Chapter 10:

Stitch

My Sweet Porcelain


Lucy’s next morning was jump-started by a pale, blue bird. It somehow had found its way into her room and had maneuvered its way onto the dresser. The bird showed no signs of fear towards Lucy as it eyed Camie lying in Lucy’s arms. Suddenly, it let out a flute-like chirp. It was like a morning melody that was a summary of what Camie had sung the night before, except this time, it was brighter, as if it was signaling the day ahead. After a few verses, the bird hopped closer to Lucy, who was still far from awake, and let out an energetic trill. Finally, Lucy stirred in her sleep. It let out another set of melodic chirps for a short measure. This time, Lucy gradually became aware of the bird’s calls.

There was a set of warbles, followed by giggles. Turns out, Camie had been awake long enough to hear a few calls from the bird. Lucy slowly pried her eyes open. The bird, seeing that Lucy was starting to fall back to sleep, began another burst of trills. Camie, who was quite cheerful considering the events from last night, laughed along.

“Lucy! Look!” Camie started shaking Lucy in an attempt to catch her attention. What resulted in her efforts was a series of light nudges. “It’s a bird!”

Lucy groaned before opening her eyes and rising from her bed. Camie, letting out more giggles, bounced on the bed as Lucy got up. After rubbing her eyes, Lucy stared down at the little bird.

“You’re right,” said Lucy, astonished. “What is it doing here?” She looked around her small room. The window as well as the door was closed. She turned her attention back to the bird. It was an unusual one. A shade that she had never seen before. “How did you get in here?” asked Lucy to the bird.

It acted like it knew Lucy was talking to it. As if it were dusting off its shoulders to raise its appearance, it ruffled its feathers. Tiny bits of light flowed out from its wings, scattering bits of sparkle around the air. As the light began to settle down to the ground, the bird let out a chirp in response. It hopped over to Lucy, showing no fear of the towering human before it. Another chirp, followed by a short trill.

Lucy slowly stretched out her hand to the bird, and it willingly hopped onto her finger. She brought it to her eye level. Camie, beside Lucy on the bed, stared up at the bird on Lucy’s hand.

“Lucy, Lucy!” Camie called out as she waved her arms in reach for Lucy’s hand. “Camie wants to hold the bird too.”

Lucy lowered her hand so Camie could see the bird. Before Camie could touch it, however, it flapped its wings and flew around the room. Wherever it went, it left a trail of golden dust in its wake. Soon, there was a spiral of gleams and glitters cascading down. Lucy and Camie stood there, mesmerized by the twinkling path that seemed to climb its way past the ceiling and beyond the skies. After its laps around the room, it came to a stop back at Lucy’s hand.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The bird fluttered up a bit before returning to rest on her finger. Its flapping created more sparkles to float around the room.

“Lucy?” It was her mother. “Are you alright? It’s already late for lunch.”

“Yeah Mom!” Lucy called back. “I’ll be down in a while.”

Lucy let the bird hop back onto the dresser in front of Camie before rummaging through the drawers for a set of clothes to change into and a comb to brush her hair.

“Camie.” spoke Lucy, as she changed with her back turned towards the doll. “I’ll head downstairs after I’m ready, maybe the bird will keep you company. I’ll be back to bring you over to…” Lucy paused. She couldn’t bring herself to say his name. “Across the street,” she finished.

“Okay,” Camie accepted. The bird as well, let out a chirp to answer.

She looked closely at her face through the mirror on the dresser. It was a mess, but there was nothing that she could do about it at the moment. Lucy headed downstairs and splashed her face with some water. Lunch was some slices of sourdough bread and tomato soup, but Lucy didn’t have much of an appetite.

“Morning, sis!” Her little brother was at the dining table, already eating away at his plate.

“Morning,” she muttered back. She sat down and tried to take a few nibbles from the corner of her slice. The crust turned out to be too hard. In the end, she pinched away at the center, taking small pecks of the bread.

“If you’re not going to eat the soup, can I have it?” Her little brother was already eyeing the bowl that was still untouched.

“Go for it,” Lucy answered, as she set down her slice and headed out to help out the family business. Seeing that her parents didn’t bother barging through the door to wake her in the morning, it seems that they had decided to let her rest for today, but she should check, to be sure of the case.

Lucy’s father was at the checkout desk while her mother was talking with the lady who lived next door. The pair were looking at the different budding plants for the season. As they walked past the crocuses and snowdrops, Lucy’s mother noticed her daughter at the door. “Ah! Lucy! We’re covered here, so you can have a day off today and do what you want.” She did not appear to want to ask Lucy any questions.

