This is for Anya Dreamer L who requested a prolouge focusing on Belarus's previous life. The title is the name of a Panic! At the Disco song. Enjoy~
Trade Mistakes 1
Natalya sat on a beaten up old couch in the apartment her sister, Katyusha, her brother, Ivan, and she all shared. She was currently waiting for Kat to come home from her night classes so they could make dinner. Ivan walked in right at that moment.
"Hello Natalya," Ivan said smiling.
"Brother," Natalya nodded as her brother walked past. Her blue/violet eyes followed her brother until he went into his room.
"Natalya?" Ivan's voice came from the room.
"Yes brother?"
"Where is my scarf?"
"On the clothesline outside," Natalya responded.
"Why?"
"I cleaned it while you slept so it's fresh," Natalya replied, fixing the silver bow that sat in her platinum hair.
"Oh, Спасибо [1]," Ivan said.
"I think it's probably dried now, if you want to get it."
"Alright." Ivan walked to the rickety screen door that leads to the back porch. Natalya sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. She stood up off the couch and she brushed of her navy dress. It was her favorite one. The three of them didn't have much money to spare. Katyusha was the only one who went to school. She went to a trade school with agriculture. She was always a good farmer. They grew a lot of the food they ate. But since it was December, nothing grew. It was, actually, almost Christmas. Christmas was always the worst time of the year, in Natalya's opinion. Christmas was like any other day except the three of them sat around in total silence. None of them could afford a gift for anyone else. They could barely afford decent clothes. Kat usually wore overalls and a button up shirt. She only had one pair of overalls, littered with different colored patches, two blouses, and one black skirt she and Natalya shared. Ivan had a pair of dark green pants, a pair of tan pants, and a white shirt, along with the white scarf he always wore. Natalya remembered when Ivan got that scarf. Kat had given it to him because he was cold. He was the only one with a scarf. No one objected to it, though. Then there was Natalya. She had a navy dress and a white apron that was tied over it with a striped bow. Then she had a navy skirt, a pair of grey stockings, an off white button up shirt and a pair of black gloves. The three siblings all had one coat for each of them. Kat's was a thin brown overcoat, Ivan's was a pale brown trench coat, and Natalya's was a black coat with large black buttons. Then each of them had their own pair of boots. Kat's were a dull black and came up to just above her ankles. Ivan's boots looked similar except his came up to just below his knees. Natalya's were black lace-up boots that came up to the middle of her shins. That was their winter, fall, spring, and summer wardrobe. Just as Natalya was thinking of all this, Kat walked in the door.
"Hi Nat, where's Ivan?" she asked locking the door behind her.
"He went to get his scarf off the clothesline," Natalya informed as her sister shook snow out of her short, silvery hair.
"Well I guess we should see what we have to eat for supper," Kat said, taking off her thin overcoat.
"Alright," Natalya said getting up.
Maybe we'll actually have some food tonight, Natalya thought bitterly. She hated living in poverty. They were all dirt poor and trapped there. Kat worked two jobs, Ivan worked one and Natalya worked one and they still could barely make ends meet. Natalya entered the broken kitchen and looked around. The floor was grey wood, worn from the continuous scuffing of boots and the cabinets were spattered with chipping dark green paint. The stove was old and only worked if you lit it with a match. The sink was old and had rings around the inside. In the middle of the kitchen, there was an oak table that they ate at. Mismatched chairs stood around it, all contributing to the 'rock bottom' look of the house. Natalya walked over to the cabinet to the far left and opened it. Disappointment struck her as she found it's only contents were a loaf of bread and a single can of tomato soup.
"Anything good?" Ivan asked walking through the crooked screen door.
"No, just some bread and a can of goddamn soup," Natalya sighed.
"Oh well. We'll have to share then, да?" Ivan said.
"I guess," Natalya glared a look of hatred at the soup.
'We never have any variety! Being poor is so shitty!'
She lit a match and carefully tossed it on the stove. The stove flare up for a moment before holding a weak flame. Natalya took out a knife and a pot. She stabbed the can through the top with the butcher's knife she had grabbed. When she withdrew it, red tomato soup clung to the blade like scarlet blood. She poured the contents of the can in the pot and put it over the flame.
"What did you find?" Kat asked walking in.
"Tomato fucking soup and a fucking loaf of bread."
"Why are you so angry?" Kat asked her sister.
"Because I hate living like this! We can't afford to fix this place, a decent meal or even more than two outfits!" Natalya's pale face flushed pink as she yelled. Her blue-violet eyes burned into her sister's blue eyes.
"You know we can't get out of this, Nat and we have to make the best of it," Kat said sternly.
"Yeah I know," Natalya said shifting her gaze to her dull combat boots.
"The soup's boiling," Ivan pointed out.
"Then let's eat," Kat said. And the three sat around the scratched up, old table and ate their soup and bread.
[1] Спасибо –Russian "Thank you"