Part 2:
"Anne's House of Dreams"
Anne told Gilbert to wait downstairs for her, she needed to do something.
She peeled off her clothes and stood naked before a mirror, her long red hair splayed over her milky white shoulders, she turned her body at a certain angle, she had one scar on her lower back barley reaching her hips, and the next cut was higher up on her back, closer to the rib cage. There was no reason to examine the one behind her ear. Besides those scars her skin was smooth and without any markings. Anne sighed, she had been plagued by memories of her life pre-Green Gables life lately, and a little voice in her head told her to tell Gilbert about the scars, her whole life. She picked up her veil and put it on, completely covering herself, and stood alongside the window, watching the breeze ruffle the curtain,
"Gil, you can come in now" she called.
He opened the door, looking at his new bride. He walked over to her; he lifted her veil and let out a deep shuddering breath, as he lifted her up, and put her on the bed. As he was removing his shirt, the little voice inside Anne's head nagged her, before they did anything; she needed to tell him about her life pre-Green Gables life, about the scars. He deserved to know.
"Gilbert" she said, interrupting him as he was about to begin taking off his belt,
"Yes?" Gil said, his voice showed concern with an edge of anxiety, had he done something wrong? Anne pulled the bed sheet over her naked body, and petted the space beside her; Gil sat down and faced her.
***
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you"
Anne took a deep breath,
"Do you remember when you asked me about my scar?" Gil nodded,
"Well I think you should know how I got it and the other two" she showed him her back, the candle light highlighting the scars; he traced one of the barley noticeable scars with his finger. She righted her self, and turned to faced him.
"I've been in and out of a lot of homes before coming to Avonlea. Anyway I lived in this foster home for a brief time, when I was 7 or 8. The woman was older, had one little child that wouldn't talk to anyone, she was beaten a lot. Anyway I usually took care of her, even though she was older then me by a year. The woman had this drunk of a husband. The woman was very twisted, she was superstitious and strange.
Anyway the one good thing about her husband was the fact that he never hit me or Honey" Gil interrupted her,
"Honey?"
"the girl who wouldn't talk, I called her Honey, her real name was Mary Beth, she had honey blonde hair and honey coloured eyes, so I started calling her Honey" he nodded, she continued,
"He usually just ignored us, but one day he left, just walked out and never came back. Well he was around things weren't too bad, we never really had enough to eat and I guess I always knew it wouldn't last, I knew somehow that I'd leave eventually. I was whipped sometimes by the woman, well she muttered from the bible. She also made her own moonshine, something that was frowned on. Anyway most of the beatings were supposedly for my own good, Honey usually was just yelled at." Anne paused and brushed away a stray tear.
"Anyway after he left things started getting worse, Honey became worse, she started acting up, but I would usually be punished for her crimes…"
One day, Honey saw this man go towards the house to buy some homemade moonshine; Anne should have been keeping a better eye on her. Honey started throwing rocks at him, the fist one hit him in the back of his head, the second the back of his leg. He turned around and walked towards her, bleeding from his wounds. Honey just started at him,
"You little bitch are you nuts or something?" he asked her, of course she didn't answer, just stared at him. He slapped her, then again, he continued to do so until Anne screamed from behind a tall bush, the woman came out and stopped him,
"See here Jim Macalister, you aren't coming around here no more till you learn better manners" she said, he limped away after calling her a few unpleasant words. The woman yanked Honey's arm, Honey fell, still not saying a word; the woman pulled her up and shook her, hard. Screaming at her and shaking her, until finally Honey fell down. Anne ran over to Honey and cried, she thought Honey might be dead, and then she turned to the woman and started yelling at her, and hitting her with small clenched fists, doing no real damage to the old woman.
The woman slapped Anne hard across the face, picked her up and carried Anne kicking and screaming into the house.
Once inside the woman told Anne to strip down to her underwear. Anne expected the regular lashings on her back, the kind that left blisters but leaves no visible scars. The kind that hurt like hell, but were easily soothed with the help of her active imagination. At lest for a little while. This time however the woman used a different tool and slashed her in certain areas were she knew that the scars would not be too visible, oh yes there would be scars, and blood. First cut went to her lower back, barley reaching her hips, the next one was higher up on her back, near the ribcage, and finally she turned Anne around and stared straight into Anne's grey-green eyes, then she turned Anne's face away from her and deliberately cut a thin line behind her ear, starting from her beauty mark barely reaching her earlobe.
