Poker Face 1: Second Person
Prompt: Second Person
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Nine
Word Count: 932
Notes: Takes place during Part Three, from a different perspective - spoilery if you haven't finished reading, though since I finished in March, you should be done by now. The first book mentioned is The Going-To-Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton.
You're not certain that this is the right house.
You think it is, based on what you've heard: mention of the name Doran, discussion of a green-skinned woman, mutterings about ghosts and their destruction.
It fits.
It has to fit.
You're not certain what you'll do if it doesn't, if you're wrong, if after all this searching you still haven't found your twin sister, the other half of your soul.
You take a deep breath. If it's not her, you'll find her eventually. You will.
Then, hiding yourself in your invisibility where another person might use a cloak, you walk up the steps.
You pause at the door - is it locked? The house is clearly occupied, unlike some of the rumors you heard. Carefully, you try the doorknob. You grin. She's left it open.
You slither quietly inside the house and let the door close behind you. The noise is loud enough to make you jump; even though you were trying to be gentle, the door is old and heavy and makes a dull thud when it closes. You shake your head at yourself. You used to be better at sneaking.
There's a moment of silence, then a voice from the back of the house. You stop breathing. It's her.
You move to the side, out of sight of the mirror (better to reveal yourself in person) and wait.
She's so different than she was when you last saw her and the thought makes you stop. Her hair is in a practical braid, not curled and coifed as she used to wear it. She's wearing jeans; you've never seen her in pants before. She's pregnant. You quickly glance at her left hand - there's no ring - and then at her face. That is the most shocking of all. She's harder than she was, worn down by age and stress, a hidden sadness lurking in her eyes that is plain as day to you even though you know no one else will see it.
The sister you knew would not have looked like this.
This is the moment you realize that the sister you knew no longer exists. She has changed, become this unfamiliar creature, still your sister but different, oh so different. You know why she has changed and you close your eyes in pain. She has changed because of you. Because you insisted on sneaking off to go find your girlfriend, because you walked right into the path of a mad zombie with a gun, because you were resurrected so soon that she never got to talk to your ghost, because you couldn't follow for so long because you needed to heal - and when you did, the path was cold and finding her became a detective hunt of hidden clues that has taken years to follow.
You changed when you died and came back to life. You hadn't realized how much it would change her too.
And now you don't know what to do.
After a moment you realize she's talking, and you hastily look down at yourself to see nothing there. She can't see you, so who is she talking to? There's no one else...oh. A ghost. It's got to be a ghost.
She gets the mail and returns to the house, and you're just considering whether to show yourself at all when she suddenly starts yelling, about her two children and her pregnancy and her boyfriend not being around and her job. When the child upstairs starts screaming, you realize how you can help.
You sneak past her to the stairs (staying low to avoid being seen in the mirror) and creep up them. She doesn't seem to notice, absorbed as she is in her fight with the ghost.
It's not exactly hard to follow the screaming, so you find the nursery with no trouble at all. When you open the door, the little girl looks up at you. "Mommy?" she asks.
You think for a second and then remember what your sister said. "No, Desdemona, I'm not your mommy. I'm a special fairy who's come to put you to sleep." Fairy? Really? You shake your head at yourself. It doesn't matter what word you use, just so long as this works.
"Really?"
"Really really."
She toddles over to a pile of books on the floor and grabs one, holding it up. "Read!"
And grinning, you obey. You read the book, amused at the pictures (especially the animals sharing a tub - that's got to be one large tub), slightly confused as to why they exercise after they bathe, but glad that it seems to be working, that the rhyming words seem to be lulling Desdemona to sleep.
When you finish, she demands another. So you tuck her into bed and pull out Goodnight Moon - an old favorite. As you read, she slowly drops off and by the time you've said goodnight to everything, she's out.
You smile as you put down the book.
The door opens quietly, undoubtedly to avoid waking Desdemona, and you see your sister. She smiles in such relief at the sight of her daughter already asleep, at one less thing for her to deal with, and you make a decision.
You won't tell her you're here. Not yet.
Instead, you'll stay invisible. And you'll do everything within your power to help your sister stay sane. With three children (well, two, but it'll be three soon enough) that's not going to be the easiest thing in the world, but you're up to the task.
For your sister, you can do anything.
