Dreamer

Prompt: A story of three siblings

January 28, 2018

This is a story of three siblings.  Violet the inventor, Klaus the bookworm, and Sunny the Biter.  These siblings once faced a terrible tragedy.  Their house was burned down in a terrible fire, in which their parents perished.  Perished is a word here which means--oh, you already know what perished means?  Wait.  You mean to tell me that this story has already been written?  You know it?
Well, this really puts me in a bind.  I had this whole story planned out.  There was a long in depth plot, with reptiles, windows...maybe a few elevators, or even hospitals.  The villain would have been one of the most wicked to ever live.
Let’s try this again.  Picture a grassy meadow, filled with bright flowers and soft grasses.  Hidden within tufts of grass, imagine a rabbit.  Very good.  Now, below the ground, in a little burrow, live the children of that rabbit.
No, you’re right, this doesn’t make sense.  Why would I be telling a story about three rabbit siblings?  If only you could hear the long sigh I’ve let out.  Let’s try this one more time.  I have cleared my throat.  I have loosened my fingers.  I am ready to begin again.
Once, in a land far from your own--no interrupting, of course I don’t know where you live, it’s just an expression--there lived three identical sisters.  Their hair was the color of onyx and fell far below their shoulders.  Emerald eyes shone brightly from their pearly faces.  And upon their ruby lips was always a hint of a smile.
What’s that?  Why does it sound like they’re made entirely from precious stones?  Please, can I tell the story?  Thank you.  The eldest sister was named Faith, the second was named Hope, and the third was named Charity.
The sisters loved each other deeply.  In fact, the sisters loved no one more than each other.  If Faith was sorrowful, so were Hope and Charity.  If Hope was bursting with joy, so were Faith and Charity.  If Charity wanted a kitten?  Well, unfortunately, they were only allowed one kitten apiece, but Faith and Hope would beg their parents for a new kitten for Charity.
What are you asking?  What’s the point of a story about sisters?  Good riddance, would you just listen!!!
One night, Faith awoke from a nightmare.  Her heart beat wildly, and sweat dripped her face like rain.  Tears fell onto her sisters as she shook them awake, frightened by the monsters she did not remember.
“What is it, dear sister?” asked Hope, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
“A night terror seized my soul and tried to devour it,” Faith answered.  “I do not remember anything else about it, but I know it wanted me dead.”
“Oh no!  Would you like me to sing you to sleep?” Charity asked softly, stroking her sister’s hair.
“No, sister, I just want to sit with you both for awhile.”
“Are you sure?”
“Singing can’t make night terrors leave, Charity.”
Now, while it is true that the sisters loved each other dearly, Charity was the youngest.  Being the youngest, she was considered the “baby” of the family.  As the youngest sister, she was spoiled almost endlessly, by parents, grandparents, and her two older sisters.  Unfortunately, as she was the youngest, she was also not often taken seriously.
Now, what’s that?  I thought you were just going to listen.  Yes, this is a story about three siblings.  The sisters.  There are three of them.  And they are sisters, which makes them siblings.  Please, learn basic genealogy!
What makes you think that the story is mostly about Charity, huh?  Because I’ve said more about her than Faith or Hope?  Has the story even really started yet?  No, it hasn’t.  And why is that?  BECAUSE YOU KEEP INTERRUPTING WITH QUESTIONS!  Are you completely finished now?  Thank you.
As the night wore on, the sisters eventually fell asleep, all curled together in Faith’s bed.
The next day, all seemed well.  Faith shared with Hope what her dream had been about, but didn’t dare speak a word to Charity.  Charity was her youngest sister, and mustn't be frightened by such things.  It was almost as if she had forgotten all about it.
Charity, however, had not forgotten about the dream.  She remembered how scared and fragile her eldest sister had seemed.  All through the day, Charity wondered what it was that had terrorized her sister so.
Then, finally, night came.  The girls crawled under their own covers, in their own beds, and fell fast asleep.
A scream shattered their peaceful slumber.  Faith and Charity bolted up in the beds, to find hope sitting up against her pillows, clutching her ears, still screaming.
What?  You think it was a night terror?  You already knew this would happen?  Aren’t you a little genius….
Faith and Charity ran to their sister.
“Oh, Hope!”  Faith cradled Hope close to her, rocking her gently.
“It was like yours!” cried Hope, sobbing against her sister’s breast.
Charity rubbed her back, wishing she knew a better way to soothe her sister.
“The exact same?”  Faith’s eyes had grown as big as saucers.
Hope nodded, shuddering.
Charity’s hand slowly stopped making circles on her sister’s back.  “What?  You...you told her your dream, but you wouldn’t tell me?”
“I wanted to save you the terror,” Faith explained.