"If you ever interfere with my authority again, I'll kill you. You're a worthless piece of trash that doesn't deserve anything but shit." With that she shoved Anne down on to the floor and left her there. Anne hadn't made a sound the entire time. She hadn't even cried.
Honey took care of Anne; she silently cleaned and bandaged the cuts. Then she disappeared, she called for help, picked up the phone and dialled away, the first words that were ever spoken by Honey for as long as Anne had known her. Anne was taken out of the home after that, she would never see Honey ever again.
"Anyway she gave me these scars," Anne continued, "as a lesson not to interfere again, I bled quite a bit. Like I said, Honey took care of me. I hated the woman more then ever and I promised myself that I would never let anyone see me cry, or ever be hit again." Anne stopped as tears fell down her cheeks, when she had gone back to Nova Scotia to find out more about her birth parents she had contemplated about looking for Honey, but in the end didn't want to bring up old memories. Gilbert held her as she quietly cried, he felt a mixture of emotions, angry at the strange woman, sad for Anne, but also grateful that Honey had gotten Anne out of there. He said silent thanks to Honey, wherever she was, she had more then likely saved Anne's life. After crying for awhile on Gil's shoulder, she sobered up, and told him about the rest of her life pre-Avonlea life. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. He learnt about her imaginary friend Katie, he learnt about how it was like to have finally found a home were the bed sheets were clean, no one was yelled at or beaten, what it was like to finally have a home with people that loved her. It was emotionally draining, but strangely fitting, Gil felt like he now truly knew his bride, his Anne, inside and out. Anne also felt the same; she had never told anyone any of this. Not Marilla or Mathew, not Diana or any of her other friends. Anne rested her head on Gils shoulder, and together they slept, in each others arms.
*part 3, coming up soon*
"Anne's House of Dreams"
Anne told Gilbert to wait downstairs for her, she needed to do something.
She peeled off her clothes and stood naked before a mirror, her long red hair splayed over her milky white shoulders, she turned her body at a certain angle, she had one scar on her lower back barley reaching her hips, and the next cut was higher up on her back, closer to the rib cage. There was no reason to examine the one behind her ear. Besides those scars her skin was smooth and without any markings. Anne sighed, she had been plagued by memories of her life pre-Green Gables life lately, and a little voice in her head told her to tell Gilbert about the scars, her whole life. She picked up her veil and put it on, completely covering herself, and stood alongside the window, watching the breeze ruffle the curtain,
"Gil, you can come in now" she called.
He opened the door, looking at his new bride. He walked over to her; he lifted her veil and let out a deep shuddering breath, as he lifted her up, and put her on the bed. As he was removing his shirt, the little voice inside Anne's head nagged her, before they did anything; she needed to tell him about her life pre-Green Gables life, about the scars. He deserved to know.
"Gilbert" she said, interrupting him as he was about to begin taking off his belt,
"Yes?" Gil said, his voice showed concern with an edge of anxiety, had he done something wrong? Anne pulled the bed sheet over her naked body, and petted the space beside her; Gil sat down and faced her.
***
"There's something I've been meaning to tell you"
Anne took a deep breath,
"Do you remember when you asked me about my scar?" Gil nodded,
"Well I think you should know how I got it and the other two" she showed him her back, the candle light highlighting the scars; he traced one of the barley noticeable scars with his finger. She righted her self, and turned to faced him.
"I've been in and out of a lot of homes before coming to Avonlea. Anyway I lived in this foster home for a brief time, when I was 7 or 8. The woman was older, had one little child that wouldn't talk to anyone, she was beaten a lot. Anyway I usually took care of her, even though she was older then me by a year. The woman had this drunk of a husband. The woman was very twisted, she was superstitious and strange.
Anyway the one good thing about her husband was the fact that he never hit me or Honey" Gil interrupted her,
"Honey?"