Universe: The Boolpropian Round Robin Legacy: Generation Nine
Word Count: 932
Notes: Takes place during Part Three, from a different perspective - spoilery if you haven't finished reading, though since I finished in March, you should be done by now. The first book mentioned is The Going-To-Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton.
You're not certain that this is the right house.
You think it is, based on what you've heard: mention of the name Doran, discussion of a green-skinned woman, mutterings about ghosts and their destruction.
It fits.
It has to fit.
You're not certain what you'll do if it doesn't, if you're wrong, if after all this searching you still haven't found your twin sister, the other half of your soul.
You take a deep breath. If it's not her, you'll find her eventually. You will.
Then, hiding yourself in your invisibility where another person might use a cloak, you walk up the steps.
You pause at the door - is it locked? The house is clearly occupied, unlike some of the rumors you heard. Carefully, you try the doorknob. You grin. She's left it open.
You slither quietly inside the house and let the door close behind you. The noise is loud enough to make you jump; even though you were trying to be gentle, the door is old and heavy and makes a dull thud when it closes. You shake your head at yourself. You used to be better at sneaking.
There's a moment of silence, then a voice from the back of the house. You stop breathing. It's her.
You move to the side, out of sight of the mirror (better to reveal yourself in person) and wait.
She's so different than she was when you last saw her and the thought makes you stop. Her hair is in a practical braid, not curled and coifed as she used to wear it. She's wearing jeans; you've never seen her in pants before. She's pregnant. You quickly glance at her left hand - there's no ring - and then at her face. That is the most shocking of all. She's harder than she was, worn down by age and stress, a hidden sadness lurking in her eyes that is plain as day to you even though you know no one else will see it.
The sister you knew would not have looked like this.
This is the moment you realize that the sister you knew no longer exists. She has changed, become this unfamiliar creature, still your sister but different, oh so different. You know why she has changed and you close your eyes in pain. She has changed because of you. Because you insisted on sneaking off to go find your girlfriend, because you walked right into the path of a mad zombie with a gun, because you were resurrected so soon that she never got to talk to your ghost, because you couldn't follow for so long because you needed to heal - and when you did, the path was cold and finding her became a detective hunt of hidden clues that has taken years to follow.
You changed when you died and came back to life. You hadn't realized how much it would change her too.
And now you don't know what to do.
After a moment you realize she's talking, and you hastily look down at yourself to see nothing there. She can't see you, so who is she talking to? There's no one else...oh. A ghost. It's got to be a ghost.
She gets the mail and returns to the house, and you're just considering whether to show yourself at all when she suddenly starts yelling, about her two children and her pregnancy and her boyfriend not being around and her job. When the child upstairs starts screaming, you realize how you can help.
You sneak past her to the stairs (staying low to avoid being seen in the mirror) and creep up them. She doesn't seem to notice, absorbed as she is in her fight with the ghost.
It's not exactly hard to follow the screaming, so you find the nursery with no trouble at all. When you open the door, the little girl looks up at you. "Mommy?" she asks.
You think for a second and then remember what your sister said. "No, Desdemona, I'm not your mommy. I'm a special fairy who's come to put you to sleep." Fairy? Really? You shake your head at yourself. It doesn't matter what word you use, just so long as this works.
"Really?"
"Really really."
She toddles over to a pile of books on the floor and grabs one, holding it up. "Read!"
And grinning, you obey. You read the book, amused at the pictures (especially the animals sharing a tub - that's got to be one large tub), slightly confused as to why they exercise after they bathe, but glad that it seems to be working, that the rhyming words seem to be lulling Desdemona to sleep.
When you finish, she demands another. So you tuck her into bed and pull out Goodnight Moon - an old favorite. As you read, she slowly drops off and by the time you've said goodnight to everything, she's out.
You smile as you put down the book.
The door opens quietly, undoubtedly to avoid waking Desdemona, and you see your sister. She smiles in such relief at the sight of her daughter already asleep, at one less thing for her to deal with, and you make a decision.
You won't tell her you're here. Not yet.
Instead, you'll stay invisible. And you'll do everything within your power to help your sister stay sane. With three children (well, two, but it'll be three soon enough) that's not going to be the easiest thing in the world, but you're up to the task.
For your sister, you can do anything.