Calm before storm (pt 1)

For most people, mornings blur together, each one bleeding into the next. Every so often, a milestone breaks that rhythm: a first day of school, the birth of a first child, a close friend's wedding. Those, at least, announce themselves in advance.

This particular morning gave me no such warning. Golden sunlight crept through my window shades, the smell of orchard drifting inside along with the morning warmth. Somewhere outside, the birds were making a racket over their spring courtships, their whistles distant in comforting rhythmic tones.

And yet, it is the one morning that I would never forget for the rest of my life.

“Big brother!”

I lay still in my snug cotton bed, eyes shut. Perhaps if I didn’t respond, my pestering little sister would give up and go away. Such is the power of wishful thinking.

“BROTHER!” A finger jabbed itself violently into my shoulder.

I squinted one eye open gracelessly against the blinding morning light, registering the tiny figure standing next to me. Her silver hair, which Mother had no doubt braided perfectly in the morning, had somehow already come half-undone on one side, a little curl of it sticking straight up like she'd been struck by lightning

“Leave me be, Isabelle,” I said, hoarse with sleep.

She placed her hands to the side of her hips and curled her lips into a smug. “You know, you’re going to be a married man soon. I feel bad for Angeline. She’ll have to look after someone who’s a lazy, good for nothing dud.”

“Hey!” I cried, a tad offended at her exaggeration. “I’m just living my bachelor life to its fullest. The instant I’m married, I’ll be a changed man, you’ll see. Early riser. Farmer of cattle. Pillar of the community.”

“Yeah, right.” She huffed, and crossed her arms so hard that she almost fell backwards before catching herself with one barefoot, and glared at me like I caused it.

I held my laughter in. “And since when does a seven-year-old have the wisdom to spare on the particulars of married life?”

“Well, I’ve had enough time to think about it while you’ve been getting all that extra sleep these days.”

“Oh yeah? My life will be great! It’ll be just me and Angeline on our little tidy ranch. I won’t have a little sister pestering me every day.”

I had meant it as a joke, the same way I called her a dung beetle, or a gremlin, or a tiny disaster wrapped in a nightgown. But the second it left my mouth, I felt the statement land wrong, like the way a stone sinks when you meant to skip it across the water.

Izzy simply stood still for a few moments, but I could tell there were tears welling in her eyes.

“S-Sorry, Izz, I didn’t mean that. You know I meant it as a joke–”

Before I could finish, she darted away.

I sighed and took it as my cue to get up. After I emptied and freshened up, I headed to the kitchen room, where Mother was scrubbing the breakfast dishes.

“I just saw Izzy run out the door,” she stated without pause. “You have anything to do with that?”

“You already know, Ma. I’ll go find her.”

“Be quick honey, your porridge is already growing a layer of skin.”

“I’ll be quick.”

I lightly pushed the front door open and stepped into the yard, the sun’s warmth layering itself onto my skin. Beyond the fence, the neighbor’s children were chasing each other down the cart path – a wide, dirt path that saw far more bare feet than wheels, though it was kept tidy nonetheless, in the event some merchant carriage ever bothered to use it.

At the back of the property stood a maple tree, more ancient than our family lineage itself, according to Father. I had spent half my childhood up its branches, usually fleeing my Father’s beatings when I misbehaved, or my Mother’s chores, or the occasional goose with a grudge. It felt fitting that it was where Isabelle always went off to cool down emotionally.

She was curled against the base of the stump, knees to her chest, chin resting on top of them, pudgy arms wrapped around her shins, staring intently into the distance at nothing in particular. Her eyes were rimmed pink, though she’d clearly tried to scrub the evidence away with her sleeve before I got there, leaving a faint damp smear on one cheek. Stubborn, even in grief.

As I grabbed a seat next to her, something in my chest twisted, sharp and sudden. She was so small. She was always so small, a reminder that underneath her bravery, will and attitude was a person barely tall enough to reach the kitchen counter, who still needed someone to check under her bed for imaginary monsters some nights, someone who thought I was the strongest, tallest, most important person in their entire world, and who I had, just a few minutes prior, told I couldn’t wait to get rid of, even if it was meant in jest.

“Don’t go. I don’t want you to go,” she whispered, tears threatening to well up in her eyes once more.

“I know how you feel,” I said softly. “I don’t want to leave behind mama and papa. And especially not you.” I paused, reminiscing on my time spent growing up here in Alder Village. It was a comfortable, easy-going life. But life couldn’t always be that way. “But I must. This is my step into adulthood.”

Ever since the moment she had been born, we had been inseparable. Or rather, she would always chase me wherever I went, and do whatever I tried to do. And I secretly enjoyed it. The moment she had learned that I was moving to Ravenfall after the wedding, a one day journey away from here, she had noticeably dulled out.

I mulled on it for a few moments before coming up with a risky plan.

“You know,” I said, “you could come stay with me and Angeline. A month, maybe more. Ravenfall's got a market square larger than our whole village. And a river with actual fish in it, not the minnows we’ve got here.”

Her eyes glimmered. “Really? Angeline wouldn’t mind?”

“Of course not,” I said. In fact, she may like her a little more than she liked me, but I dare not say that part aloud. “Erhm. The difficult step would be convincing our dear parents, but you can count on me.”

Her eyes widened and she flashed a sudden smile, as if elation had taken over her body. She wrapped her arms around me in one big hug. “You're the best, big brother!”

I squeezed back hard. It wouldn’t be easy for me to move away either, especially leaving behind my family and sister. But just in this moment, that’s all the support I needed to keep moving forward.

“No matter what, I’ll always be there for you, Izz.”

I didn’t know yet that fate intended to test that promise before sunset.