Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from "Edward Scissorhands" nor am I using them for material gain. I do own the characters Nora and Bryan.
11
For nearly two full days Edward had felt the minutes creep by as he awaited Nora's return. He had thought and worried about it a lot but mostly he just wanted to see her again. He had even wondered about whether he should have something for her to eat in case she got hungry while she was there. If she came in the afternoon and stayed until dark, as he hoped she might, she might get hungry. He had decided to make soup - just in case. It was one dish that was fairly easy for him to make and he loved the taste of his own soups so maybe she would too.
On Saturday he had tried to keep busy mostly outside in the yard, even though it had been raining on and off. He tended to the topiaries, clipping here and there. Shaping and perfecting. Waiting and worrying. Deep in thought he had clipped a poodle topiary from standard size down to mini as he tried to fill the empty minutes. Now it was late in the afternoon and again he felt that she might not return but this time he was too emotionally exhausted to fight the doubts and he had resigned himself to them ... almost.
There had been times in the past when he worked so diligently at his trimming that he was able to believe, just for a brief moment, that he had normal hands and that he was just holding the scissors as he had seen the people in town hold the hedge trimmers. During this time of intense concentration on the work he was doing he was able to feel for a moment that when his task was finished he would be able to put down his tools and walk away from them just as he had seen the others do when they had completed their work...
The sky had been gray and cloudy all day with an occasional lazy rain falling now and then, but now a breeze had started to stir and parts of the sky were clearing, allowing the sun to shine strongly enough at times to cast afternoon shadows from the topiaries onto the yard. Edward looked at the sky suspiciously. The clouds were moving a bit too quickly for his liking and the western sky was ominously dark
Birds chattered as he moved about, scolding him if he got too near one of their nests hidden in the topiaries. But Edward knew where each nest was and he was careful not to get near enough to them to cause any harm with his scissors. Wandering the perimeter of the yard he closed the heavy iron gate when he reached it. He continued to tend to the yard, snipping and trimming randomly, all the while listening intently for the sound of Nora's car. A bird fluttered close to his head and he instinctively pulled back to avoid a collision, feeling the rush of air from it's wings on his face. Lost in thought he had gotten too close to a nest and the little bird had warned him by flying close enough to get his attention. It was then that he had thought he heard the faint sound of tires on the path. His scissors, which were raised to the bush in front of him, froze as he listened. Yes, the sound was more distinct now - it was definitely her car. Not turning around he continued to clip the bush more slowly and deliberately as he followed the sound of the approaching car.
His stomach tightened. He felt happiness, relief, and apprehension all at the same time. Still snipping at the same bush he heard the car pull up and stop. He heard the car door open and close quietly. He was too nervous to turn around. His heart thumped heavily in his chest.
**************************************************************************** *
Nora pushed the gate open just enough to get through. "Edward," she called to let him know she was there. Maybe he was so intent on his work that he hadn't heard her car. She saw him stop his trimming and turn around slowly. She was surprised that he seemed taller standing here in the yard than he had in the mansion at night and more strongly built. He held his scissorhands out slightly from his sides - they also seemed larger than she had noticed them to be in the dark. His eyes followed her as she started towards him. If only she could tell what he was thinking, she thought to herself as she walked across the yard, but with Edward it was often hard to tell. She searched his face for some sign as she approached. She had nearly reached the spot where he stood and she was starting to feel anxious until she looked into his eyes. Transfixed, she lost all awareness of her surroundings for a moment, unable to see anything except the beautiful dark eyes that drew her in. Shaking off the spell, she looked out across the yard over his shoulder then back to his face.
"Hi," she squinted and smiled a small smile up at him.
Edward had been watching her intently. He found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her even though he knew it wasn't polite to stare at people. The sight of her figure crossing his yard and coming toward him filled him with joy and wonder. For a brief moment a memory of Kim flashed across his mind but he carefully tucked it away in the back of his mind where he kept his other memories of the past and refocused on Nora. There was something so perfect about her being in his yard - as if she belonged there. As if the yard had never been complete until she stepped into it and never would be complete again if she left.
