Scarlett flipped through some pictures she found from the same box that she found her mother's picture. Every picture she saw from that box had a picture of her mother, which made every picture she saw wonderful to her. She knew her father had put all of the pictures of her mother in that box, and she also knew that they weren't suppose to come out of it either. Scarlett's father never talked about her mother since she died, if you even mentioned her name, he would get angry.
Scarlett sighed, her head turning towards the window, which was right next to her bed she was sitting on. The sun was setting, streaks of beautiful colors of red, orange, purple, blue, yellow. Birds flew by her window, chipping softly, ready to get into their nest's and sleep. The squirrel raced up the tree, looking like they were chasing each other, but disappeared into their tree home. But unlike these animals, the forest, which lay right next to her house, was awaking. The nocturnal animals began to wake up and started to hunt. Scarlett watched the red eye's of wolves and other creature's pop out of the bushes, but then seeing nothing they could eat, went back into the forest to search some place else. She listened as a wolf howled, probably lost from the pack. Scarlett always loved going into woods and caves, she was just curious about what kind of animals could be in there. Though curiosity as always gotten her into trouble, like when she was about 8, she went into a cave at night filled with bats, she came out screaming, with bats fluttering all around her and in her hair, when she finally got home, she had bat droppings in her hair, which Jessy had to pick out.
A gentle knock came at Scarlett's door, making her jump and threw the pictures everywhere. Scarlett scattered around the room, picking up the pictures.
"Who is it?" Scarlett asked, quickly grabbing the pictures. Scarlett finally grabbed all the pictures and throw them under her bed just in case it was her father, she knew he would have taken them away.
"It's me, Jasmine," Jasmine said as she walked into the room. Scarlett smiled and let out a thankful sigh. By this time, her messy bun was now sticking up everywhere, covering her eyes and ears. Jasmine took one look at the tired looking Scarlett and started giggling. Scarlett gave a playful glare at her younger sister.
"So, what's up?" Scarlett asked, using her American slang that her father never liked.
"Could you braid my hair before I go to bed? Jessy is busy with getting the kitchen ready and Elizabeth and Alexandra aren't very good at braiding," Jasmine explained, while Scarlett undid her bun.
"Sure, just let me get my hair down first." Scarlett finally got all of her untied from the ribbon that held up her hair. When she was done with this, Scarlett motioned Jasmine to come into her lap so she could braid her hair.
Scarlett sat up from her bed to look out her window. It was still late at night but she could see the sun coming up, giving the sky a wonderful look. She had always enjoyed when the sun came up better then sunsets. She really didn't understand why so many people loved Sunsets, they seemed depressing to her, another day passed right on by, but when the sun comes up, it's the feeling of a brand new day. Scarlett smiled softly and sighed. She had been awake for a couple of hours now, getting very little sleep. When she went to bed, it was late, her self staying awake a long time to go through some of the pictures. But as soon as she went to bed, she fell into a strange dream, where her mother was there.
The dream seemed more like a past memory then a dream. Scarlett was seeing it out of her own eyes. She saw her mother's face, and the young faces of her two older sisters when they were little. But the best part of the dream was seeing her father's face. It took Scarlett a few seconds to realize that it was her father after all and not just another man with her family. He seemed so different, so calm and happy, and young. The father she had now, he's always stern looking, he looks sad and stressed about something. In the dream, his face was smooth, his smile seemed real, the father she knew now, his face has wrinkles some places, from past years of stress, and he rarely smiles, but when he does, it seems as if he's making him self smile.
In the dream, little Scarlett reaches her small hands out, trying to grab her father's shirt. He laughs and takes her in his arms. But as soon as Scarlett is in his arms, his smile fades and his face turns to dread. Scarlett looks over where her mother once stood, but nothing was there, only darkness. Suddenly, Scarlett felt her self being put on the ground and when she looks back up, she sees her father walking away, away from her and her sisters. Then her sister's leave her, walking together, afraid of where they're going but glad to have each other. Finally, Scarlett is alone, without anyone. And then, the small, helpless Scarlett cries.
And that's when Scarlett woke up, she woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. Scarlett rested her chin on her hand as she leaned on her window sill. Scarlett didn't mind that she didn't get back to sleep. Scarlett disliked when people woke her up early, but she loved it when she woke on her own and got to see the beautiful sun rise. So, finally, Scarlett looked out at the sun rising one more time before getting out of bed to get the pictures she hid under her bed. For the rest of the morning, Scarlett went through her pictures. But the whole time she was looking through the pictures, she wondered why Jessy wasn't in the dream. The family wasn't complete without her, and she knew Jessy wouldn't leave her.
Finally, a knock came at the door, and before Scarlett even had time to get the pictures away from her, Alexandra walked right on in.
