Letters and a Frog
Title: Letters and a Frog
Prompt: Ravenclaw girl / any animal listed in HP info / friends
Characters: Mandy Brocklehurst; her frog, Squishy; and Su Li as a pen pal
Word Count: 1,368
Rating: G
Author’s Note: The prompt is cross-posted as an RPG solo to The Final Task. Mandy has been kept home during what should be her final year at Hogwarts. She has a tumultuous relationship with both of her siblings, who are the only companions she really has similar in age, so she's retreated from them. Here she realizes that she’s losing touch with her friends.
Christmas came and went way too fast for Mandy Brocklehurst. Her friends and former housemates had been at their homes for three weeks, but she didn’t make too much of an effort to see them. Sure, she had gone shopping two days before Christmas with Anthony Goldstein, and yes, she and Michael Corner had promised to see each other - a promise that fell by the wayside, though.
It really didn’t make any sense to Mandy. She’d been waiting for the Hogwarts Christmas holidays to begin since September first. Oh, she had that day circled in red on her calendar; she had even planned to meet the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station. Sure, her mother would’ve complained about it, but Mandy was well past seventeen, and she could Apparate before her parents had a chance to complain. Sometimes it was worth it to take the risk and get in trouble when she got back.
Mandy needed to be away from her family some of the time. She certainly didn’t get along with her older sister, Emily, and her younger brother, Calvin, was becoming more and more self-centered, so his company had lost its appeal. Therefore, she had so been looking forward to that day in December when her friends would all be home with their families so she could see them.
However, right before the holiday began, Mandy felt the apprehension building. It grew and grew as she realized that she didn’t really know her friends as well as she used to. In fact, she didn’t feel like she knew some of her former housemates at all anymore. Mandy wondered if they’d even want to see her when they got off the train? They’d likely be in a hurry to get to their families, and then, the ones that did stop and chat with her would be different than she remembered. Everyone would have had experiences that she had not shared. Mandy was out of the loop, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to face that fact.
During the month of September, she had kept in touch with every single Ravenclaw in her year. Stephen Cornfoot and Padma Patil, Mandy found, had not returned to Hogwarts, either, so she suggested a study group. Both had told her that sounded like a good idea, since they were trying to complete home study programs, too, and that might help them better understand the material. Of course, that had lasted through one whole meeting.
Mandy hadn’t been that close to Stephen or Padma, and they were both much smarter than she was. She really wanted the group for socialization; they wanted to study, and study they did. Mandy didn’t know if they were still meeting, but they quit asking her about joining them after she declined the next three times they offered. So, she lost touch with Stephen and Padma.
Anthony was a faithful friend, but he was so busy with all of his duties and schoolwork, so Mandy wasn’t that surprised when his letters got shorter and shorter. Terry Boot wrote two letters, and that was good for him, considering the boy hated sharing feelings and talking in general. Terry was the type of person who spoke when he had something to say. If he didn’t, then that was the end of the conversation. It wasn’t anything personal. Michael wrote when he remembered, but Kevin Entwhistle and Morag MacDougal never responded to Mandy’s initial letter.
Lisa Turpin had been a bit better. She hadn’t given up talking to Mandy. Not that any of them had really “given her up”. They just had other things going on, and out of sight, out of mind.
Su Li, though, was the one person who truly kept in touch with Mandy. Mandy and Su hadn’t been best friends by any means. Su was hard to get to know because she was always so quiet. But her letters made Mandy feel better. That quiet, introspective girl could certainly express herself through letters, and Mandy felt like she got to know Su for the first time through these correspondences.
Su’s letters had become so important to Mandy that she’d taken to reading them out loud to her frog, Squishy, who was at most instances the only one in her house that Mandy didn’t feel at odds with. Wow, how ridiculous was this? Her only real friends, she felt, were a frog and a pen pal.
Of course, Squishy just blinked at Mandy as she read. She always smiled down at the frog after finishing the letter, which returned a blank stare of incomprehension. Yet, Mandy felt closer to Squishy than she did to her friends.
She opted not to go to King’s Cross, and then she didn’t ask to see most of her friends over the holiday. Mandy knew she needed to get back in touch with her friends, so she accepted Anthony’s offer to go Christmas shopping together. That hadn’t been too awkward, but it was hard to be awkward around Anthony for long. The first little bit had been, though, which depressed Mandy deeply. She’d expected it, however, and she was glad she and Anthony had talked. Michael, on the other hand, had also asked Mandy if they could spend time together. She had told him she’d meet anytime, but it was secretly a relief when he didn’t answer back with specifics.