The breeze was stronger now. It blew wisps of her hair about her head, providing an ever changing frame for her face.
He blinked down at her, his face softening. "Hi, Nora."he replied, feeling the tightness in his stomach beginning to relax.
Nora looked into his face. His scars seemed more prominent in the daylight and she noticed one in particular on his lower lip. "Poor Edward!" she thought as the enormity of his situation - scissors for hands! - raced through her mind. Finding it difficult to look into his eyes, she looked down at the ground and then surveyed the yard. It was incredibly beautiful and again she felt awed by what Edward had done with it.
"You're yard is beautiful," she said sincerely.
Her words were was music to Edward's ears. He worked hard in his yard and although he loved it and enjoyed it, he often wished that he could share the beauty of it with others. Making it beautiful just for himself left an emptiness inside him.
"Thank you," he said, so happy that she liked it.
"You have a lot of birds around here don't you?" Nora commented, noticing the chattering of the birds and looking around the yard some more.
Edward again noticed her interest and took advantage of it.
"They like to make nests in the bushes. I have to be careful where I clip," he turned back toward the bush he had been trimming. Taking a step to the side, he reached with his scissors and gently spread some of the branches allowing her to peer into the dark recess of the bush. Carefully he pointed inward to where a tiny nest was attached to the twigs of a small branch. Nora leaned forward into the bush, grasping a few of the small branches for balance and looked at the nest. She had never seen such a tiny one. It had four of the smallest eggs she had ever seen in it.
"What kind of bird has a nest that small?" she wondered aloud, amazed by it's tiny size.
Edward had stepped aside to allow her to see but he still held the larger branches to keep them from snapping back. He studied her from the side as she thought out loud, catching the pleasant smell of her hair as she leaned close to him.
Nora had forgotten Edward for a few seconds in her absorption with the nest but as she turned back toward him with her question still uppermost in her mind she realized how close he was. As she turned toward him all she saw in front of her eyes was the black leather of his arm as he patiently held the branches back for her. She felt the warmth radiating from his body and breathed in the smell of the warm leather. Set off balance by his unexpected closeness, she tottered for a moment as she tried to straighten up after leaning so far into the bush. She grabbed his arm to balance herself and to keep from falling into the branches. He stood solidly as she regained her balance. Finally feeling stable, she let his arm go and backed a step away from him.
"Sorry", she gave an awkward little laugh.
Edward just looked at her and gently let the branches return to their original position.
He turned and squinted up at the top of the large bush. "It's that bird" he said lifting one scissor and pointing skyward. Now in the daylight Nora noticed how large and heavy his scissors really were and it flashed through her mind how strong he must be to use them as hands. / Imagine never being able to take them off - never being free of them! /
"It's a wren," she said excitedly, recognizing the distinct chattering of the little bird. "I never saw a wren's nest before. I never knew they were so tiny."
"There are a lot of other nests," Edward offered. "Do you want me to show you?"
"Yes!"
Edward toured the yard, stopping to bend back branches, revealing all the nests within reach in all the bushes throughout the yard. Nora was delighted. She tried to identify each of them. Most probably belonged to various sparrows but there were two robin nests and one that seemed to belong to a yellow warbler that darted nearby. She would bring back a bird identification book the next time she came she thought to herself.
Edward liked learning the names of the birds that lived in his yard but he liked even more seeing Nora's happiness in telling him.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Nora said as she remembered the flowers in her car, "I have something for you."
"You do?" Edward had never expected that she would bring something for him and he had no idea what it might be but like a child, or anyone for that matter, he was excited and touched at the thought of her bringing him something. Although he managed to wring the most possible from his life and surroundings as far as making the most of what he had and in finding interest in the seemingly most insignificant things, the thought of something that she might have brought back with her from the town at the bottom of his hill was like the Spaniards returning with treasure from the New World.
"Yes, it's in the car. I think you'll like it. At least I hope you do," she said smiling. As she walked toward the gate Edward followed, noticing that the breeze had turned cooler and the dark area of the sky was expanding almost to directly overhead.