“I’m not a child any longer, Faith.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Will you tell me now then?” she asked hopefully.
Faith and Hope exchanged wary glances.
“It was a lion,” Hope offered.
“He devours our family, hen chases us into a flaming forest,” Faith continued.
“We try to get away.”
“But he will not leave us alone.”
“We try to escape the flames.”
“But they wrap themselves around us.”
“We long to throw ourselves into the river to quench our flames.”
“But the river boils hotter than the flames themselves.”
Charity felt a pang in her chest as she saw the anguish written on her sister’s faces.  Why would they hide this from her?  How could she comfort them, if she did not know?  Sighing softly, she wrapped her arms around her sisters, and they spent the rest of that night in Hope’s bed, sleeping peacefully.
Huh, what now?  Oh, Charity is going to have the lion dream the next night?  Man, I just can’t get anything past you, can I?
The day after Hope’s night terror was much the same as the day before.  Uneventful.
That night, however, things were a bit different.  Charity lay curled up in bed, falling asleep nearly as soon as her eyes were closed.  Her dreams were sweet and peaceful.  Then, from the depths of her dream, strode a tall slender woman, clothed in a long green gown.
“Hello,” Charity greeted her, for she was not a rude girl, not even in dreams.
The woman smiled serenely, and sat down on a soft patch of grass.  “Hello.”
“Who are you?”
“I am of no consequence.  However, I know you, Charity.”
Charity should have been alarmed.  She should have sent the woman away.  But it was just a dream.  What can harm a person in a dream?
“Your sisters,” the green gowned woman went on, “they forget that you aren’t a little child, don’t they?”
“Well...yes.”
“They hide things from you.”
“Like the night terror?”
The woman nodded serenely, her eyes wide and sorrowful.  “I’m sure it hurts you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“They aren’t trying to protect you.  They’re trying to keep you blinded.”
“But...they’re my sisters...they love me.”
“Yes, yes, of course they do.  They just don’t love you enough to understand.”  The woman wiped a single tear from her eye.  “But don’t worry, Charity...I’ll always understand.  I’ll always be here for you–in your dreams.”
Charity awoke with a start.  What an odd dream.  What?  You thought she would have the lion dream next, since Faith and Hope had already had it?  Shows what you know.
The entire next day, Charity’s mind was crowded by thoughts of her dream.  To her, some dreams held weight and deep meaning.  And as night drew near, the youngest sister wondered if she would dream of the beautiful woman in the green gown once more.
Faith, Hope and Charity talked together about their days, as they always did before bed, but Charity’s mind was nagged by thoughts of the woman in the green gown.
“Well, I suppose we’d best go to bed now,” Charity suggested.
“But, Charity, we never go to bed so early,” Hope protested.
Charity faked a yawn.  “Yes, but I’m so tired.”
“Well, okay, if you need to go to bed, we won’t keep you up.”  Faith hugged her sister, and watched as she crawled into bed.
She was soon fast asleep, though there was no woman in a green gown.  Instead, she dreamed of long rides in carriages, handsome young men, and peaceful gardens.  It was until night was nearly over, and dawn had nearly broken that the woman in the green gown appeared once more.
“Why, Charity, have you been thinking of me?”
Charity laughed.  “You’re hard to forget.  But what was your name again?”
“Oh, you!” Laughed the woman in return, but she ignored Charity’s question.  “How was your day?”
“My day went well.  My sisters and I hosted a tea party for a few of our friends.”  Her eyes twinkled as she shared the details of her day with the woman in the green gown.  “Then, like always, we talked together about our day before bed.  I wanted to see if you would be there to see me again, so I went to bed a bit early.”
“And they didn’t even try to stop you, did they?”
“Well...no, I guess not.”
“They didn’t even care that you wanted to go to bed before them...did they?”
Charity thought about it for a moment.  Had they really not cared?
“They probably don’t even care about you, do they?”
“Wait, that’s not true,” the girl protested, although a bit weakly.
“That may be,” the woman in the green gown amended.  “But they don’t understand.”
There was a pang in Charity’s chest.  “They don’t?”
The woman in the green gown shook her head sadly, and reached out to embrace Charity.  “No, you poor girl.  How could they?  You’re sweet and innocent...and what are they?”
“Th-they’re my sisters.”  Charity pulled back, and as she did, she awoke.
Her sisters were already awake and bustling around, getting ready for the day.
“Well, good morning, sleepy head!” Faith greeted her youngest sister.
“Why did you wake me up?” Charity asked, hurt blooming within her.
“We wanted to let you rest.”  Hope smiled sweetly.
“You looked so peaceful,” Faith explained.
“Oh.”  So, Charity got up and went about her day.
But, just like the day before, all she could think about was the woman in the green gown.