"the girl who wouldn't talk, I called her Honey, her real name was Mary Beth, she had honey blonde hair and honey coloured eyes, so I started calling her Honey" he nodded, she continued,
"He usually just ignored us, but one day he left, just walked out and never came back. Well he was around things weren't too bad, we never really had enough to eat and I guess I always knew it wouldn't last, I knew somehow that I'd leave eventually. I was whipped sometimes by the woman, well she muttered from the bible. She also made her own moonshine, something that was frowned on. Anyway most of the beatings were supposedly for my own good, Honey usually was just yelled at." Anne paused and brushed away a stray tear.
"Anyway after he left things started getting worse, Honey became worse, she started acting up, but I would usually be punished for her crimes…"
One day, Honey saw this man go towards the house to buy some homemade moonshine; Anne should have been keeping a better eye on her. Honey started throwing rocks at him, the fist one hit him in the back of his head, the second the back of his leg. He turned around and walked towards her, bleeding from his wounds. Honey just started at him,
"You little bitch are you nuts or something?" he asked her, of course she didn't answer, just stared at him. He slapped her, then again, he continued to do so until Anne screamed from behind a tall bush, the woman came out and stopped him,
"See here Jim Macalister, you aren't coming around here no more till you learn better manners" she said, he limped away after calling her a few unpleasant words. The woman yanked Honey's arm, Honey fell, still not saying a word; the woman pulled her up and shook her, hard. Screaming at her and shaking her, until finally Honey fell down. Anne ran over to Honey and cried, she thought Honey might be dead, and then she turned to the woman and started yelling at her, and hitting her with small clenched fists, doing no real damage to the old woman.
The woman slapped Anne hard across the face, picked her up and carried Anne kicking and screaming into the house.
Once inside the woman told Anne to strip down to her underwear. Anne expected the regular lashings on her back, the kind that left blisters but leaves no visible scars. The kind that hurt like hell, but were easily soothed with the help of her active imagination. At lest for a little while. This time however the woman used a different tool and slashed her in certain areas were she knew that the scars would not be too visible, oh yes there would be scars, and blood. First cut went to her lower back, barley reaching her hips, the next one was higher up on her back, near the ribcage, and finally she turned Anne around and stared straight into Anne's grey-green eyes, then she turned Anne's face away from her and deliberately cut a thin line behind her ear, starting from her beauty mark barely reaching her earlobe.
"If you ever interfere with my authority again, I'll kill you. You're a worthless piece of trash that doesn't deserve anything but shit." With that she shoved Anne down on to the floor and left her there. Anne hadn't made a sound the entire time. She hadn't even cried.
Honey took care of Anne; she silently cleaned and bandaged the cuts. Then she disappeared, she called for help, picked up the phone and dialled away, the first words that were ever spoken by Honey for as long as Anne had known her. Anne was taken out of the home after that, she would never see Honey ever again.
"Anyway she gave me these scars," Anne continued, "as a lesson not to interfere again, I bled quite a bit. Like I said, Honey took care of me. I hated the woman more then ever and I promised myself that I would never let anyone see me cry, or ever be hit again." Anne stopped as tears fell down her cheeks, when she had gone back to Nova Scotia to find out more about her birth parents she had contemplated about looking for Honey, but in the end didn't want to bring up old memories. Gilbert held her as she quietly cried, he felt a mixture of emotions, angry at the strange woman, sad for Anne, but also grateful that Honey had gotten Anne out of there. He said silent thanks to Honey, wherever she was, she had more then likely saved Anne's life. After crying for awhile on Gil's shoulder, she sobered up, and told him about the rest of her life pre-Avonlea life. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. He learnt about her imaginary friend Katie, he learnt about how it was like to have finally found a home were the bed sheets were clean, no one was yelled at or beaten, what it was like to finally have a home with people that loved her. It was emotionally draining, but strangely fitting, Gil felt like he now truly knew his bride, his Anne, inside and out. Anne also felt the same; she had never told anyone any of this. Not Marilla or Mathew, not Diana or any of her other friends. Anne rested her head on Gils shoulder, and together they slept, in each others arms.
*part 3, coming up soon*