"I'll get it," she said as she slipped through the narrow opening of the gate and to her car. Opening the back door she reached in to the floor and brought out the small flat of flowers. Turning back toward the gate she pushed the car door shut with her foot and walked back toward Edward who was watching from the other side. Nora kept her eyes on his face hoping to see a sign of his reaction to the flowers.
"Do you like them?" she asked as she squeezed back through into the yard. She held them in front of and against her so they were just below Edward's chest height.
Edward stared at the flowers, memories of his yard when it was once filled with flowers flooded his mind. He remembered how his father and he had worked together in the yard, he tending the bushes and topiaries and his father planting flowers. Together they had filled the yard with greenery and color. When he had returned to the mansion that terrible night, the flowers were dead and the yard overgrown. In a way it had been a good thing because the time he spent restoring the yard had been a good way for him to keep busy while he dealt with his feelings for Kim and everything else that had happened. It had been therapy of a sort for him. But he had no way of replacing the flowers that had died and he had missed them terribly. He often thought of the flower gardens he had seen in town. Some had flowers he had never seen before, in fact he had been amazed at the variety that he never even knew existed. He had wandered through some yards one morning when he lived at the Bogg's, drawn from garden to garden, yard to yard, so fascinated with the scents and colors that he'd lost his way for a while. Even all the way up here at the mansion the scent of the flowers from the gardens below sometimes carried on the breeze into his yard on warm mornings.
Edward looked from the flowers into Nora's eyes. "Thank you," he breathed, happiness mixing with anxiety inside him, his scissors clicking nervously. There was no way he could plant them on his own and he was sure she didn't realize it. He took the flat from her and turned away. Nora followed him as he walked over to the stairs of the mansion and put the flowers down in a sheltered area nearby.
Nora sensed something was wrong but she wasn't sure what, only that Edward seemed upset and it was the flowers that seemed to have brought it about. She wasn't sure just what to say to find out. "They're pretty, don't you think? They had all kinds but I thought these were the nicest. Do you like them?"
"I like them very much," Edward said quietly.
"Where do you think you might plant them?"
Edward looked down at his scissors, slowly clicking them. "I...I don't really know." Suddenly he felt awkward and useless. The one thing she had brought him he couldn't do anything with and he didn't know how to tell her.
All at once Nora knew what was wrong and her heart sank as she realized the mistake she had made in bringing the flowers without thinking it through. Hurriedly she searched her mind for something to say to that might somehow make the situation ok.
Nora had always been an extremely honest person, and as a child, sometimes bluntly so. This wasn't because she was unkind, it was simply the way she was. She had learned to soften her honesty over the years because she didn't want to hurt people's feelings but basically it was the only way she knew how deal with the world. Speak the truth, she felt, and the truth can be dealt with. If someone speaks a lie or a distortion and if you assume it to be the truth and begin dealing with it as the truth, you will soon be completely off track because it wasn't the truth to begin with. As the years went by, she found it harder and harder to be completely honest, but mostly she gave honesty the best she could and naively assumed others would be equally honest back. Life was hard enough without trying to second guess people or expecting them to figure you out. Edward was one person she didn't want to have to play games with. She decided to just tell it like it was.
"I think you might have trouble digging a hole for them because of your scissors and all so I can help you with that," she said, almost as if it had been obvious from the beginning.
Edward looked into her eyes again. "Yes... that would be good," he paused and looked down. "Because... you know... I can't grip the handle of the shovel," he said bravely.
"Yeah, I figured that...... just now" she added and smiled a sideways smile up at him, "So I can help you, ok?"
In that moment of understanding a tiny bond was formed between them like a wisp of spider silk which spans a seemingly impossible expanse to begin what eventually becomes a strong yet delicate, as well as beautiful creation.
"Ok," Edward ventured a smile. Nora's heart soared, it was the first time she had seen him smile.
**************************************************************************** * Was this chapter too long? I know there wasn't much action - I'll try to get a little more going on in the next chapter. Any comments are welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from "Edward Scissorhands" nor am I using them for material gain. I do own the characters Nora and Bryan.