Hmm?  You’ve been so quiet I thought maybe you’d given up asking questions.  Of course I’m not going to answer them, you can just sit back and enjoy the story, without all of these silly questions.
Oh, you think I’m silly?  I assure, you, I am far from silly!  Now just shush and listen!
The next several weeks were filled with dreams of the woman in the green gown.  She was so kind, and sweet, and beautiful, and seemed to understand Charity when no one else did.
The more the woman in the green gown visited Charity, the more Charity wanted to spend time with her.  And the more time Charity spent in her dreams with the woman in the green gown, the less loved she felt by her sisters.
One night, she sat on her bed, drawing a picture of the woman in the green gown.  She wished she could remember the woman’s features better.  Her sisters sat together by the fireplace, talking and giggling.  Bitterness rattled in Charity’s heart, like a cough you can’t be rid of, and she glared down at her artwork.
“Charity?  Do you want to join us?” Faith asked.
“No, I’m okay,” Charity answered.  She turned her sketchbook one way, then the other, perfecting the slight upturn of the woman’s lips, the way her hair fell delicately on the sides of her face, the twinkle in her eyes.
Hope sat down on the edge of Charity’s bed.  “What are you drawing?”
“Oh, just a picture.”
“Can I see?”
Charity glowered at her sister.  “If I wanted you to see, I would have shown you.”
“Oh.”  The hurt was clear in her sister’s voice.
“Charity, why don’t you ever talk to us anymore?”  Faith asked, resting her hand on Hope’s shoulder.
“Because you never listen.”
This didn’t sound quite right to Faith, and her face took on an odd expression.  Charity noticed.
“And now look at that!  See how you’re looking at me?  Why do you look at me like that?!”  She threw her sketchbook and pencils on the ground, one pencil landing so hard it broke in two.
“Charity, you need to calm down,” Faith held her hands out toward her sister.
“No!  I don’t need to calm down!  You need to stop treating me like a baby!”
“I’m sorry if you’ve felt like we treat you that way,” Hope said softly.  “We never mean to.”
“Well you do!  You tell each other about the lion dream, but you don’t tell me.  You won’t let me sing you to sleep after you have a nightmare.  You don’t even care when I go to bed early!”
“Charity, that isn’t true and you know it!”  This was from Faith.
“Yes it is!  You think I’m a stupid, dumb child!  You think I don’t see how you look at me.”
“We’re worried about you is all.”  Hope rested a hand on Charity’s shoulder, but Charity shoved it away.
“Worried about me?  No you aren’t!  You’re just worried that I’m growing more aware of how you two treat me!”
“Charity, stop!”
“No, you stop!”  And with that, Charity ran from the room.

That night, Charity ran to the woman in the green gown, falling into her arms.  “They don’t love me!  They don’t care!”
“Oh, child.”  The woman stroked Charity’s ebony hair.  “I know they don’t.  They never did, did they?”
Charity shook her head, tears spilling down her face in torrents.
“It makes you sad, doesn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Does it make you angry as well, child?”
There was a pause, but Charity nodded her head, still sobbing.
“Do you want revenge?”
Charity’s emerald eyes met the eyes of the woman in the green gown.  Did she want revenge?
“Do you want revenge?” the question came again.
“I-”
“You do or you don’t child.  You know that revenge is the only way your hurt and pain will be satisfied, don’t you?”
“It is?”
“Yes, indeed.  Listen to me, child, for I am older and wiser than you.  I know these things.”
Charity pressed her hand against her chest.  “Then yes, I want revenge.”
The woman in the green gown smiled.  “Then revenge you shall have, my child.  Come, stand.  Be the strong woman I know you are.”
Charity stood, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.
“Shoulders back.”  The woman in the green gown pushed back Charity’s shoulders.  “Chest out.  Chin up.  Look as brave and as strong as you can.”
Charity followed all of these instructions, and she felt as strong and as beautiful as she had always viewed her older sisters.  “Now what?” she asked, turning her head regally.
“Now, listen carefully to the words I tell you.”  Leaning close, she hissed quiet words in the girl’s ear.  “Do you remember them?”
Charity nodded.
“Good.  Now, when you wake up, go to your sisters, wake them, and say those words to them.”
“What do they mean?”
“Don’t concern yourself with what they mean, just say them.  Your revenge will be had.”
Charity awoke with a start, drenched in sweat, mumbling words.  “Soro cara, soror prope….”  She jumped from her bed and ran to her sisters.  “Faith, Hope!”
They sat up, rubbing their eyes.
“Charity?” Hope asked.
“Are you having trouble sleeping?” Faith yawned.
“No.  Cara soror, soror prope est. Oculi smaragdo labia lapis sardius et capilli schoham, margarita a cute. Statuam fieri et ipsum!”
