Authors Note:
So I guess its time for a blast from the past...
I've been reflecting on my fanfiction career as of late, and the memories that go along with it. While I was migrating my files over to my new ipad, I happened to find the six chapters that comprised a three year old, unfinished project of mine titled "Origins". This story was intended to show case the Kanker sisters lives, from Kindergarten to adolescence, and was actually the first story to introduce Lindsay Statorowski! (This predates Miracles and Mistletoes).
Of course, this fell by the wayside and many aspects of this were overcome by events established in MandM. Despite this, the first chapter holds up pretty well, and I find it quite interesting as a nice, micro-sized story in its own right.
That being said, I have decided to release it as what fanfiction-goes may refer to as a one-shot (I.e. a single chapter short story). Of course, if you guys would like to see more, please let me know. I may consider retooling and adding to it once Unfinished Business and Twelve Tasks of Ed are complete.
Well, here we go. I hope you enjoy.
Wake Up Sleepy Heads.
It had been an hour since the sun had risen, basking the large city in it's peaceful early morning rays. The city was much different than it's two most notable suburbs, Peach Creek and Lemon Brook; peaceful bird calls were replaced with the sound of motor vehicles traversing the streets at a rapid pace, in addition to distant ambulance sirens. Row homes and large apartment buildings serve in the capacity of shelter for the citizens, rather than the single family homes currently being constructed as part of phase one of the "Peach Creek Estates" project. Over the many two story row houses lining the streets, one could see the center city skyline in the distance, with many tall towers extending high into the air. Two towers rise above the others, one with a much taller spire than the other. Standing next to them is another large tower with a triangular roof, serving as the headquarters for a famous bank. Eclipsed by the tall, glass curtain-walled towers is a smaller masonry tower, serving as "city hall", it's most signature feature being a bronze statue of a famous historical figure fixed to the summit.
In the eastern portion of the city lies a small neighborhood, one consisting of masonry row houses like many others in the city. The neighborhood sits near a slow moving river, the murky water splashing up against the rocks lining it's banks. The row houses were eclipsed in the shadows of many old factory buildings and warehouses, peppering the street corners every so many blocks. The main business street of the city, lined with many small mom and pop shops, nail salons, and Chinese take out spots, was shielded from the sunlight by a steel structure, used as a conduit for the city transit system elevated train. The trains passed intermittently, around every ten minutes, causing a loud roar to echo through the neighborhood.
Within this neighborhood, is an old brick three story house. The house had been converted from it's original intended purpose as a residence into a group of three apartments, each floor serving as a single family dwelling. The second story apartment, accessed via a flight of stairs, consisted of a single living room, a small kitchen open to the living room, two small bedrooms and a bathroom.
The red curtains adorning the single window of the smaller bedroom were closed, but due to a small slit where the two curtains joined, a small amount of sunlight was able to reach the surface of the kingsized bed within.
In this bed, two small children were sleeping, a girl not more than six, and her younger sister, not more than five. Both were buried under the large multicolored quilt, immersed in the world of dreams. Around two minutes prior, a third girl had awoken from her well needed sleep. She was seven years old, and was currently wearing a yellow short sleeved shirt adorned with a picture of a smiling bears face; the shirt seemed to be large for her. Her pajama pants were solid pink, and her feet were bare. Her red curly hair, which usually hungtowards her shoulders in a more organized fashion, was tangled and unruly due to just recently rising out of bed.
After a yawn and stretch, she proceeded to walk towards the other two girls, still sleeping soundly. She gently placed her hand on the older girl, and calmly shook her while whispering softly.
"Annemarie," said the girl, "Annemarie, c'mon it's time to get up, we have to go to school."
Annemarie, slowly rolled over and withdrew the covers from over her head. She was shorter than her older sister, with slightly different facial features; she did however have similar, chestnut shaped eyes. Her black hair was straight and spiky, hanging down to her shoulders in a messy fashion; but not as messy as her older sisters. She was wearing matching pajama top and bottoms, consisting of pictures of horses and rainbows over a pink background.
As she arose to a sitting position and rubbed her eyes, she glanced over towards the other side of the bed. Her older sister had already made her way around, and was attempting to wake the younger girl.
"Annamae," said the older girl as she tapped the youngest girl, "Time to wake up sleepy head."
Annamae slowly but surely rolled over and kicked the covers off of her. She was currently wearing a pink one piece pajama jumper, with white patches on the soles of the sewn in feet. On the chest was a logo depicting the likeness of a popular blonde haired doll. She has blonde hair, a length such that it hung to her shoulders. Her most distinctive feature were her freckles, and a severe overbite causing her two maxillary incisors to occlude her lower lip.
Annamae raised herself up to a sitting position, staring towards the wall in a sleepy daze. She quickly rubbed her eyes and yawned heavily, followed by a stretch.
Annemarie leaned her feet over the side of the bed, and placed her chin in her hands.