11
For nearly two full days Edward had felt the minutes creep by as he awaited Nora's return. He had thought and worried about it a lot but mostly he just wanted to see her again. He had even wondered about whether he should have something for her to eat in case she got hungry while she was there. If she came in the afternoon and stayed until dark, as he hoped she might, she might get hungry. He had decided to make soup - just in case. It was one dish that was fairly easy for him to make and he loved the taste of his own soups so maybe she would too.
On Saturday he had tried to keep busy mostly outside in the yard, even though it had been raining on and off. He tended to the topiaries, clipping here and there. Shaping and perfecting. Waiting and worrying. Deep in thought he had clipped a poodle topiary from standard size down to mini as he tried to fill the empty minutes. Now it was late in the afternoon and again he felt that she might not return but this time he was too emotionally exhausted to fight the doubts and he had resigned himself to them ... almost.
There had been times in the past when he worked so diligently at his trimming that he was able to believe, just for a brief moment, that he had normal hands and that he was just holding the scissors as he had seen the people in town hold the hedge trimmers. During this time of intense concentration on the work he was doing he was able to feel for a moment that when his task was finished he would be able to put down his tools and walk away from them just as he had seen the others do when they had completed their work...
The sky had been gray and cloudy all day with an occasional lazy rain falling now and then, but now a breeze had started to stir and parts of the sky were clearing, allowing the sun to shine strongly enough at times to cast afternoon shadows from the topiaries onto the yard. Edward looked at the sky suspiciously. The clouds were moving a bit too quickly for his liking and the western sky was ominously dark
Birds chattered as he moved about, scolding him if he got too near one of their nests hidden in the topiaries. But Edward knew where each nest was and he was careful not to get near enough to them to cause any harm with his scissors. Wandering the perimeter of the yard he closed the heavy iron gate when he reached it. He continued to tend to the yard, snipping and trimming randomly, all the while listening intently for the sound of Nora's car. A bird fluttered close to his head and he instinctively pulled back to avoid a collision, feeling the rush of air from it's wings on his face. Lost in thought he had gotten too close to a nest and the little bird had warned him by flying close enough to get his attention. It was then that he had thought he heard the faint sound of tires on the path. His scissors, which were raised to the bush in front of him, froze as he listened. Yes, the sound was more distinct now - it was definitely her car. Not turning around he continued to clip the bush more slowly and deliberately as he followed the sound of the approaching car.
His stomach tightened. He felt happiness, relief, and apprehension all at the same time. Still snipping at the same bush he heard the car pull up and stop. He heard the car door open and close quietly. He was too nervous to turn around. His heart thumped heavily in his chest.
**************************************************************************** *
Nora pushed the gate open just enough to get through. "Edward," she called to let him know she was there. Maybe he was so intent on his work that he hadn't heard her car. She saw him stop his trimming and turn around slowly. She was surprised that he seemed taller standing here in the yard than he had in the mansion at night and more strongly built. He held his scissorhands out slightly from his sides - they also seemed larger than she had noticed them to be in the dark. His eyes followed her as she started towards him. If only she could tell what he was thinking, she thought to herself as she walked across the yard, but with Edward it was often hard to tell. She searched his face for some sign as she approached. She had nearly reached the spot where he stood and she was starting to feel anxious until she looked into his eyes. Transfixed, she lost all awareness of her surroundings for a moment, unable to see anything except the beautiful dark eyes that drew her in. Shaking off the spell, she looked out across the yard over his shoulder then back to his face.
"Hi," she squinted and smiled a small smile up at him.
Edward had been watching her intently. He found it difficult to tear his eyes away from her even though he knew it wasn't polite to stare at people. The sight of her figure crossing his yard and coming toward him filled him with joy and wonder. For a brief moment a memory of Kim flashed across his mind but he carefully tucked it away in the back of his mind where he kept his other memories of the past and refocused on Nora. There was something so perfect about her being in his yard - as if she belonged there. As if the yard had never been complete until she stepped into it and never would be complete again if she left.