Mandy wondered if she was becoming a hermit. She seemed on her way to accomplishing it. Whenever she didn’t confine herself to her room, she seemed to upset someone else in the house, so it was better for her here in her room with Squishy and Su’s letters. It was her turn to write Su, so Mandy sat down at her desk and pulled her quill, ink, and paper out of the first drawer. She dipped her quill in the ink after rolling out the parchment and began to write.
Unsure of a better way to start the letters, she always asked Su how she was doing. It was strange. In person, Su would say the generic “fine”, but on paper, in writing, Su actually opened up to Mandy. She wondered what Su would say this time. Whatever it would say, Su’s response would be thoughtful and honest.
For whatever reason, Mandy went on in the next paragraph to write about how she was feeling about the letters and her frog. She wondered if it would upset Su, because not only was she comparing her to a frog in some ways, but also she was talking about her loneliness and her lackadaisical attitude towards repairing any of the old relationships. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her friends anymore, she wrote; it was that she was terrified of not knowing what to say or how to act around them.
Determined not to focus on how silly she’d feel if Mandy saw Su again after sending this letter, she rolled up the parchment and walked downstairs. Mandy was lucky; the house seemed to be empty, so there was no way she could cause commotion right now. The family owl was sitting on his perch in the reception room, so Mandy tied the parchment to the owl’s leg and gave him his instructions. Once the bird was gone, Mandy went back into her room to talk to Squishy again.
Mandy wasn’t sure she wanted to see the response owl that Su would send, because likely Su would tell her to fix things. Mandy just didn’t know if she had the willpower at this point.
If she truly thought about it, Mandy would realize that her letter to Su was likely her subconscious trying to get her to fix things on her own, or to have someone else to prompt her to do it.
Here she was, not leaving her room and enjoying it, not interested in fixing the friendships she had, and trying to substitute Squishy and letters for real human interaction. Su might point that out, too. Those signs pointed in a far worse direction, but she could still shake it.
Of course, Mandy didn’t want to think about these things. She liked being in the dark, at least for now.
Prompt: Ravenclaw girl / any animal listed in HP info / friends
Characters: Mandy Brocklehurst; her frog, Squishy; and Su Li as a pen pal
Word Count: 1,368
Rating: G
Author’s Note: The prompt is cross-posted as an RPG solo to The Final Task. Mandy has been kept home during what should be her final year at Hogwarts. She has a tumultuous relationship with both of her siblings, who are the only companions she really has similar in age, so she's retreated from them. Here she realizes that she’s losing touch with her friends.
Christmas came and went way too fast for Mandy Brocklehurst. Her friends and former housemates had been at their homes for three weeks, but she didn’t make too much of an effort to see them. Sure, she had gone shopping two days before Christmas with Anthony Goldstein, and yes, she and Michael Corner had promised to see each other - a promise that fell by the wayside, though.
It really didn’t make any sense to Mandy. She’d been waiting for the Hogwarts Christmas holidays to begin since September first. Oh, she had that day circled in red on her calendar; she had even planned to meet the Hogwarts Express at Kings Cross Station. Sure, her mother would’ve complained about it, but Mandy was well past seventeen, and she could Apparate before her parents had a chance to complain. Sometimes it was worth it to take the risk and get in trouble when she got back.
Mandy needed to be away from her family some of the time. She certainly didn’t get along with her older sister, Emily, and her younger brother, Calvin, was becoming more and more self-centered, so his company had lost its appeal. Therefore, she had so been looking forward to that day in December when her friends would all be home with their families so she could see them.
However, right before the holiday began, Mandy felt the apprehension building. It grew and grew as she realized that she didn’t really know her friends as well as she used to. In fact, she didn’t feel like she knew some of her former housemates at all anymore. Mandy wondered if they’d even want to see her when they got off the train? They’d likely be in a hurry to get to their families, and then, the ones that did stop and chat with her would be different than she remembered. Everyone would have had experiences that she had not shared. Mandy was out of the loop, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to face that fact.
During the month of September, she had kept in touch with every single Ravenclaw in her year. Stephen Cornfoot and Padma Patil, Mandy found, had not returned to Hogwarts, either, so she suggested a study group. Both had told her that sounded like a good idea, since they were trying to complete home study programs, too, and that might help them better understand the material. Of course, that had lasted through one whole meeting.
