I was conflicted between making this a full fledged story or a one-shot. For those who are however curious to take a peek into what this fic is about or from where it originates, this is a fanfic on an Australian film that came out last year in 2015 called 'The Dressmaker' starring Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth. It's a really great Australian film and with me as a writer being aussie I couldn't resist writing a piece based on the film's work. The film itself is based on the book of the same name by Rosalie Ham so obviously I do not own The Dressmaker and this is all merely fanfiction on a scene in the film that I wanted to personally alter for the sake for providing a better ending for my own guilty pleasure. There are spoilers ahead so be warned, definitely advisable to give the film a watch before reading. For those who have viewed the film, I do encourage you to give this sappy piece a read.
"So Till, see any spacemen and rocket ships?"
They lay together under a velvet black sky pitched in starshine and a cold, white moon. The air gave off a strong wind that indicated a slight chill in weather but due to the autumn sun, it had warmed up the iron.
Tilly had striped off her previous magenta gown and now wore some dress shirt borrowed from Teddy's dresser; more than likely an item from the suit he had worn at the wedding several hours prior. She was currently lost in a trance, cerulean eyes at focal point with the telescope at one end and the finishing point ogled up towards the stars ahead. She wasn't oblivious to Teddy's playful query, perhaps just a little mesmerized by the sight before her. Tilly had never done this sort of thing before, maybe she was using the stargazing as a way to turn away from this moment in time but why would she have to do that? What more could Teddy have to prove to show his worth to her? She was just scared, terrified maybe of what they would think.
What the town would do her now with their 'hero' sharing common intimacy with her. It didn't matter at this stage; they ousted her once again didn't they? Turn her into the merciless child that had struck poor Stuart Pettyman on the head but she never had come for justice in that regard. This was no feeble tale where the spirit of vengeance was to be pursed at the cost of her own self-rightfulness. Myrtle Dunnage had been aware of that the moment she decided to take a step down memory lane. Come to think of it she didn't think ahead of what would happen next, planning ahead was never an alternative motive but she now knew the truth in at least their version. Teddy McSwiney was no stranger and right now he was something in the midst of all this chaos that at least was making sense to her.
"Oh Teddy, look!" She decides to go along with his game as he jolts up from his current laid-back position. "It's a bird, it's a plane! It's – Superman!" She's responded to with a soft chortle as his arms once again reach towards her.
"Can't be. He's right here. " His voice is firm, so full of assurance. Warm and embracing, draped in a light aura as he speaks. "With powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal man." Teddy sounds so sure, so content with himself. With her by his side he felt invincible, floating in the sky able to whisk them far off into wherever she pleased. She was his Lois Lane.
"Fearless." Tilly softly counters back at his words, nothing else seems clear anymore as she speaks. The town, their hate. Let them go about it all in their designer dresses and rags, let them relish in her misery because nothing could tear down what they had at this moment.
"Fearless." Teddy replies with a booming confidence to his previous statement.
"But what about my curse?" Myrtle still relished in her own suffering, it couldn't be over now or later. With the her own version of the story now a confirmation at least some of the weight on her shoulders had been lifted but she would always feel stuck in a state of mind where no one could trust her, she still felt like the monster the town made her out to be even though it was all pointless fiction in the end. Deep down inside she knew that, but a part of her someway or another believed it to be possible. Nothing had worked out the way she wanted it too, she still hurt people and now she was afraid of hurting the one person that could even love her for what she is, what she was.
Just then he was looking at her like she had gone raving mad but he was insane too for loving something so twisted. It was a perfect fit but she continued to fight it. Fight it so she could push him away like many times before, it would be easier to forget. Leave and don't think back, she wanted Teddy to run from her. Run far away and never look back while he still could but he'd show her. Show her like he had done so many times before in spite of ever being so forcefully denied. "Told you, I don't believe in curses." Is this the part where he should be careful, where he should take back the words of a binding consequence? Too late for that. "I'll show you."
"What are you doing?" She softly asks not thinking much of it at first, sitting upright she doesn't believe her own words. Teddy was a prankster, the McSwiney's all were, the lot of them. Outcasts in society. They knew their place but he wouldn't actually try something so stupid but as his arms escaped her own grasp she now wasn't so sure of herself, a gasp of disbelief escapes her tongue before she can even realize. "You ... you aren't seriously thinking of jumping off this silo in the dark."
"No, of course not. That's for foolish little boys, " Teddy said now standing up, hovering over the hatchet that lead into the supply of wheat. The trucks had brought in a new batch this morning, more for them locals to use to their personal gain. "Jumping into the silo, that's for men." He explained with a puerile simper lacing his full lips. He must have been bluffing in her eyes with the incredulous stare Tilly was giving him but setting it all aside, all she had was confirmation when Teddy decided to open up the hatchet.
"What? No don't, " Tilly's hand immediately comes forward in retaliation seeing how serious he was about to be. She had never seen a McSwiney dare in action, for all she knew this was some petty attempt to rile her up and she did not like it one bit. "No don- What if it's empty?"
Teddy grinned looking over to in reassurance. "Nah, it's full of wheat, " He said. "Trucks loaded it in this morning. "
"Are those mice?" Surely it looked like harmless wheat, rats that were more like the size of rats scurried below that you could barley take note of in the dim light on top of the silo.
"Yep." Morally this was insane, but he didn't seem to care which is what brought on more fret. He was so willing to prove a point at the risk of his own sanity so why stop now when he was only getting started, still he took note of her ongoing pleas.
