Chapter 3 ~ Memories To Forget
(Takes place before Christmas break ends. Elsa's POV) {TRIGGER WARNING: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM}
Elsa grabbed the towel near her and dried her hands from the soapy water. Lane finished drying and putting away the last dish.
"Thanks, Lane." She smiled. She reached for her thick bracelets on the counter.
"Elsa!" Anna shouted loudly from the living room. The older sister winced and walked out of the kitchen.
"Yes, Anna?" She asked, frowning out her. Anna didn't seem to notice as she bounced on her tiptoes.
"You got a package in the mail! A late Christmas present for you, and I bet you won't believe who it's from!" Anna squealed. Elsa snatched the box out of Anna's hands and gasped. She quickly turned to go to her room, holding the package to her chest with one arm.
"Elsa, wait! Aren't you going to open it? I want to see." Anna asked.
"No," Tears were beginning to prick her eyes. "I would like to open it privately please. I might show you later."
"But, Elsa!" Anna whined. Elsa glanced back at her sister, biting her bottom lip. She pushed on her door, but Anna was still following her.
"Not now, Anna." Elsa said through her teeth. Anna grabbed her hand.
"Please, Elsa…. Elsa, what happened to you?" Anna asked worriedly, looking at Elsa's wrist. She jerked her hand away from her sister, and slammed the door in her face.
"Go away. I'm fine." Elsa said, putting on an angry front, though she really was on the edge of tears.
"You can't always shut me out Elsa! I'm your sister!" Anna shouted, before she heard her stomp off.
Elsa sighed shakily as she plopped on her bed. She grabbed her wrist with her other hand and looked at the scars on it. In the past she had tampered with self-harm, though she recovered from it mostly, she hadn't told anyone about it. Instead, she wore a few thick bracelets over her left wrist. It also helped to read the encouraging things on the bracelets, instead of the bad memories the scars brought.
But Elsa forgot her bracelets at the sink. She could only hope Anna wouldn't mention this to their Aunt.
Elsa picked up the package she'd tossed onto her bed. She studied the carefully written name in the return address.
Olaf Anderson.
She was tempted to hide the package in her closet. And leave it there forever. It would bring back too many memories. But her curiosity won over.
Elsa tentatively opened the box. Inside, was a note with two other smaller boxes. Elsa read the note first.
Dear Elsa,
How are you? I haven't heard from you in a while. I would like to get re-connected with you again.
My whole family and I miss you. I heard you are in college! Congratulations! Which college? I still have this last year of school left, then I would like to go to a college. Most likely get a degree in photography. What degrees are you getting?
My parents ended up getting a divorce. At least there aren't all those fights anymore. Thanks for always letting me come over to escape that chaos by the way.
I hope you and Anna had a wonderful Christmas this year. How are your cousins? Your Aunt and Uncle?
Okay, here is a question, I'm dying to ask you. Why don't you have a boyfriend yet? Unless Anna is keeping me in the dark here.
Speaking of Anna, she tells me you've changed, drastically.
Why can't Anna mind her own business?
She says you're super quiet now. That doesn't make any sense. You used to be just as wild as Anna!
Well, I better go. But, I took some new pictures and some old ones and put them in those other two boxes. Merry Christmas, Elsa.
Your Old Friend,
Olaf
Elsa sighed deeply once again. She considered looking through pictures later, but decided against it. Opening the first box marked Old, she began a journey to her past. Silly pictures of her, Olaf, and Anna together, first. But then there came pictures of her parents. Tears rained down from her face as she touched her mom and dad's faces.
She hastily put them away in the box and opened the one marked, New. The first picture was of Olaf. He looked so much older now. His hair had now darkened a little, and his face more matured. His blue eyes still held that sparkle of happiness and fun. He was how old now? Almost eighteen?
She flipped to the next picture. Two graves were silhouetted on a hill, the last rays of sunlight passing right over the top. Spring flowers were growing all around, and Elsa saw the trees in the background. These were her parent's graves. She hadn't visited them since she and her sister left. A sticky note was stuck the back of the picture. I put new flowers on their graves every year. Why? I guess I feel like it's the right thing to do. ~Olaf
"Thank you, Olaf." She whispered.
The next picture was of their house. It looked a little different, but it was still the same house. The lawn looked freshly mowed, and her old flower garden on the side of house had new flowers planted in it. One picture showed their old treehouse, now freshly painted with a variety of colors.
Elsa now remembered what a terrific photographer Olaf was. He brought his camera everywhere he went, even when they were little. Elsa remembered that he was always taking pictures, when he wasn't giving someone a hug that is. They were always stopping because Olaf had seen the perfect picture. And so they'd stop and let Olaf take a couple shots, then move on for a few minutes until he saw another perfect picture.
Elsa smiled at the memories. Olaf had been a wonderful friend, and she wondered why she never kept in touch with him. Well, she knew why, she didn't want him to bring back memories of her parents.
Wiping away her tears, Elsa decided she would look through the other photos another time, when she saw something near the back of the little box. She pulled out an untitled DVD. Getting her laptop and earphones out, she popped in the disc.
Olaf appeared on her laptop, with a huge smile on his face.
"Hey, Elsa! Betcha' weren't expecting this, were you?" He said. Elsa smiled and shook her head.
