Hey guys! Wow, that's better! I hope I haven't totally mangled the Yorkshire accent of Dickon's and Mrs. Sowerby. I have the 5 reviews I need to update and so here it is! I got even a reader from Rome! That shocked me, Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! This update is mostly in Dickon's mind. His choices laid bare.
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Mary continued to sit on the bed, Dickon's head in her lap. Mary was thinking very hard, she needed to figure out what to do about her would-be lover. She loved Dickon more than she had ever loved anything in the world. She realized now that the feelings of growth, happiness, passion, they were all connected and tied to her dear love. Mary brushed at Dickon's hair, humming a tuneless but comforting song.
"Dickon, when you wake up, I swear that I will tell you I love you, that within moments of you waking I will confess. Just please, please wake soon," Mary whispered. Dickon shifted slightly and his head bobbed as if nodding in agreement. Mary smiled sadly and started to sing again.
I miss you,
Like the sun misses the moonlight.
I miss you,
Like the star misses the sky.
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He was in the secret garden, but he was all by himself. The wind wasn't blowing, there were no sounds, no animals, nothing. Just him and the plants.
"You need to choose, twin of mine," said a refined voice behind him. He spun around to see himself. The other him was dressed in nice clothes like Colin wore, he had a pocket watch attached to his belt and a ornate cane in hand. His eyes were half closed and large, dark circles hung under them like black sails hang when there is no wind. His back was bent, like Lord Craven's had been before the 'rebirth'.
"What do I have to choose?"
"Weather you will love her or leave her."
He had no doubt who she was. Mary. Mary; the light in his world, the hope in his heart. He'd loved her from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her all those years ago in the maze the Garden was hidden in. He had thought she was beautiful then, she was absolutely stunning now. He loved her more than anything else in the universe, he even imitated her speech when she wasn't there.
"I know I love her, but I also know I can' be with her. She's a fine lady, I'm just a common moor lad. We be friends, why would she love me anyways? I be not fair of face, or big of mind, I'm just Dickon, the garden an' animal lad," he told his twin stubbornly, but with a hint of the depression that had been dogging him for the past seven years. The twin smiled a sad smile.
"Let me show you something, twin."
Suddenly the garden was gone and they were up at the Manor in Mary's room. On the bed, with his head in her lap, was a sobbing Mary. He reached out to try and console her, but he found he couldn't move.
"Dickon, please come back to me. I love you. Just wake up. Please wake up," Mary's voice was cracking and she sobbed a bit harder. If he hadn't been able to move before he certainly couldn't now! There was Mary saying she loved him. A voice in the back of his head said 'I told you so' but he ignored it, knowing it was that twin of his.
'Where'd you go?
I miss you so,
Seems like it's been forever
Since you've been gone,
So come back home."
Frozen, he saw himself shift in Mary's lap and then he saw Mary lean down and kiss his forehead. He felt a warm pressure on his forehead for a moment and then it was gone, leaving a spot that was much warmer than the rest of him.
"This is what is happening right now. I am going to show you two possible futures in store for you based on this one choice, the ones that are open to you. The first is if you stay and confess your love." The scene went white and then they were suddenly back in Mary's room, it was empty now and a more happy room. There were photographs everywhere and the fire crackled merrily in the hearth.
Someone laughed and in entered an older Mary. Her summer dress was a light blue and she had a hand over her stomach. An older Dickon entered after her, laughing as well. He looked about the same as now, but his eyes shone with a new light. He went over to Mary and kissed her, putting his own hand lightly over her stomach. Suddenly understanding hit him.
"She's pregnant." He whispered. Suddenly a pair of twins came in, a little girl with auburn hair, an obvious combination of Mary's and Dickon's, and a little boy with Dickon's rusty red hair, both possessing hazel eyes, yet another obvious combination of Mary's and Dickon's. They couldn't have been more than six. They jumped into Dickon's laughing arms.
His double's voice sunk down into his mind. "This will happen if you stay with her and confess. You will be Lord Colin's advisor, a Lord in your own right. You will marry Lady Mary at the age of twenty and have six children; three boys and three girls. You will be happy. Now, here is what will happen if you leave her." The scene went white again and then they were in a dark alley. He found himself staring at another, older version of himself, passed out in the alley with a whiskey bottle in hand.
"In this particular future, after leaving Lady Mary you try to drink away the pain of loss, but you are just killing yourself. In this future, you do not live past the age of twenty-five. You also die along, in pain, and you hold a deep regret." His twin was walking towards his drunk double. He bent down and touched his shoulder. The drunk double woke up and looked at the refined twin. Slowly they melded together into one future-twin. His twin looked at him, pain radiating in his eyes.
"Please, don't leave her. Have the life that I never had." All he could do was nod, and then the world went dark.
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So? What'd you guys think? You know the drill, 5 reviews to get the next update!
Watching Eternity.