"Please Teddy, don't."
"Then say it."
"What?"
"Say you are no longer cursed." He was now playing with fire, fooling around with a game that was never his to play. His feet and legs now dangling down from below the hatchet, ready to jump into the silo without a second thought.
Tilly stared mortified for a moment of silence before shaking her head. "No, Teddy don't." She urged trying not to smile. She brought his wrists close as she kissed the tips of his palms as an indication that she wasn't liking this attempted dare, suddenly harbouring this feeling of uncertainty. "I'm not in the best of moods to play games with you, just please get your feet out of there."
"You reckon I'm not serious?." The smile that had broadened across his dimples automatically vanished as it had come. His eyes focussed on nothing else but her, there wasn't anger. It was something else that Tilly couldn't quite place but it scared her, it was a side to Teddy that she had never seen before. She had gotten a glimpse of his rage earlier at her confession but this was a whole new meaning. "You're only letting them win. They want you to feel this way."
"And what if they're right?" Tilly snapped suddenly without even thinking forward, suddenly she didn't feel so in control and something about Teddy's words struck her with doubt. He was right however, it was all a thought tarnished into her mind that had gone on for as long she could remember. Running away all those years to the middle of nowhere had put it all to rest but the moment she set foot in Dungatar once again the memories returned and so did her ongoing train of thought. She was now oblivious to her now lachrymose eyes. "Everyone here hates me Teddy, for good reason too. I'm apparently even the bastard child of some affair. My father destroyed my mothers life because of it."
"None of which is your fault, look at me." Teddy's gaze hardened. It made sense now to her to the very least, it was almost selfish to think she'd be at ease with this revelation although no one saw it coming. If anything Tilly had been triggered by what her real father had actually done to her just so he'd cover up his own dirty mess and this town, these people supported his cause. His fingers reach out brushing away the disheveled curls in the wake of Gertrude Pratt's wedding, which only made his blood boil further inside. Every single gown, her wedding dress. Their designer frocks were all Tilly's work. She was the reason they even had a grand shindig of a wedding and they repaid her with further disgrace on her behalf, "Evan Pettyman is nothing to you, they are nothing to you. They hate you for a crime you didn't even commit and yet in spite of it all you've given them what they didn't deserve. You've made all of them, they can prance around in their silly frocks for all I care but they are still rotten. The whole lot of them."
She had been vulnerable for a long time, maybe just now she was feeling more exposed than ever but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Tilly needed to believe that in the midst of all this chaos, something had been done right. Her breaths became ragged, open for Teddy to hear. The tears raged on like a waterfall that continuously flowed with sorrow and yet something about his touch made her feel controlled, safe, where she wanted to be.
"I love you Tilly Dunnage, I love you so much that I'm willing to prove a point to justify how wrong you are. I hardly believe someone with a heart like yours could be dammed.. Even if such thing exists; there's no way that you could ever be cursed." He was grinning again now, ear to ear, knowing that there was no reasoning to give a proper argument but oh he'd like to see what she came up with. She was after all stubborn if anything, her persistence had been a key to pursing her.
"But-
"Forget them. Forget their petty excuses and their reason to doubt you."
Teddy was right about one thing; in the midst of it all they did need her. She never understood how they could carry on with their misconceptions and yet still be willing to praise her for their desires. She had turned them into everything their aspired to be in appearances, her faults were to even believe they'd think better of her when all they did was try and shred everything she held onto for years. Biting her lip Tilly's silent just allowing her focal point to be towards his eyes that anticipate an answer. She didn't know what to tell him, words were after all just stitches. Actions could do more in just a matter of seconds. Etching herself closer their noses only just touch at the tips as her arms envelope around his waistline. Teddy doesn't hold back and she feels in control once again. "I wish it were that easy." She whispered loud enough to be heard only by her significant other.
"It is that easy," Teddy growled with a firm demeanor that put her right where he wanted her to be. "I want you. And no curses or fate could ever get in the way of that, why is that so hard for you to understand? We could finally run away and get the life we always dreamed of. You could be happy."
"Because all this has been a way of life for me." Tilly responded with a serene utterance, she saw no point going into further reasoning. "I've been running my whole life, it was partly the reasoning for coming back. I needed to get my mother out but I also needed to face them to finally put an end to it all," Lips purse together as if she was threatened to say more. Teddy's clarity matched her own like some devoted puppy dog following his master around, all he could do was provide a defense mechanism in which he had done so ideally.
"So what now?"
"Nothing now." Tilly said again with ice in her voice finding comfort against the bare sweat of Teddy's chest line, the tone edges of his muscles illuminated in the dim light. "There's nothing left for me here. We run away."
"You still haven't given me an answer, what'll be?" There hadn't been a direct one to say the least, a part of him was still trying to puzzle together the pieces of this apparent reveal. Furthermore her touch couldn't give part to an unnecessary distraction since the topic hadn't strayed far too off from it's chosen path.
A smile dwells on at the repetition of a question that seemed so long ago in a void of endless disorder, she brings his palms close to her own again. Her kisses becoming more desperate with contact. "I am no longer cursed."
She could almost hear him grinning again as he bent down making contact with her shoulders, not allowing his arms to drift far apart from they were placed. Teddy's full frame was now far from the hatchet's reach as he bent down and placed one singular kiss under a full lit moon and she did nothing to protest.