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Fae's point of view
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"This porridge is really lumpy," Laurel commented, looking somewhat disappointed.
"You will have to make do with it, we ran out of milk" Our mother replied. She was firm but fair, and very sweet. She was the kind of mum anyone would love to have, and I was very grateful I had her. Laurel was a lot like mum in that aspect, she was the kindest person I knew, but was also never afraid to make a joke.
"Fine," Laurel sighed. She was right, the porridge was really lumpy. we will have to go and buy milk if we have enough money later, I thought. Luckily for me, we could afford things like that, as we were one of the more wealthy families in the village. Still, it really wasn't enough, not when there was so many of us. I can't even imagine how hard it must've been to be one of the poor families.
"We need to go shopping later." Casper pointed out, almost as if he had read my mind.
"Definitely. Do you want to come to the market with us later?" Father asked, "Oh wait, I have an appointment with the doctor later!" He cursed, slamming his hand onto the table.
"Why?" Laurel asked.
"I got a pretty big cut while crafting a wardrobe for some old bat named Pat, and I need to make sure it's not infected." Dad explained. I really hoped it wasn't. He had gotten an infected wound once, and it had looked really painful. The treatment cost so much that more often than not we were left without dinner.
How about we go and buy everything for you?" I offered, smiling innocently. Dad, however, narrowed his eyes in distrust.
"Can I really trust you with the money Fae? I still remember what happened last time." He asked. Dammit, he still remembers that! I thought. Last time I had been ordered to buy something, I had been asked to go and buy wholemeal bread, the cheapest loaf they had, and I had ended up buying the most expensive and couldn't afford any butter to go with it. We had to eat plain bread for breakfast for almost a week!
"Quit talking ancient history dad, that was last year! And besides, the others will be with me this time!" I pointed out. They considered it.
"Well alright then, I will leave you four Sonnets, just get bread, butter, milk-" Father started to say
"Oh, and get some chicken breast for later!" Mother interjected. Dad nodded, looking satisfied with the list. Aza and Laurel nodded eagerly. "You're in charge of the money Casper, and for the sake of the sun, don't spend any of the change this time!"
"I've got it mum, don't worry," Casper assured. He was always in charge of everything money wise since he was oh-so responsible. Sarcasm not intended.
For the next few hours Me, Casper, Aza and Laurel played cards on the table. Aza won the vast majority of the games, as usual. She was either really good at the game or really lucky.
"I win again!" She announced, placing three nines and a four, five, six and seven of spades on the table. She smiled with glee. The rest of us pouted miserably.
"How are you always so lucky?!" Laurel asked, dumbfounded.
"No luck, just skill sis!" Aza sassed. I heard mother and father going down the rickety stairs. Mum poked her head into the room.
"Me and Adam are going to the clinic now, don't forget to do the shopping!" She reminded us.
"We won't!" Aza and Laurel chanted. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of the door being slammed shut. Casper yawned, stretching his arms and standing up.
"Let's just go now, we may as well." He suggested.
"Okay. Oh, I know, we could go to the forest afterwards!" I proclaimed, thinking this a brilliant idea.
"Oh yes, lets! We can play hide and seek!" Laurel chirped, smiling.
"And archery!" Aza added. Them two are so childish, I thought. I envied them a little for that sometimes.
Aza loved archery, she had a bow that our father had given to her for her tenth birthday. She was thirteen now, but she still held a passion for it.
"So what do you think, Fae?" Casper asked me, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I asked, having not heard a word any of them had said.
"Aza said she's going to let us have a shot at the targets today after we play hide and seek," Casper explained. Dad had also recently made me, Casper and Laurel our own bows, and Aza had been teaching us to use them. We weren't very good yet, but we were getting there.
"Sounds good!" I grinned.
"Then we are all in agreement, let's go!" Aza said, bouncing up from the chair she had been sitting on.
The marketplace was almost empty that day. Most stalls were closed because of the winter festivities. Only the food stalls were open. Everything would be starting up again the next day. Including school, I reminded myself, sighing sadly. Iwas in the top of the class at school, but that didn't mean I had to like it. I didn't really have a lot of friends there and mostly kept to myself, only hanging out with Casper. Luckily, he was just about still in school, being the oldest in his class, and as such, the school. As for me, I was the youngest in my year. Laurel and Aza were still in the mid-school stage, for kids 9 to 14. It was their last year there, though.
Me and the others split up at the marketplace to get everything faster. I had gone with Casper to the meat and dairy section, and Aza and Laurel had gone to the bakery. They only needed one Sonnet to get bread and butter, so Casper had kept most of it. The ground was still coated in snow, and it felt funny and oddly satisfying when I trod on it, leaving footprints behind me. Robins were perched up on trees and on the floor, leaving their own little trails too. Their tweets filled the desolate marketplace with song. Each and every stall was different; some were wood, some stone. Some had roofs, others weren't so lucky. One stall was in tatters; blown into oblivion by the harsh winter snowstorms. No doubt, the owner of it would be horror-stricken when they found out, if they hadn't already.
