bast-",
"It's ok Mum", Aimee said, cutting her off, leaning over to hug her. Colette was all too happy to return the hug; Aimee smiled and broke it to speak properly. "I love you". Colette reached out and stroked her daughter's cheek lovingly,
"I love you too, more than you can imagine".