The Forest Sisters
This is a modern-revised version of Sense and Sensibility. I do not own the storyline. The characters are mine.
Characters:
Forest Family
Andrew Forest m. Dianne (died)
- Sean Forest (30) m. Ashley Taylor
Andrew Forest / m. Louise
-Elise (21)
-Summer (19)
- Violet and Rose (15)
-Amorelle (12)
Taylor Family
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor (died)
Eric Taylor (27) - Ashley Taylor (26) – John Taylor (24)
It was a dark and dreary night. The Forest Lodge was still and quiet. They were all waiting on edge. Waiting for something to happen, waiting for their waiting to end. Mr. Foster's cancer had taken a final deathly turn a day before.
Mrs. Forest sat in the living room, humming a sad song and absent-mindedly stoking 12-year-old Rosie's hair. The twins, who were 15, Amy and Violet, sat next to each other on one of the couches. Their eyes were large and faces pale.
Upstairs, the house-doctor sat by Mr. Forest, closely monitoring his condition, a grave look etched in his face.
The door to the large lodge was softly clicked shut behind Sean Forest. Sean was Mr. Forest's child by his fist marriage. He was the head manager of a software company in Texas, at 32. He treaded quietly up the wooden steps to his father's spacious bedroom.
The doctor immediately left to give them privacy.
"Dad?" Sean pulled a chair up to the side of the bed. His father looked so weak.
"Sean. I love you." He gripped his son's hand. "Do one thing for me…take…care of my girls." He managed in a whisper and painfully let out his last breath.
Downstairs the door opened again as Elise and Summer entered. They had rushed home from Messiah University in Colorado as soon as their mother had contacted them.
"Mom." Elise ran to hug her mother. Summer entered a few minutes later, trying to compose herself. Tears still slid down her cheeks. She clung to her mother.
They all looked up abruptly at Sean's nearing foot-steps. He forced his chin upwards, but could not look into the eyes of his step-family.
"Heaven…is now rejoicing with Dad." His voice was barely audible, but they all heard.
"Andrew! My dear darling Andrew!" Mrs. Foster wailed, her hands flying to her white cheeks. She ran up to her husband's body, sobbing.
The sisters all hugged each other, sobbing to themselves downstairs. Sean slipped out of the house, feeling out of place.
The Funeral was held at their Bible Church in Montana that Saturday. Mrs. Forest cried silently the whole service, being only civil to her guests. Elise tried to offer extra graciousness where her mother lacked in it. Summer didn't say a single word, nodding when absolutely necessary. She hadn't spoken since the death. The younger girls were all well behaved, but restless when it let out.
"I guess this is your house now, Sean." Mrs. Forest commented to Sean as they ate a cold dinner that evening. The lawyer had read Mr. Forest's will, and the entire ranch had been left to Sean, as Andrew had promised his first wife.
"Yes, Ashley has arranged for a truck to bring our things tomorrow. You are welcome to stay as long as you need, of course. Things will be difficult for you, I'm sure." Sean told her. Mrs. Forest nodded and rushed to get her tissues.
"Don't slam the door, please Summer!" Elise gently reprimanded her 19-year-old sister.
Summer flopped across her bed. The white sheer bed-tent billowed around the queen-sized bed, hanging from a plastic circle hooked to the ceiling above. The walls were deep blue and covered in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings posters, alongside autographed pictures of her favorite actors. Her desk sat in the corner with sketchings and scripts scattered across it among her laptop. A bookshelf full of romances stood opposite the desk, her guitar hanging above it. Her bed-set was midnight blue and sheets creamy white.
She cried their for two hours, hugging her pillow and crying to God.
Elise sat on her arm-chair in her own bedroom, remembering how her father had helped her decorate. Her walls were beige and her furniture Mahogany. Her desk was full of neatly-stacked notebooks full of stories she had written. Her floor-to-ceiling bookshelf held some of her college books along with many classics.
She silently prayed that God would help their family as tears dripped slowly from her eyes.