The breeze was stronger now. It blew wisps of her hair about her head, providing an ever changing frame for her face.
He blinked down at her, his face softening. "Hi, Nora."he replied, feeling the tightness in his stomach beginning to relax.
Nora looked into his face. His scars seemed more prominent in the daylight and she noticed one in particular on his lower lip. "Poor Edward!" she thought as the enormity of his situation - scissors for hands! - raced through her mind. Finding it difficult to look into his eyes, she looked down at the ground and then surveyed the yard. It was incredibly beautiful and again she felt awed by what Edward had done with it.
"You're yard is beautiful," she said sincerely.
Her words were was music to Edward's ears. He worked hard in his yard and although he loved it and enjoyed it, he often wished that he could share the beauty of it with others. Making it beautiful just for himself left an emptiness inside him.
"Thank you," he said, so happy that she liked it.
"You have a lot of birds around here don't you?" Nora commented, noticing the chattering of the birds and looking around the yard some more.
Edward again noticed her interest and took advantage of it.
"They like to make nests in the bushes. I have to be careful where I clip," he turned back toward the bush he had been trimming. Taking a step to the side, he reached with his scissors and gently spread some of the branches allowing her to peer into the dark recess of the bush. Carefully he pointed inward to where a tiny nest was attached to the twigs of a small branch. Nora leaned forward into the bush, grasping a few of the small branches for balance and looked at the nest. She had never seen such a tiny one. It had four of the smallest eggs she had ever seen in it.
"What kind of bird has a nest that small?" she wondered aloud, amazed by it's tiny size.
Edward had stepped aside to allow her to see but he still held the larger branches to keep them from snapping back. He studied her from the side as she thought out loud, catching the pleasant smell of her hair as she leaned close to him.
Nora had forgotten Edward for a few seconds in her absorption with the nest but as she turned back toward him with her question still uppermost in her mind she realized how close he was. As she turned toward him all she saw in front of her eyes was the black leather of his arm as he patiently held the branches back for her. She felt the warmth radiating from his body and breathed in the smell of the warm leather. Set off balance by his unexpected closeness, she tottered for a moment as she tried to straighten up after leaning so far into the bush. She grabbed his arm to balance herself and to keep from falling into the branches. He stood solidly as she regained her balance. Finally feeling stable, she let his arm go and backed a step away from him.
"Sorry", she gave an awkward little laugh.
Edward just looked at her and gently let the branches return to their original position.
He turned and squinted up at the top of the large bush. "It's that bird" he said lifting one scissor and pointing skyward. Now in the daylight Nora noticed how large and heavy his scissors really were and it flashed through her mind how strong he must be to use them as hands. / Imagine never being able to take them off - never being free of them! /
"It's a wren," she said excitedly, recognizing the distinct chattering of the little bird. "I never saw a wren's nest before. I never knew they were so tiny."
"There are a lot of other nests," Edward offered. "Do you want me to show you?"
"Yes!"
Edward toured the yard, stopping to bend back branches, revealing all the nests within reach in all the bushes throughout the yard. Nora was delighted. She tried to identify each of them. Most probably belonged to various sparrows but there were two robin nests and one that seemed to belong to a yellow warbler that darted nearby. She would bring back a bird identification book the next time she came she thought to herself.
Edward liked learning the names of the birds that lived in his yard but he liked even more seeing Nora's happiness in telling him.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Nora said as she remembered the flowers in her car, "I have something for you."
"You do?" Edward had never expected that she would bring something for him and he had no idea what it might be but like a child, or anyone for that matter, he was excited and touched at the thought of her bringing him something. Although he managed to wring the most possible from his life and surroundings as far as making the most of what he had and in finding interest in the seemingly most insignificant things, the thought of something that she might have brought back with her from the town at the bottom of his hill was like the Spaniards returning with treasure from the New World.
"Yes, it's in the car. I think you'll like it. At least I hope you do," she said smiling. As she walked toward the gate Edward followed, noticing that the breeze had turned cooler and the dark area of the sky was expanding almost to directly overhead.