Grateful for the space, Lucy nodded a greeting to her neighbor and returned back to her room. Lucy’s mother and the neighbor returned back to their focus on the flowers.

Upstairs, Camie spent her time admiring the blue bird. It kept its distance away from Camie, however. If she walked towards it, it would hop backwards. If she walked away from it, it would hop forwards. Camie lifted her hand towards the bird, hoping it would fly onto her finger like it did for Lucy. There was no luck, as the bird had ignored the hand and begun to preen its feathers. Camie gave up. She plopped down onto the bed and stared at the wooden ceiling. In reaction to this, the bird flew up and circled above her. Once again, the bird showered a waterfall of sparkles down. Camie raised her arms up in an attempt to catch the bits that cascaded down. The glimmers would gently flow down, but when they reached Camie’s hand, it bounced back up before fading away. Camie couldn’t feel a thing, but it provided such a spectacle that she couldn’t keep her eyes off the bubbly shimmers.

Lucy opened the door to find the two as such. Camie was giggling every time the light bounced off her hands like a bubble. Hearing the sound of the door open, Camie sat up. “Lucy!”

“I’m back, Camie,” said Lucy. She walked towards the doll.

Upon Lucy’s entrance, the bird fluttered in front of her, about a meter away from her face. She raised her hand, and the bird rested on her finger, consistent with earlier that morning, as if that was the place it felt like it belonged the most.

“Hey!” Camie pointed at Lucy. “Why won’t it do that for me?”

“Hay is for horses, Camie,” chided Lucy. “And don’t point. Both are rude.” The bird chirped along, like it was in agreement.

Camie rolled around the bed in exasperation. She slumped down so that her face was buried into the sheets before looking back at Lucy. “You returned quickly. Are we going back to Albert right now?”

Lucy stood there. She was caught in a swirl of emotions at his name. Unsure of how she would act in front of him, she hesitated on her answer. Maybe she shouldn’t go meet Albert today.

Suddenly, the bird that was on Lucy’s finger beat its wings and flew back into the air. The bird settled back down on the dresser and pecked at the window.

“Lucy!” Camie was tugging and pulling at Lucy’s blouse. “It wants to go out. Let it out!”

Lucy picked up Camie to stop her tugs. “Okay, we’ll let it go out.”

She lifted the window open and the bird hopped to the sill. It gave a few chirps in farewell and lept out the window. Nobody in the streets below noticed the bird fly out. It beat its wings hard and flew to the sky, once again leaving a sparkling trail behind it, like the ribbons of a dancer.

As Lucy watched the bird disappear from her sight, her eyes inadvertently wandered back down to the bustling Sweet Ales across the street. The events from yesterday flooded her memories again. Ashamed of her actions, she looked away, even though no one would’ve noticed her if she kept staring. Then again, she wouldn’t need to be ashamed if she apologized to Albert.

“We’re leaving, Camie,” she said as she walked to the door with the doll in her arms.

Camie clapped her hands excitedly, creating small pats. “Okay!”

With that, the two headed downstairs. There, she was met by her parents. The two were worried about Lucy, and it showed on their faces. Once they realized that Lucy was heading out, they showered her with questions. Lucy refused to answer any of them, and once her father caught on, he fell back and told his wife to stop pestering Lucy and let her leave. Reluctant to see Lucy off like that, she shoved a few flowers into her hand before sending her off with a few more words.

Outside, despite it being sunny while Lucy was still upstairs, was a light spring shower. Lucy stood at the edge of the shop, keeping herself dry as she stared at her destination. Maybe it was best for her to stay inside. Maybe Albert didn’t want her to visit today. Maybe she could wait for tomorrow. Maybe… maybe… maybe…

No.

Her parents were back inside, expecting her to be gone for a long time. Camie was in her arms, expecting to return back to Albert. Lucy made a mad dash across the street. The light shower turned into a downpour midway, drenching her to the bone. Lucy managed to keep Camie dry by hiding her in the folds of her cardigan, but the flowers were a lost cause. A few strides later, she reached the door.

Albert rapped his finger on the counter as he listened to the pittering and pattering of the rain turn into drumming. Lunch was over. Everyone was gone. The room was clean. Everything was all set for dinner. Everything but Albert. He was not ready to face Lucy in the upcoming break. That is, if she was even going to come. He closed his eyes and berated himself while he tried to think of how he should apologize to her. At the same time, he wished for her to be deterred by the rain, so the time before they meet again could be prolonged.