"Scarlett, father said...Hey, what's that?" Alexandra quickly snatched the pictures in Scarlett's hands and examined them. Alexandra's eyes seemed to soften when she gazed at the pictures, and she seemed like any minute she would burst into tears. After staring at the pictures for a full minute, Alexandra looked away, throwing the pictures back at Scarlett and turning her head away from her. Her face seemed mad and annoyed, but her eyes told Scarlett that if she had looked at the pictures any longer, then she would have burst into tears.
"F-Father said that he wanted you down in a now, w-we're going on a walk through town," Alexandra seemed to choke a bit while she spoke, but as soon as she was done talking, she turned to leave and slammed the door behind her.
Scarlett picked up the pictures, that were all over her bed and floor after Alexandra throw everywhere. What was her problem? Scarlett thought, quite annoyed with her attitude. Scarlett just hoped that she wouldn't tell her father about what she found. Once all the pictures were safely under her bed, Scarlett got ready quickly. She tied her hair back up into a messy bun, she just liked it better that way. Once she was all ready and such, she went down stairs, her father and her three sisters' waiting for her.
"Well, what took you so long? We've been waiting for such a long time just for you to get ready," Elizabeth remarked. Scarlett said nothing, actually acting like she heard nothing or that even if her sister even existed. Elizabeth just huffed when Scarlett didn't reply.
Sadly, Jessy stayed at home, cleaning the house, just in case the family brought some friends home. Scarlett was dressed in a scarlet red dress, with an annoying hat to go with it; she was forced to wear it. Her scarlet hair was tucked behind the strange hat and she had white gloves on. She felt as if she was going to be going to a tea party. Jasmine was wearing a dress the color of the sky, with her light brown hair hiding in her hat as well. She also wore white gloves. Elizabeth and Alexandra were matching today, with their green dresses' and their dirty blond hair over their shoulders so it could be seen. They were wearing a green hat, but theirs were cocked to the side, so it looked more formal. Their father was wearing something more casual then the rest of them. He was wearing a blue shirt, with long sleeves with long black pants, that just barely touched his new, black shoes.
"Okay girls, lets get going!" Their father declared and began marching forward. Everyone walked forward, Elizabeth and Alexandra walking behind their father, and Jasmine walking right next to him, holding his hand. Scarlett was the only one who didn't move. She hated what she was wearing, it made her look ridiculous. She never did understand why her father wanted to make a big impression on people, even though he already without the strange clothing. Finally, after seeing her family was far ahead of her, she walked forward. She didn't like it, but she did anyway, because she knew that if she didn't, her father was going to bitch about it later.
Sooner or later, Scarlett caught up to her family. They hadn't even noticed she was gone, which ticked her off a bit but she felt like maybe she could sneak away. But right when she was about to tip toe away, her sisters' turned around and pointed at a small bar that was right behind Scarlett. Scarlett stood where she was, annoyed that her sister just had to turn around right then.
"Father, look! Can we go to that cute bar over there?" Alexandra asked, with Elizabeth right next to her, nodding her head.
"Well, I don't know. I don't want to leave you two alone in their, but I have to take Jasmine to the bookstore in town..." Mr. Williams trailed off.
"Scarlett will do it!" Elizabeth insisted.
"What? Oh fine, I'll take Jasmine," Scarlett said, as she glared at her older sister. Scarlett felt like she was in that fairy tale, Cinderella, and she being Cinderella. She already had two ugly step sisters. Mr. Williams nodded, letting go of Jasmine's hand. He headed towards the bar with his two older daughters, while his younger daughters went to search for a book store.
Scarlett didn't mind taking his little sister, she was cute and always smiling. She wasn't mean like her older sisters' and she was happy to take her where ever she needed to go. Jasmine was a big reader, despite she was only eight. Scarlett had no real interest in books, they just seemed boring to her. But, taking her sister to the book store had more advantages to Scarlett then she knew, more then just getting away from her other snotty sisters'. Finally, Scarlett and Jasmine spotted the bookstore; they quickly walked over to the door. Scarlett opened the door, letting Jasmine go in before her. A bell rang when she opened the door, making her jump for a second. An old man shot out of the back room where he was moments ago, taking notice that he had customers.
"Why, hello there. Are you here to check out some books?" The old man asked. His kindness freaked Scarlett a bit, he seemed a bit too happy for her.
"Um, yes. My little sister wants to see some of your books. Do you have any good fantasy books here?" Scarlett asked, making sure to note about how Jasmine only reads fantasy books. The man nodded.
"I have tons, I'll go get some of my favorites and you can pick out some you would like," he said before heading back into the back room. He was mostly speaking to Jasmine. Jasmine walked over to the shelf and started to climb the latter that was place next to her. Scarlett roamed around, not finding the bookstore very interesting. Finally the man came back out, stacking a whole bunch of books on to his table. Jasmine gasped and quickly hopped off the latter and ran over to the pile of books.