"Annalee," said Annemarie, addressing the older red headed girl, in a high pitched voice "Do we have to go today?"
Annalee climbed on top of the bed to reach the window, and proceeded to open the curtain causing the morning sunlight to flood the room.
"Yes we do," said Annalee in the high pitched voice of a small child "Remember, we promised Poppy that we would always care about school. We have to keep it."
All three girls sat in silence, appearing quite somber for a few minutes before Annalee broke the silence.
"C'mon, let's get ready," said Annalee, "Annemarie go pee, brush your teeth and then I'll help you with your hair."
Annemarie proceeded to lower herself onto the floor, and began walking towards the door leading to the bathroom. As Annalee watched her walk away from the bed, she heard a soft voice speak with a slight lisp with a pronounced rhotacism and lallation.
"Annawee." said Annamae.
Annalee turned around and laid eyes on her little sister. She was sitting up against the headboard, her feet still under the covers, while clutching her favorite stuffed bear in her hands. She had a somber look on her face.
"Yes Annamae." said Annalee
Annamae paused for a few seconds, looking as if she was going to cry before speaking softly.
"I had an accident." said Annamae nervously.
Annemarie, upon hearing Annamae's statement leaned her head out of the bathroom door.
"Eww, c'mon Annamae not again!" said Annemarie, "I don't want to sleep in your pee every night."
Annamae appeared if she was about to cry.
"Hey," said Annalee, as she glanced toward Annemarie, "Stop, accidents happen."
Annalee sighed as she walked towards Annamae. While she knew she had to be understanding of the situation, she too was tired of remedying this situation on an almost weekly basis. She walked towards the bed and leaned down into Annamae's face.
"Annamae, when you feel like you gotta go at night, just go. Don't worry about waking us up, okay?"
Annamae swallowed, after which she nodded in acknowledgment.
"Okay, let's get these PJ's off." said Annalee as she helped Annamae out of bed.
Once her feet were on the floor, Annamae proceeded to unzip her pajamas, as Annalee proceeded to try to remove the bed sheets.
"Annemarie," said Annalee, "Come help me pull, I can't get this off myself."
Annemarie reluctantly walked towards the bed and assisted her sister in pulling the sheets off. The mattress was much too heavy for one of the girls to remove it by themselves. Once they had finished, Annalee once again turned towards Annamae.
"Okay Annamae," said Annalee, "I'm going to get Annemarie to boost me up to the top shelf of the closet to get new sheets down. Are you ready to be a big girl and dress yourself today like we practiced?"
Annamae shook her head up and down.
"Okay, we'll be right back." said Annalee as she grabbed Annemarie's hand and lead her towards the door leading to the hallway.
The girls stepped out into the hallway and walked towards the closet door. The girls have done this themselves a few times before, and had perfected the operation despite their small size. Annemarie kneeled down, allowing Annalee to climb on top of her shoulders. She stood then stood up, giving Annalee just enough height to retrieve new bed sheets from the top shelf of the closet.
Once the new bedsheets were in hand, the girls returned to the bedroom. Annamae had successfully dressed herself albeit not matching in the slightest; she was wearing a green dress, with neon purple leggings underneath. She had relocated from the bed, to the floor, where she was sitting with her knees bent, leaning up against the bedroom wall. In her hands, she was holding a picture of an old man who appeared to be in his 50's. On his face was a white beard and he was smiling. Annamae was currently whimpering as she stared at the picture.
Annalee and Annemarie looked at each other for a brief second before walking towards their little sister.
"Annamae," said Annalee, "It's your turn to brush your teeth."
Annamae's bottom lip whimpered as she crossed her arms over the picture and pulled it into her chest. She soon began shedding tears at an alarming rate.
Annalee walked over to her little sister and put her arm around her shoulder.
"Annamae," said Annalee, "I know it's hard but everything's going to be okay."
"I..I...I...miss him so much Annawee," said Annamae while whimpering, "He tucked us in at night, he wead us books before bed, and he woke us up and got us all dwessed up."
At this point Annemarie also began sobbing as well. Annalee did her best to hold back her own tears, as she knew she had to be strong for her sisters.
"Why did he have to go Annawee?" asked a teary eyed Annamae as she looked into her older sisters eyes, "Why did Poppy have to go to heaven now?"
Annamaes last statement almost caused Annalee to burst into tears of her own as she was feeling the same feelings as her little sister. The girls grandfather had passed away unexpectedly almost two weeks ago. He was a very strong influence in their life; from trips to the playground, to surprise trips to the ice cream store, to fun good night stories, he had always been there for them. They still needed time to adjust to these changes.
Annalee thought for a few seconds prior to forming a response.
"Sometimes, people have to go to heaven early," said Annalee, "Some things just happen and they make us sad."
Annamae whimpered as Annemarie walked towards the two girls.
