Rainbow Sherbet 2: When I Was Young I Believed
Title: When I Was Young I Believed
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Rainbow sherbet 2 (orange), malt (PFAH: Joanna, Lars, Jake : when I was young I believed), whipped cream (for Jake, Olivia and Danny), pocky chain, fresh peaches (...it's going to be disheartening. The only thing you can do is pick up the pieces and move on.), fresh pineapple (I'm waiting, waiting for nothing/You're leaving, leaving me hanging).
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG.
Summary: Disillusionment.
Notes: Have a couple of pocky chains! I promise the second one is happier.
1. that nothing bad can ever happen
"Always remember," Mama said once, "that as long as I am here I will never let anything happen to you. Do you understand? I love you and I will protect you."
She said it to him, and then, Jake supposes, it was true. But she said it to Ammie and Laure, too, and he knows that they died first. He knows it wasn't true for them.
He sits with his knees against his chest and stares at the fire, orange and yellow flickering bright, and knows that it, at least, won't lie to him.
2. that mommy and daddy love each other
"Mema," Joanna says, once, during her mother's long slow slide into darkness, when Fatimah opened up like a flower, blooming to die, "what happened when I was seven?"
Fatimah is silent, her hands curling and uncurling against dull orange hospital blankets, before she asks, "What do you remember?"
Joanna shrugs, uncomfortable. "Not much. Screaming, fights, silences. I was only seven."
"Yes," Fatimah says, and sighs. She looks so much older, all of a sudden. "Well, I suppose you're old enough to understand, now."
Joanna hears her out. She wishes, later, that she hadn't.
3. that mommy and daddy love me
"I'm sorry," Michael says, his round face streaked with tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
He's sorry, Danny thinks, dazed. It's her fault he broke his arm, and he's sorry.
Her arm hurts too, though not as much as Michael must. She fell out of her high chair once, before Michael was born, and broke her arm. Her arm healed but she still remembers the shooting pain of the injury, and her mother swooping down on her, fear on her face and reassurances on her lips.
There are no reassurances now, just anger.
4. that parents want their children to be happy
Yvonne-- Olivia won't think of her as 'mother'-- has been drinking today. She's probably been dumped. Olivia tries to be quiet, because she doesn't want to deal with it.
Not quiet enough, because Yvonne is standing, swaying, in her doorway. "You," she says. The word has a boozy smell. "What are you doing?"
"Homework," Olivia says, keeping her head down.
"Smarts won't keep a man. But you won't get one anyway." Yvonne sneers. "Not even your father wanted you."
Olivia knows she isn't talking about Daddy, but it hurts just the same.
5. that parents are immortal
Lars didn't really believe that his mother would die. Cancer was scary but not a death sentence, and she'd beaten it. It took years, most of his childhood, but she beat it. She'd beat it again.
So he didn't believe that she would die, not when she entered the hospital, not when she lay pale and thin in bed. Not even when he got the call, Chrissy's voice thick with tears.
He can barely believe it now, attending her funeral in a cold November, roaring in his ears and dead orange leaves underfoot.
But it's true.
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Rainbow sherbet 2 (orange), malt (PFAH: Joanna, Lars, Jake : when I was young I believed), whipped cream (for Jake, Olivia and Danny), pocky chain, fresh peaches (...it's going to be disheartening. The only thing you can do is pick up the pieces and move on.), fresh pineapple (I'm waiting, waiting for nothing/You're leaving, leaving me hanging).
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG.
Summary: Disillusionment.
Notes: Have a couple of pocky chains! I promise the second one is happier.
1. that nothing bad can ever happen
"Always remember," Mama said once, "that as long as I am here I will never let anything happen to you. Do you understand? I love you and I will protect you."
She said it to him, and then, Jake supposes, it was true. But she said it to Ammie and Laure, too, and he knows that they died first. He knows it wasn't true for them.
He sits with his knees against his chest and stares at the fire, orange and yellow flickering bright, and knows that it, at least, won't lie to him.
2. that mommy and daddy love each other
"Mema," Joanna says, once, during her mother's long slow slide into darkness, when Fatimah opened up like a flower, blooming to die, "what happened when I was seven?"
Fatimah is silent, her hands curling and uncurling against dull orange hospital blankets, before she asks, "What do you remember?"
Joanna shrugs, uncomfortable. "Not much. Screaming, fights, silences. I was only seven."
"Yes," Fatimah says, and sighs. She looks so much older, all of a sudden. "Well, I suppose you're old enough to understand, now."
Joanna hears her out. She wishes, later, that she hadn't.
3. that mommy and daddy love me
"I'm sorry," Michael says, his round face streaked with tears. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
He's sorry, Danny thinks, dazed. It's her fault he broke his arm, and he's sorry.
Her arm hurts too, though not as much as Michael must. She fell out of her high chair once, before Michael was born, and broke her arm. Her arm healed but she still remembers the shooting pain of the injury, and her mother swooping down on her, fear on her face and reassurances on her lips.
There are no reassurances now, just anger.
4. that parents want their children to be happy
Yvonne-- Olivia won't think of her as 'mother'-- has been drinking today. She's probably been dumped. Olivia tries to be quiet, because she doesn't want to deal with it.
Not quiet enough, because Yvonne is standing, swaying, in her doorway. "You," she says. The word has a boozy smell. "What are you doing?"
"Homework," Olivia says, keeping her head down.
"Smarts won't keep a man. But you won't get one anyway." Yvonne sneers. "Not even your father wanted you."
Olivia knows she isn't talking about Daddy, but it hurts just the same.
5. that parents are immortal
Lars didn't really believe that his mother would die. Cancer was scary but not a death sentence, and she'd beaten it. It took years, most of his childhood, but she beat it. She'd beat it again.
So he didn't believe that she would die, not when she entered the hospital, not when she lay pale and thin in bed. Not even when he got the call, Chrissy's voice thick with tears.
He can barely believe it now, attending her funeral in a cold November, roaring in his ears and dead orange leaves underfoot.
But it's true.