"Well, I was listening to this song. And I was like, 'Holy crap! Somebody's been stalking me or something!'" Olaf laughed. "But, I thought you'd like to hear the song as well. So I learned it on my guitar! Ready?" Elsa chuckled and nodded her head, even though she knew he couldn't see her.
Olaf pulled out his acoustic guitar and began.
"I remember when
We used to laugh
About nothing at all.
It was better than going mad
From trying to solve all the problems we're going through.
Forget 'em all.
'Cause on those nights, we would stand and never fall!
Together, we faced it all.
Remember when we'd...
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the T. V. Light.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
We'd listen to the radio play all night;
Didn't want to go home to another fight.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
I remember when
We used to drive
Anywhere but here,
As long as we'd forget our lives.
We were so young and confused that we didn't know
To laugh or cry!
Those nights were ours,
They will live and never die.
Together, we'd stand forever.
Remember when we'd...
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the T. V. light.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
We'd listen to the radio play all night;
Didn't want to go home to another fight.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
Those nights belong to us.
There's nothing wrong with us!
Those nights belong to us...
I remember when
We used to laugh...
And now I wish those nights would last.
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the T. V. light.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
We'd listen to the radio play all night;
Didn't want to go home to another fight.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
Stay up late and we'd talk all night
In a dark room lit by the T. V. light.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive.
We'd listen to the radio play all night;
Didn't want to go home to another fight.
Through all the hard times in my life,
Those nights kept me alive!
Those nights belong to us!
There's nothing wrong..."
"Well, there you go. Know what I meant about the whole stalker thing now?" Olaf put his guitar away. Elsa nodded.
"I hope I'll be talking to you later, Elsa. Remember," Olaf flashed a cell-phone in front of the camera. "I do own one of this things. I use it, all the time."
"Goodbye, Elsa." Olaf smiled before turning off the camera.
….
Elsa let her feelings pour out as she danced her fingers across the keys of the piano. After she finished her song, she still didn't feel satisfied. The song was too happy in her opinion. Elsa moved her hands to play the song one key above G position. The song now sounded tragic, mournful, and sad. Perfectly matching her mood and thoughts.
Elsa played every song she knew that way. As she finished playing a simple song, Lullaby, her uncle came in and sat down at the piano bench.
"What's up with the depressing notes?" Uncle Jeff asked. Elsa shrugged. He placed his hands on the keys. "Want to play a duet?"
Elsa smiled and brought out one of her favorite pieces to play as a duet. Star Wars: The Theme Song.
After the song was finished, they sat back and smiled.
"Now, what's eating at you?" He asked, his tone a bit more serious. But Uncle Jeff couldn't really get very serious.
"Just remembering things. Good and bad memories. I got a package from Olaf today. I haven't heard a thing about him since we left." Elsa said.
"Elsa, that was four years ago!" He said, a bit shocked.
"I know." She said quietly. "Anna's kept in touch with him though."
"Speaking of Anna. She's worried about you. And mad at you. What happened? I heard a little bit from her, but what's your story?" Uncle Jeff put an arm around her shoulders.
"She was just making me a little irritated. She wasn't minding her own business, that's all."
"Okay, that explains why she's mad. Why is she worried though?"
Should I tell him? I know I should, but…. I don't want anybody to freak out. If I don't say anything now, I might not ever say anything. I'm not one to keep secrets either.
"I don't know. It's probably nothing." Elsa said, chickening out. Sometimes, I need to keep some things to myself.
A/N
Yeah, yeah, it's short. I know. I'll make it up to you all some other time. ;) I am super excited for the next few chapters! I love writing this for you guys, it's so awesome! I would like everyone to take not though, I will be gone July 7th through 12th so I won't be able to update that week.
I'm not getting very many reviews guys. Not that I don't appreciate the reviews I'm getting, you guys are awesome! But I know there are more than a couple of you reading this. I would really appreciate if you simply dropped a smiley face or something. It seriously does make me want to update a TON faster! I'm not trying to be selfish or anything, but it really does make an impact in my daily life when I get a review.
I used to write and read a lot of self-harm fics, but now it is a bit harder for me. For you see, like Elsa, I tampered with self-harm a little. Although I didn't go as far as Elsa did, it still makes my heart beat a bit faster just typing this, no lie. Makes me a bit paler too, I might add. *Takes literal deep breath* But, I am past that now. But there is something that someone said to me that I will always remember.
"Even if you're scar-less on the outside, doesn't mean you don't have scars on your heart." Which is very, very true, and I wish it wasn't.
Anyways, I hope that I wrote that part of the story effectively enough for you. Now I completely understand why people put up trigger-warnings!
I introduced Olaf! YEAH! So EXCITING! Also, as I said at the very beginning, this chapter took place before last chapter. So last chapter hadn't happened yet. Sorry for the confusion, but I'm basically going from Elsa's POV to Jack's and repeat that over and over again. But I really needed this chapter to go back to Elsa's Christmas Break, or else the entire story would suck and fail. So that is that!
And yes, you may call me Anna, instead of my long pen name Annanarra. Another reason for that nickname, I am almost identical in personality to Anna from Frozen. So, yeah!
The song used today was "Those Nights" by Skillet. I dare you to listen to it! :D Love Skillet! :D
Till' next time, folks!
~Annanarra