"Chicken first, the stall's over there," Casper said, pointing forward, not that he needed to. I knew my way around the market by now, and the smell of raw meat was potent to say the least. I wrinkled my nose as I followed behind Casper. We chatted on the way there about school and the work we were doing when we started there again. When we got to the butcher's stall, we asked for the cheapest cut of meat that was big enough to feed us.. Thankfully, our dad was good friends with the butcher, so we got a slight discount. In the end, it had cost two Sonnets and three Alorians. Next up, the milk.
On the way to the dairy stall, Casper stopped suddenly. I looked up at him, confused. He only pointed, smiling. I looked where he was pointing, to see a very surprising sight. It was Old Man Henry, Caspers teacher, and one of our neighbours. Casper was the teachers pet, being an absolute genius that never got in trouble. Old Man Henry had always struck me as overconfident, but not arrogant. Me and Casper ran over to him. "Hey! Old Man Henry!" I cried, waving. I'm pretty sure that me, Aza and Laurel were the only one's that called him that, but it was a nickname that stuck. Since he was Casper's teacher, Casper just referred to him as sir. He looked over and smiled, showing his rotting teeth. He didn't have enough money to buy dentures, so everywhere he went people were constantly grimacing at his teeth.
"Well well, if it isn't Fae and Casper!" Old Man Henry exclaimed, flashing a classic old guy smile. "How've you been over the holidays? Done your homework?"
"Yep, all done," Casper replied, smiling casually.
"Excellent! So what brings you to the market on this fine day?" He replied. It's not really fine, I thought. There was a snowstorm in the night, and the clouds are grey as can be!
"Nothing much, just food." I chirped. Old Man Henry nodded.
"And what about you Fae, have you done your homework? Mr Bennett told me you forget a lot. Honestly Fae, you're a really smart girl, you should put more effort into your work if you want to be like your brother."
"Wait, we had homework?!" I questioned, gulping. I didn't remember being given any! Of course, that was typical of Mr Bennett. He was the strictest teacher in the school! I would have to remind myself to do that homework later on.
"See? This is exactly what I mean!" Old Man Henry mocked. I glared at him.
"We have to go now, sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Casper declared.
"Goodbye, sorry for distracting you!" Old Man Henry replied, waving.
After getting milk with the remainder of the money they had, me and Casper walked to the entrance to the market, where we had agreed to meet up with the others. They were already there, leaning against a wall and playing rock paper scissors. When they saw me they ran over.
"What took you so long?! We have been here almost ten minutes!" Laurel Complained, exasperated.
"Sorry, we ran into Old Man Henry." I apologised, "Did you get everything?" Laurel looked away guiltily, and Aza seemed suddenly very distracted by a cloud. I got the hint and sighed heavily. "What did you buy?"
"Um... Well, we were going to buy what you asked us to, but then on the way there we walked past the chocolate stall and-"
"That's all I need to hear," Casper snapped, holding a hand up to stop, "You guys are going to be in trouble when w-" He cut off his sentence suddenly, realization and dread hitting him like a brick, "Oh my god, you little-" Laurel and Aza burst out laughing, high-fiving each other. I stood there, looking bemused. Mum had said that Casper was in charge of the money, so he is going to be the one in trouble, I thought, suppressing a smile. I had to at least try to look responsible, or them two would never grow up. Then again, I wasn't completely convinced I was grown-up either.
"Come on guys, that isn't fair! Now Casper is going to be in trouble because of you! Don't worry Casper, we will just tell him what happened!" I said, trying to stick up for him.
"Thanks, but I don't think it will do much good, knowing dad..." Casper replied.
"Agreed." Aza testified. I sighed in defeat, knowing they were right. Dad was the kind of guy to not take excuses from anyone.
"Maybe not... Well then, at the very least your sharing the chocolate with us!" I announced. If we were going to get told off, we may as well eat it all before we got it taken off of us.
"We were going to do that anyway!" Laurel countered.
"Only because you're too much of a wimp to not share it!" Aza argued.
"It's called being nice!"
"Shut up! If I hear another argument out of you I swear I'm going to stitch your mouths shut! Laurels right. Sharing is caring, or however the saying goes Seriously, if it weren't for you Laurel, Aza would be fatter than a pot-belly pig!" Casper joked, apparently relenting about the chocolate, "Well let's go then. If I'm going to get killed by dad I want chocolate to be my last meal!"
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Holy cow that is so long o-o its only like 2050 words or something like that!