"I miss him too," said Annemarie as tears streamed from her eyes, "But remember what Daddy and Father Sevino said, 'God must have had a better plan.'"
The girls sat in silence for a few minutes before Annalee spoke up.
"C'mon Annamae," said Annalee, "Let's get those teeth brushed, and your hair fixed so we can keep our promise to Poppy and go to school."
Annalee led her little sister into the bathroom, and proceeded to help her brush her teeth. After she had finished, she gently brushed the tangles out of her two little sisters hair, placing Annemarie's straight black hair up in a ponytail with a hair tie, while styling Annamae's blonde hair in two hanging pigtails, secured in place by two bows.
"Remember Annamae," said Annalee, "Today is the day you start to go to the nice speech lady to help you learn your words."
Annamae's face was adorned with a look of nervousness.
"Yeah," said Annemarie, "I heard she has long, sharp fingernails. And spiders in her hair."
Annemarie held her hands up imitating a zombie, as she began walking towards Annamae. Annamae winced back in fear.
"Y...Yo..You think so?" asked a nervous Annamae.
"Stop scaring her!" yelled Annalee towards Annemarie, she turned towards Annamae.
"She is not scary," said Annemarie, "She is going to help you talk like a big girl."
Annamae had been nervous about starting her speech therapy to correct her speech impediment for quite some time, and was still displaying a look of fear in her face.
"You will be fine Annamae," said Annalee, she turned towards Annemarie, "Annemarie, help Annamae get her shoes on, I'll be right back."
Annemarie proceeded to help her sister don her black Maryjane shoes as Annalee returned to the bedroom. She walked over towards the bed, and picked up Annamae's favorite Teddy bear. She walked towards the corner where the girls stored their school bags, and located Annamae's bag, adorned with the same logo representing a famous blonde haired doll as was on her pajamas. She opened the bag, and placed the Teddy bear inside, after which she zipped the bag shut and returned to the bathroom; Annalee knew that the speech therapist would ask Annamae to retrieve a paper given to her the previous week with practice words on it from her backpack, and had placed the bear into the backpack knowing that Annamae would find it at that time and be able to hold it to ease her feelings.
Annalee returned to the bathroom to find both of her sisters standing, fully dressed and ready for school, just as she was. Annemarie's attire of choice was a blue dress with white leggings, almost complimenting the pink dress that Annalee had picked out for herself prior to waking her sisters up.
Annalee glanced at Annemarie and noticed that she had pulled a portion of her hair out of her pony tail and was allowing it to hang in front of the right side of her face. Annemarie suffered from a form of exotropia, or lazy eye, that affected her right eye. This caused her eye to point sharply outward, regardless of the orientation of her perfectly functioning left eye. The condition affected her ability to see properly, as well as cause her insecurity with her body image.
"Annemarie," said Annalee, "Let me fix your hair, it came out."
"No," said Annemarie, "I like it like this."
"But it looks messy, let me fix it." said Annalee.
"Please," said Annemarie sadly, "I want to cover my eye, I don't want them to make fun of me again."
The girls came from a somewhat unstable family. Their mother had fallen into a depression, after her relationship had failed with the girls father, and had become even more depressed after the untimely passing of their maternal grandfather. Accordingly, she had lost the will do much of anything aside from work to put food on the table, leaving the young girls to raise themselves. Due to these circumstances, the girls clothes for the most part were thrift store bought and tattered. Their hair was never as nice as the other girls in their class, nor were their lunches. This unfortunately resulted in the girls being picked on repeatedly by their peers.
In addition, each girl had a specific physical feature for which they were tormented by their schoolmates. Annalee had a silver cap over her central maxillary incisor, due to infection setting in from dental hygiene neglect, Annemarie had a severe lazy eye and Annamae had a severe overbite as well as a speech impediment. This of course caused each girl to be extremely self conscious of their body image, even though they were only children.
Annalee gazed at her younger sister with sadness for a few seconds prior to offering a reply.
"Okay Annemarie," said Annalee, "If it makes you feel better."
Annalee began making her way out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom.
"C'mon, let's get our bags." said Annalee, "We are going to be late."
The girls each grabbed their school back packs, and made their way out of the bedroom to the living room.
Annalee led her sisters towards the exit door of the apartment. They descended the stairs, with Annalee holding Annamae's hand to ensure that she didn't slip, and reached the exit door to the street.
The area was crime ridden, and it was a ten minute walk to the school building. Prior to unlatching the door, Annalee offered words of advice to her sisters as she did at the beginning of every week.
"Okay remember, don't talk to strangers." Said Annalee, "If someone tries to grab you, scream as loud as you can. If someone starts chasing you, run as fast as you can home or find a police officer. If we get separated, remember to look both ways before crossing the street."
"Okay." said the two younger girls simultaneously.
The girls opened the large door and exited the building, being sure to close it behind them, and begin their journey towards the neighborhood school building.