Finally, Jasmine picked out about 9 or 10 books from the pile the man brought out.
"Oh my, I haven't seen anyone read this much since Belle left!" The man hollered when he saw how many books Jasmine was going to bring home.
"Who's Belle?" Jasmine asked, wanting to hear a good story.
"Oh, she goes by Princess Belle now! She's getting married to the Prince that lives in the castle in the woods," the man explained. Now Scarlett was even listening. Although, Scarlett wasn't a big reader, she loved to hear a good story told by someone.
"Wow! She's princess? When can I meet her?" Jasmine asked.
"She's having her wedding party soon, I'm sure you both are invited, everyone in the village is!" The man exclaimed.
"Really? Scarlett we have to tell father right away!" Jasmine smiled so wide that it looked like her cheeks were about to burst. Scarlett wasn't big on telling her father, but the wedding party did sound fun.
"Okay, just let me pay for the books real quick," Scarlett said, but before she could do anything, the old man spoke again.
"Oh, there's no need too, just return them at the right date," the man said smiling first at Scarlett, then at Jasmine.
"Thank you!" The girls spoke in union while they walked out the door.
"Bye now, have a nice day!" The man replied back.
When they were finally out of the book store, both Jasmine and Scarlett were holding about 5 books each in their hands, and think ones at that. Jasmine was slowed down from all the books, after all, she couldn't see where she was going with all the books in her way, and she didn't want to run into anyone. Scarlett turned around, now walking backwards.
"Here Jasmin, let me take some of those books off your hands," Scarlett laughed.
"Thanks, Scarlett," Jasmine smiled, even though Scarlett couldn't see it until she packed the books on to her pile. Once Scarlett was done taking all the books she needed too from Jasmine, she turned around, no longer walking backwards. But once she turned around she ran right into a cart, knocking her to the ground; the books went flying and so did the onions from the cart.
"Hey! Watch where you're going!" Scarlett shouted, looking at the person that hit her. Jasmine was at her side in a second.
"Scarlett! Are you okay?" Jasmine asked, worried at bit.
"Yes, I'm fine," Scarlett reassured.
"Well, if you're fine, then they're no reasons for you to shout at me," the person Scarlett ran into said. Scarlett looked over at the person who said that. To Scarlett, he looked like a little kid, not even taller then Jasmine. He had brown hair that was now covered in water, since they had both landed in a puddle. When Scarlett realized this, she started to freak.
"Oh no! The books!" Quickly, Scarlett picked up the books, shaking them a bit to try and dry them off a bit.
"Oh, great. Another girl that likes books," the boy mumbled, even though Scarlett could clearly hear him.
She gave the boy a glare.
"Well, actually these are for my sister. I have no real interest in books. But why am I explaining this to a small child?" Scarlett replied. He looked flabbergasted.
"I am not a child! I bet I'm even older then you!" He declared. Scarlett didn't believe him, of course.
"Oh right," she replied, rolling her eyes. She placed the books on a dry part of the ground as she got up; she brushed her self off.
"I'll prove it! How old are you?" He asked.
"Sixteen! I bet you're no older then ten, even though my younger sister here is eight and is taller then you," Scarlett shot back.
"Ha! I'm older," he declared, thinking he won.
"You are not!"
"I am so! At least I can actually go into a bar without a parent and actually get a drink!" The boy smirked.
Scarlett hmphed and turned to leave, almost forgetting the books. But she was tired of being insulted, she didn't need this, she already had two sisters that did that and a father who never stopped nagging; she didn't need a another one.
"Scarlett wait! What about the books?" Jasmine asked, attempting to pick them up her self, but failed. Scarlett sighed and bent down to pick them.
"Hey, what about my onions you knocked over?" the boy asked.
"You're the one who ran over me, why should I help you?" Scarlett asked, not expecting an answer.
"Come on, Scarlett, help him. You did sorta insult him..." Jasmine said, turning so that Scarlett couldn't look into her eyes; that's what she did when she corrected someone but felt bad about it. Scarlett sighed again, she knew it was true, but he did insult her too.
Finally, Scarlett placed the books once again on the dry ground and bent down into the puddle to pick up the onions that had fallen out.
"Here, I'll even help," he offered, getting down too.
"Oh, how kind of you," Scarlett muttered, though he heard, and she wanted him to. Scarlett was even getting more wet then she already was, but she didn't really care, she wasn't already soaked. When all the onions were put back, Scarlett whipped the dirt off her dress.
"I'm Lefou by the way," he said, sticking his hand out so Scarlett could shake it.
"I'm Scarlett Williams," Scarlett replied, shaking his hand.
"And I'm Jasmine Williams!" Jasmine jumped in, now shaking Lefou's hand.