Fae's point of view
-------------------------
"This porridge is really lumpy," Laurel commented, looking somewhat disappointed.
"You will have to make do with it, we ran out of milk" Our mother replied. She was firm but fair, and very sweet. She was the kind of mum anyone would love to have, and I was very grateful I had her. Laurel was a lot like mum in that aspect, she was the kindest person I knew, but was also never afraid to make a joke.
"Fine," Laurel sighed. She was right, the porridge was really lumpy. we will have to go and buy milk if we have enough money later, I thought. Luckily for me, we could afford things like that, as we were one of the more wealthy families in the village. Still, it really wasn't enough, not when there was so many of us. I can't even imagine how hard it must've been to be one of the poor families.
"We need to go shopping later." Casper pointed out, almost as if he had read my mind.
"Definitely. Do you want to come to the market with us later?" Father asked, "Oh wait, I have an appointment with the doctor later!" He cursed, slamming his hand onto the table.
"Why?" Laurel asked.
"I got a pretty big cut while crafting a wardrobe for some old bat named Pat, and I need to make sure it's not infected." Dad explained. I really hoped it wasn't. He had gotten an infected wound once, and it had looked really painful. The treatment cost so much that more often than not we were left without dinner.
How about we go and buy everything for you?" I offered, smiling innocently. Dad, however, narrowed his eyes in distrust.
"Can I really trust you with the money Fae? I still remember what happened last time." He asked. Dammit, he still remembers that! I thought. Last time I had been ordered to buy something, I had been asked to go and buy wholemeal bread, the cheapest loaf they had, and I had ended up buying the most expensive and couldn't afford any butter to go with it. We had to eat plain bread for breakfast for almost a week!
"Quit talking ancient history dad, that was last year! And besides, the others will be with me this time!" I pointed out. They considered it.
"Well alright then, I will leave you four Sonnets, just get bread, butter, milk-" Father started to say
"Oh, and get some chicken breast for later!" Mother interjected. Dad nodded, looking satisfied with the list. Aza and Laurel nodded eagerly. "You're in charge of the money Casper, and for the sake of the sun, don't spend any of the change this time!"
"I've got it mum, don't worry," Casper assured. He was always in charge of everything money wise since he was oh-so responsible. Sarcasm not intended.
For the next few hours Me, Casper, Aza and Laurel played cards on the table. Aza won the vast majority of the games, as usual. She was either really good at the game or really lucky.
"I win again!" She announced, placing three nines and a four, five, six and seven of spades on the table. She smiled with glee. The rest of us pouted miserably.
"How are you always so lucky?!" Laurel asked, dumbfounded.
"No luck, just skill sis!" Aza sassed. I heard mother and father going down the rickety stairs. Mum poked her head into the room.
"Me and Adam are going to the clinic now, don't forget to do the shopping!" She reminded us.
"We won't!" Aza and Laurel chanted. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of the door being slammed shut. Casper yawned, stretching his arms and standing up.
"Let's just go now, we may as well." He suggested.
"Okay. Oh, I know, we could go to the forest afterwards!" I proclaimed, thinking this a brilliant idea.
"Oh yes, lets! We can play hide and seek!" Laurel chirped, smiling.
"And archery!" Aza added. Them two are so childish, I thought. I envied them a little for that sometimes.
Aza loved archery, she had a bow that our father had given to her for her tenth birthday. She was thirteen now, but she still held a passion for it.
"So what do you think, Fae?" Casper asked me, jolting me out of my thoughts.
"Huh?" I asked, having not heard a word any of them had said.
"Aza said she's going to let us have a shot at the targets today after we play hide and seek," Casper explained. Dad had also recently made me, Casper and Laurel our own bows, and Aza had been teaching us to use them. We weren't very good yet, but we were getting there.
"Sounds good!" I grinned.
"Then we are all in agreement, let's go!" Aza said, bouncing up from the chair she had been sitting on.
The marketplace was almost empty that day. Most stalls were closed because of the winter festivities. Only the food stalls were open. Everything would be starting up again the next day. Including school, I reminded myself, sighing sadly. Iwas in the top of the class at school, but that didn't mean I had to like it. I didn't really have a lot of friends there and mostly kept to myself, only hanging out with Casper. Luckily, he was just about still in school, being the oldest in his class, and as such, the school. As for me, I was the youngest in my year. Laurel and Aza were still in the mid-school stage, for kids 9 to 14. It was their last year there, though.
Me and the others split up at the marketplace to get everything faster. I had gone with Casper to the meat and dairy section, and Aza and Laurel had gone to the bakery. They only needed one Sonnet to get bread and butter, so Casper had kept most of it. The ground was still coated in snow, and it felt funny and oddly satisfying when I trod on it, leaving footprints behind me. Robins were perched up on trees and on the floor, leaving their own little trails too. Their tweets filled the desolate marketplace with song. Each and every stall was different; some were wood, some stone. Some had roofs, others weren't so lucky. One stall was in tatters; blown into oblivion by the harsh winter snowstorms. No doubt, the owner of it would be horror-stricken when they found out, if they hadn't already.