"I'll get it," she said as she slipped through the narrow opening of the gate and to her car. Opening the back door she reached in to the floor and brought out the small flat of flowers. Turning back toward the gate she pushed the car door shut with her foot and walked back toward Edward who was watching from the other side. Nora kept her eyes on his face hoping to see a sign of his reaction to the flowers.
"Do you like them?" she asked as she squeezed back through into the yard. She held them in front of and against her so they were just below Edward's chest height.
Edward stared at the flowers, memories of his yard when it was once filled with flowers flooded his mind. He remembered how his father and he had worked together in the yard, he tending the bushes and topiaries and his father planting flowers. Together they had filled the yard with greenery and color. When he had returned to the mansion that terrible night, the flowers were dead and the yard overgrown. In a way it had been a good thing because the time he spent restoring the yard had been a good way for him to keep busy while he dealt with his feelings for Kim and everything else that had happened. It had been therapy of a sort for him. But he had no way of replacing the flowers that had died and he had missed them terribly. He often thought of the flower gardens he had seen in town. Some had flowers he had never seen before, in fact he had been amazed at the variety that he never even knew existed. He had wandered through some yards one morning when he lived at the Bogg's, drawn from garden to garden, yard to yard, so fascinated with the scents and colors that he'd lost his way for a while. Even all the way up here at the mansion the scent of the flowers from the gardens below sometimes carried on the breeze into his yard on warm mornings.
Edward looked from the flowers into Nora's eyes. "Thank you," he breathed, happiness mixing with anxiety inside him, his scissors clicking nervously. There was no way he could plant them on his own and he was sure she didn't realize it. He took the flat from her and turned away. Nora followed him as he walked over to the stairs of the mansion and put the flowers down in a sheltered area nearby.
Nora sensed something was wrong but she wasn't sure what, only that Edward seemed upset and it was the flowers that seemed to have brought it about. She wasn't sure just what to say to find out. "They're pretty, don't you think? They had all kinds but I thought these were the nicest. Do you like them?"
"I like them very much," Edward said quietly.
"Where do you think you might plant them?"
Edward looked down at his scissors, slowly clicking them. "I...I don't really know." Suddenly he felt awkward and useless. The one thing she had brought him he couldn't do anything with and he didn't know how to tell her.
All at once Nora knew what was wrong and her heart sank as she realized the mistake she had made in bringing the flowers without thinking it through. Hurriedly she searched her mind for something to say to that might somehow make the situation ok.
Nora had always been an extremely honest person, and as a child, sometimes bluntly so. This wasn't because she was unkind, it was simply the way she was. She had learned to soften her honesty over the years because she didn't want to hurt people's feelings but basically it was the only way she knew how deal with the world. Speak the truth, she felt, and the truth can be dealt with. If someone speaks a lie or a distortion and if you assume it to be the truth and begin dealing with it as the truth, you will soon be completely off track because it wasn't the truth to begin with. As the years went by, she found it harder and harder to be completely honest, but mostly she gave honesty the best she could and naively assumed others would be equally honest back. Life was hard enough without trying to second guess people or expecting them to figure you out. Edward was one person she didn't want to have to play games with. She decided to just tell it like it was.
"I think you might have trouble digging a hole for them because of your scissors and all so I can help you with that," she said, almost as if it had been obvious from the beginning.
Edward looked into her eyes again. "Yes... that would be good," he paused and looked down. "Because... you know... I can't grip the handle of the shovel," he said bravely.
"Yeah, I figured that...... just now" she added and smiled a sideways smile up at him, "So I can help you, ok?"
In that moment of understanding a tiny bond was formed between them like a wisp of spider silk which spans a seemingly impossible expanse to begin what eventually becomes a strong yet delicate, as well as beautiful creation.
"Ok," Edward ventured a smile. Nora's heart soared, it was the first time she had seen him smile.
**************************************************************************** * Was this chapter too long? I know there wasn't much action - I'll try to get a little more going on in the next chapter. Any comments are welcome.