A knock at the door. Albert’s heart dropped. Was he this adamant on not meeting her again? Nonetheless, he went to open the door. What he encountered upon greeting the entrance was a soaking wet Lucy.

“Oh!” He stared at her as if she was some novel creature from the legends.

“Uhm, Albert?” Lucy looked up. Her hair and face were a mess. “Do you mind?”

He finally snapped out of it. “Yes, yes. Sorry. Come in, I’ll get something to dry you off.”

The room was silent after that. Lucy sat at one of the tables, drying her hair with a towel that Albert gave her. Her cardigan was able to shield most of the rain, but it was now dripping with water. Lucy shivered. Her blouse was quite wet as well. She looked at Albert, who was busy trying to wring out as much water as possible from her cardigan. The distance between the two was great, as if they had subconsciously moved away from each other. Apart from Camie’s humming, the room was quiet. The two adults couldn’t bring themselves to talk to each other yet.

Lucy was the first to break the tension. “I don’t suppose… you have a shirt I can change into. Do you?”

Albert turned around and saw Lucy shaking like the last leaf of autumn. “Ah! Why didn’t you tell me earlier..” He quickly grabbed a chair and placed it by the oven, which he turned on to a moderate heat. “Sit here, I’ll grab a shirt.” He headed upstairs, leaving Lucy alone with Camie.

“Are you wet, Camie?”

The doll shook her head.

“That’s good.” Lucy continued to warm up by the oven.

Albert arrived with a shirt in hand, which he tossed at Camie. “Tell me when you’re done,” he said.

“Thank you,” she replied softly. Albert waved his hand to say it’s fine as he headed back upstairs to his room.

Lucy changed into Albert’s shirt, but she didn’t alert him that she was done. Not wanting to meet face to face with Albert just yet, she decided to apologize with a floor between them.

“Albert,” she called out.

“Hm?”

“About the other day…” She paused and closed her eyes in shame. “I- I-... I shouldn’t have done what I did. So… I’m… sorry.”

Her last words were barely audible, but Albert could understand what she wanted to say. He kept quiet, however. It felt wrong. Shouldn’t he be the one apologizing? Did Lucy not realize that he had lashed out at her because Camie favored her? Lucy’s apology made Albert realize that she was the better person, and it was clear why Camie liked her more. She was more kind, more gentle, and gave more time to Camie.

The more he mulled over the words, the longer he dragged on his response. The silence that Lucy received scared her more by the second. “I’d really like it if we could return to how we were before,” she said in a desperate attempt to break the silence.

“Are you done?” Albert’s voice called down in response.

“Pardon?”

“Are you done changing?”

“Oh!” Lucy was surprised at the change in subject. “Umm. Yes, yes I am.”

Albert bashfully stepped down. His eyes couldn’t face Lucy. “Your apology… I’ll accept it.” Lucy’s face looked relieved. “And also,” Albert continued. “I was also in the wrong yesterday. I didn’t need to yell at you and kick you out. So, I apologize.”

Lucy’s worried look turned into a smile. “It’s fine, Albert. I didn’t think too much of it, so you shouldn’t either.”

“Thanks,” replied Albert.

With the tension in the air finally resolved, the two finally relaxed. Lucy’s stomach growled. It seemed that, after having gone through the lump in their relationship, she had regained her appetite. Lucy recalled that she had only eaten a bite or two of bread for the day. Her face flushed a bright pink.

“Sorry, I didn’t really eat lunch.”

Albert laughed it off. “It’s fine. I’ll make something to eat. You’re dry now, right? Let me use the stove.”

Lucy scooted away from her heat source and towards Camie. As Albert quickly wrapped up a 5 minute recipe of a snack, Lucy played around with Camie. It was like the two had gone back to how they were before.

“Here,” said Albert as he set down a plate of noodles in front of Lucy. “No dairy, no complaints.”

“Thank you!” Lucy was back to being cheerful. “Do you not need any?”

“No,” Albert replied. “Unlike you, I had a lot to eat for lunch.”

The pair laughed. They went on, talking as if yesterday’s events were completely forgotten. However, deep down, past the surfaces of their actions and words, they had begun to view each other differently. Albert quietly resented Lucy for being Camie’s favorite, as well as himself for not being able to act better, while Lucy still looked at Albert and felt helplessness at his ever so busy life. They may have temporarily brushed off their argument with an apology from both sides, but they wondered and feared what would happen if they were to start another fight. The rain outside had subsided, but there was no rainbow to be seen. Camie, unaware of the conflict that she had started, only wondered if she’d be able to see that blue bird again.

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