"Chicken first, the stall's over there," Casper said, pointing forward, not that he needed to. I knew my way around the market by now, and the smell of raw meat was potent to say the least. I wrinkled my nose as I followed behind Casper. We chatted on the way there about school and the work we were doing when we started there again. When we got to the butcher's stall, we asked for the cheapest cut of meat that was big enough to feed us.. Thankfully, our dad was good friends with the butcher, so we got a slight discount. In the end, it had cost two Sonnets and three Alorians. Next up, the milk.
On the way to the dairy stall, Casper stopped suddenly. I looked up at him, confused. He only pointed, smiling. I looked where he was pointing, to see a very surprising sight. It was Old Man Henry, Caspers teacher, and one of our neighbours. Casper was the teachers pet, being an absolute genius that never got in trouble. Old Man Henry had always struck me as overconfident, but not arrogant. Me and Casper ran over to him. "Hey! Old Man Henry!" I cried, waving. I'm pretty sure that me, Aza and Laurel were the only one's that called him that, but it was a nickname that stuck. Since he was Casper's teacher, Casper just referred to him as sir. He looked over and smiled, showing his rotting teeth. He didn't have enough money to buy dentures, so everywhere he went people were constantly grimacing at his teeth.
"Well well, if it isn't Fae and Casper!" Old Man Henry exclaimed, flashing a classic old guy smile. "How've you been over the holidays? Done your homework?"
"Yep, all done," Casper replied, smiling casually.
"Excellent! So what brings you to the market on this fine day?" He replied. It's not really fine, I thought. There was a snowstorm in the night, and the clouds are grey as can be!
"Nothing much, just food." I chirped. Old Man Henry nodded.
"And what about you Fae, have you done your homework? Mr Bennett told me you forget a lot. Honestly Fae, you're a really smart girl, you should put more effort into your work if you want to be like your brother."
"Wait, we had homework?!" I questioned, gulping. I didn't remember being given any! Of course, that was typical of Mr Bennett. He was the strictest teacher in the school! I would have to remind myself to do that homework later on.
"See? This is exactly what I mean!" Old Man Henry mocked. I glared at him.
"We have to go now, sir. I'll see you tomorrow." Casper declared.
"Goodbye, sorry for distracting you!" Old Man Henry replied, waving.
After getting milk with the remainder of the money they had, me and Casper walked to the entrance to the market, where we had agreed to meet up with the others. They were already there, leaning against a wall and playing rock paper scissors. When they saw me they ran over.
"What took you so long?! We have been here almost ten minutes!" Laurel Complained, exasperated.
"Sorry, we ran into Old Man Henry." I apologised, "Did you get everything?" Laurel looked away guiltily, and Aza seemed suddenly very distracted by a cloud. I got the hint and sighed heavily. "What did you buy?"
"Um... Well, we were going to buy what you asked us to, but then on the way there we walked past the chocolate stall and-"
"That's all I need to hear," Casper snapped, holding a hand up to stop, "You guys are going to be in trouble when w-" He cut off his sentence suddenly, realization and dread hitting him like a brick, "Oh my god, you little-" Laurel and Aza burst out laughing, high-fiving each other. I stood there, looking bemused. Mum had said that Casper was in charge of the money, so he is going to be the one in trouble, I thought, suppressing a smile. I had to at least try to look responsible, or them two would never grow up. Then again, I wasn't completely convinced I was grown-up either.
"Come on guys, that isn't fair! Now Casper is going to be in trouble because of you! Don't worry Casper, we will just tell him what happened!" I said, trying to stick up for him.
"Thanks, but I don't think it will do much good, knowing dad..." Casper replied.
"Agreed." Aza testified. I sighed in defeat, knowing they were right. Dad was the kind of guy to not take excuses from anyone.
"Maybe not... Well then, at the very least your sharing the chocolate with us!" I announced. If we were going to get told off, we may as well eat it all before we got it taken off of us.
"We were going to do that anyway!" Laurel countered.
"Only because you're too much of a wimp to not share it!" Aza argued.
"It's called being nice!"
"Shut up! If I hear another argument out of you I swear I'm going to stitch your mouths shut! Laurels right. Sharing is caring, or however the saying goes Seriously, if it weren't for you Laurel, Aza would be fatter than a pot-belly pig!" Casper joked, apparently relenting about the chocolate, "Well let's go then. If I'm going to get killed by dad I want chocolate to be my last meal!"
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Holy cow that is so long o-o its only like 2050 words or something like that!