The Raven
Disclaimer: The basic idea for the plot line of this story is from THE GRIM BROTHER's tale The Old Woman in the Wood and Hansel and Gretel.
MEMORIES OF HAPPIER TIMES
A small girl of only a mere three years of age tottered around the spacious log cottage. Her sky blue eyes gleamed with the excitement of life and a large joyful grin upturned her pale pink lips as gleeful giggles escaped the tiny angel. Her halo was assembled with intertwining dandelion blossoms and daisy blooms that were placed on top of golden curls that tumbled over her shoulders. The delicate wings were made of fine lace and wire rather than feathery bone and sinew. "We're going to catch you, Adela!" A woman, approximately 25 years of age with those same soft blue eyes and had that same big happy smile on her lips, was crouched over, sending chestnut curls plummeting forth, and chasing the tiny angel girl. Her arms were outstretched ready to take the innocent prisoner.
"Me and August will get you!" Suddenly a boy not much older than six along with a man exactly 27 years old jumped from the stairs the young girl had just passed on her journey from the sitting room to the kitchen. "No angel can escape me!" The man proclaimed rushing with his son and wife after his angelic daughter. He had matching golden hair, but he and the boy shared emerald green eyes. And the boy had a dark curly mop of hair that was tousled proving he hadn't wasted time to comb it that morning.
Right as the girl rounded a corner to fly into the kitchen strong, muscled arms scooped the angel up and she squealed with laughter.
"I've got you now! Now and forever, you're all mine!" The man beamed down at his captive before showering her with fatherly kisses.
"Ha! HA! HA! Papa got you! Papa got you!" The boy snickered before his childish features scrunched up in disgust watching the man. "And he's kissing you!" That was the most horrible punishment in the entire world!
"Oh, and you think you've escaped us, have you, August?" The woman asked, hands on hip, head tilted to the side and a mischievous grin on her lips. Just as suddenly she captured her boy in her arms, crushing him against her as he writhed, whined, and tried to escape the limbs. "I think you need some kisses too!"
"Uh! No, mama! No! NO! Ugh! Lemme go!" All of his attempts to wriggle free were unsuccessful as the woman continued to rain down kisses on the unhappy boy.
Not five years later those same two happy kids being pelted with loving kisses from caring parents stood looking down a six-foot grave. Crystal clear tears welled in the growing angel's eyes, but the boy was stony faced, blank as a slate and silent as a corpse.
Soft sobs came from the whimpering young girl as she leaned upon a man with slightly, newly graying hair despite his age of 32. His face was shadowed, his eyes tired, staring, unblinkingly down at a coffin he had made of pine wood for his late beloved wife and the mother of his two children.
Adela buried her beautiful face into her father's plaid red shirt, taking in the familiar scent of pine from the trees he cut down each day. It was a smell her mother had treasured, one that the deceased woman now would forever be encased with.
Her death had come swiftly and suddenly. A disease that had it struck ten years earlier the man would have been able to carry his wife to the doctor and buy her the finest medication. A disease that had occurred when the family had been short on money and a woodcutter's pay could provide no treatment for something that could have been so easily cured. A disease that now left the family shrouded in grief. A disease that left the man's daughter with no woman to raise her to be a perfect wife and lady in society. A disease that left the man's son with no woman to tend to his wounds. A disease that left the family with no woman to cook their meals every day, to clean the house, to kiss them good day or night, or to love them. A disease that had taken away everything from them and returned to them only a lifeless corpse and immeasurable anguish.
"Come now, Adela, we must return to the cottage…please, try to collect your tears. We'll see her soon enough. But now we must reminisce with our guests…" Placing a kiss against golden curls he nodded to his son and led his two children back to the home they had shared with a woman who would never return. A woman they had never before left behind.
The man with golden hair matching the 12 year-old angel's, stood straight and composed as he watched her glide down the aisle with a halo assembled with red roses of love and baby's breath. Her pale pink dress was all lace and ribbons as tears spilled from twin blue eyes that mirrored a woman who had been dead a year to date. A medley of pink and red petals trickled from her hands as she moved to take her place.
Behind her, a woman with hair darker than the one buried below the surface, stalked with steps that were determined and an air that demanded attention. Her neck was short and a necklace clung to it, heavy with overly large diamonds. Short, fat fingers clung to a magnificent boutique that was beginning to wilt from the heat and lack of water. A long white dress hung from her short stature, clinging to all the wrong places, and trailed a silken, heavily embroidered train that kept catching on the pine benches that she passed.
A young man with emerald eyes that matched the groom's exasperatedly hurried back and forth un-latching the train from each hitch. It was as if even the dead trees were hoping this ceremony would not take place. Trying to keep the inevitable from happening.
There was only a single reason behind the day's events. The man needed a woman to take care of his family. Needed her to groom Adela for society. Needed her to tend to the wounds August received from his roughhousing. Needed her to care of the house chores. Perhaps love would be too much to ask from the woman whose dowry and wealth exceeded limits, but they didn't need her love.
To an outsider one might see the proceedings as long, overly elaborate, and intensely dull. But to two young children watching another woman stand beside their father and steal away the title 'Mrs.' from a dead woman and with her false smiles, promises, and affections…the event was short, played in fast-forward, and before both of the children knew it the pair had confirmed their actions with 'I do's and sealed the contract with a none-too-romantic peck.
The woman in the grave was now just that, a woman in the grave. Her title belonged to a lady with blood red lips and alligator shaped teeth. Her jewels, fancy dresses, and homey apron that signified she was a real woman, wife, and mother were handed over with tears and fictitious smiles to a lady who perceived them as plain, simple, and over all shameful.
No they didn't need her love, but it would have been nice to receive some compassion. If only the torn girl and devastated boy knew what lay ahead for them. If only they knew what course the alligator lady would take to keep the glittering diamonds on her neck…perhaps the father would have re-evaluated his perceptions of this new woman.
((So, first part is all done. Heh, be gentle now with your comments. First story I'm sharing with the world and submission on here, so, easy on me. This is just the history of the two kids, so there's still a lot to go and only a week left of school for me, so I shan't keep ya'll waiting too long, if anyone likes this so far that is…))