Mandy hadn’t been that close to Stephen or Padma, and they were both much smarter than she was. She really wanted the group for socialization; they wanted to study, and study they did. Mandy didn’t know if they were still meeting, but they quit asking her about joining them after she declined the next three times they offered. So, she lost touch with Stephen and Padma.
Anthony was a faithful friend, but he was so busy with all of his duties and schoolwork, so Mandy wasn’t that surprised when his letters got shorter and shorter. Terry Boot wrote two letters, and that was good for him, considering the boy hated sharing feelings and talking in general. Terry was the type of person who spoke when he had something to say. If he didn’t, then that was the end of the conversation. It wasn’t anything personal. Michael wrote when he remembered, but Kevin Entwhistle and Morag MacDougal never responded to Mandy’s initial letter.
Lisa Turpin had been a bit better. She hadn’t given up talking to Mandy. Not that any of them had really “given her up”. They just had other things going on, and out of sight, out of mind.
Su Li, though, was the one person who truly kept in touch with Mandy. Mandy and Su hadn’t been best friends by any means. Su was hard to get to know because she was always so quiet. But her letters made Mandy feel better. That quiet, introspective girl could certainly express herself through letters, and Mandy felt like she got to know Su for the first time through these correspondences.
Su’s letters had become so important to Mandy that she’d taken to reading them out loud to her frog, Squishy, who was at most instances the only one in her house that Mandy didn’t feel at odds with. Wow, how ridiculous was this? Her only real friends, she felt, were a frog and a pen pal.
Of course, Squishy just blinked at Mandy as she read. She always smiled down at the frog after finishing the letter, which returned a blank stare of incomprehension. Yet, Mandy felt closer to Squishy than she did to her friends.
She opted not to go to King’s Cross, and then she didn’t ask to see most of her friends over the holiday. Mandy knew she needed to get back in touch with her friends, so she accepted Anthony’s offer to go Christmas shopping together. That hadn’t been too awkward, but it was hard to be awkward around Anthony for long. The first little bit had been, though, which depressed Mandy deeply. She’d expected it, however, and she was glad she and Anthony had talked. Michael, on the other hand, had also asked Mandy if they could spend time together. She had told him she’d meet anytime, but it was secretly a relief when he didn’t answer back with specifics.
Mandy wondered if she was becoming a hermit. She seemed on her way to accomplishing it. Whenever she didn’t confine herself to her room, she seemed to upset someone else in the house, so it was better for her here in her room with Squishy and Su’s letters. It was her turn to write Su, so Mandy sat down at her desk and pulled her quill, ink, and paper out of the first drawer. She dipped her quill in the ink after rolling out the parchment and began to write.
Unsure of a better way to start the letters, she always asked Su how she was doing. It was strange. In person, Su would say the generic “fine”, but on paper, in writing, Su actually opened up to Mandy. She wondered what Su would say this time. Whatever it would say, Su’s response would be thoughtful and honest.
For whatever reason, Mandy went on in the next paragraph to write about how she was feeling about the letters and her frog. She wondered if it would upset Su, because not only was she comparing her to a frog in some ways, but also she was talking about her loneliness and her lackadaisical attitude towards repairing any of the old relationships. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her friends anymore, she wrote; it was that she was terrified of not knowing what to say or how to act around them.
Determined not to focus on how silly she’d feel if Mandy saw Su again after sending this letter, she rolled up the parchment and walked downstairs. Mandy was lucky; the house seemed to be empty, so there was no way she could cause commotion right now. The family owl was sitting on his perch in the reception room, so Mandy tied the parchment to the owl’s leg and gave him his instructions. Once the bird was gone, Mandy went back into her room to talk to Squishy again.
Mandy wasn’t sure she wanted to see the response owl that Su would send, because likely Su would tell her to fix things. Mandy just didn’t know if she had the willpower at this point.
If she truly thought about it, Mandy would realize that her letter to Su was likely her subconscious trying to get her to fix things on her own, or to have someone else to prompt her to do it.
Here she was, not leaving her room and enjoying it, not interested in fixing the friendships she had, and trying to substitute Squishy and letters for real human interaction. Su might point that out, too. Those signs pointed in a far worse direction, but she could still shake it.
Of course, Mandy didn’t want to think about these things. She liked being in the dark, at least for now.