The words were Latin.  And they meant nothing good.  Dear reader, you’ve been awfully silent.  Are you still there?  Good.
Her sisters froze in place, and began to change.  Their skin became hard and shining luminescent.  Their hair hardened into shiny black chunks.  Their lips froze, parted, and the dim light shone off of them.  Then, finally, their eyes took on an unnatural shine.
They fell onto the ground with a clatter, now small enough to be picked up and kept in a pocket.  Their skin was made of real pearls.  Their hair was made of real onyx.  Their lips were made of real rubies.  Their eyes were made of real emeralds.
Charity picked them up, her lips parted in surprise.  She suddenly understood the words she had spoken.
Sister dear, sister near. Eyes of emerald, lips of ruby, hair of onyx, skin of pearl.  Become a statue of thyself
“No….” she breathed softly, holding her older sisters in her hands.  “Faith?  Hope?”  They didn’t answer her.
Every dream she’d been having the past few weeks flooded her mind.  The smiles of the woman in the green gown.  Her laugh.  Her gentle touches and affirming words.
It was as if all of the air was sucked from Charity’s lungs.  “It was all a lie,” she said softly.  “How could I have been so blind?”
Carrying her sisters to bed, she curled up, and cried herself to sleep.
“Hello.”  It was the woman in the green gown.
“Get away from me!” Charity screeched.
“Is that anyway to talk to the woman who aided you in your revenge?”
“There was nothing to avenge!  There never was...and now all I have of my sisters, who never stopped loving me, are statues that fit in the palm of my hand.”
“But how did they treat you?  Why did they tell each other their nightmare, but not you?  Why didn’t they–”
“Tell me how to get my sisters back,” Charity snarled.  “Tell me, or I’ll destroy you!”
“Destroy me?”  The woman laughed.  “How can you destroy me?  I know more words and incantations than you could ever imagine.  With simple words, I taught you an incantation to destroy your sisters.  With just as simple words, I could end you.”
“You can’t end me.  Not in my own mind.  I refuse.  Tell me how to bring back my sisters, or I will end you.  And I believe it’s time for you to tell me your name.”
A tiny glimmer of fear shone in the woman’s eyes.  “My name is Cozbi.”
It was a dream, and Charity didn’t need to ask what the name meant.  She already knew.  Liar.
“Why should I tell you how to bring back your sisters?  You clearly didn’t love them much, or you would never have wanted revenge to begin with.”
“Because now I’ve learned my lesson.  And you’d best learn yours.”
The woman’s eyes sparkled fearfully.  “Confess your sorrow to them, confess your regret.  Whisper your love, and cover them in their blankets.  When the moon rises tomorrow night, your sisters will be whole once more.”
“And if they aren’t?”
“Th-then you may destroy me,” Cozbi promised.
When Charity awoke, she did as she had been told.  She told her parents that Faith and Hope were not feeling well, and took all of her sister’s meals to their room. She promised the little statues that she would never again treat them so unkindly.  She told them of her deep love.  And she waited for the moon to rise.
When the moon rose, she was overjoyed to see the blankets on her sister’s beds rise and her sisters sit up, wide-eyed and terrified.
“You’re alive!”  Charity threw arms around first Hope, then Faith.  “I love you!  I am so sorry I’ve been such a horrid beast.”
They both embraced her, forgiving her.
“Our nightmares...we lied.  We dreamed that you...that you turned us into statues.  We were too afraid to tell you.  We didn’t want to frighten you into thinking you would do such a horrible thing.”  Faith confessed.
“I’ll never hide something like that from you again, Charity!” Hope swore.
And that night, they went to sleep, each expecting to have a night filled with sweet, happy dreams.
Hmm?  No, this isn’t the end, just a bit more.
Charity fell asleep, and the woman in the green gown came to her once more.
“Why are you here?” Charity asked coldly.
“I would like to teach you,” Cozbi explained.
“Teach me?  Teach me what?”
“Magic.  Incantations.  You are so talented, and I believe with training, you could become a powerful witch.”
“No.”
“No?  Why, Charity, I am shocked.”
“Why would I want to be a powerful witch?” Charity asked.
“You would have power.  You could crumble mountains with a single word.  There is a food you want?  All you must do is speak simple words.  You have been wronged?  Revenge is in your palm.  Your loved ones have been harmed?  You can avenge them with little effort.”
“But why?  I have sisters who love me, and who I love.  I have a warm bed to sleep in at night.  I have more than enough to eat from my mother and father.  I can close my eyes at night, knowing nothing I have done has left another permanently harmed.  Love is the greatest power I desire.”
“You are a curious child,” the woman mused.
“I wish I’d seen all this before.”
“I’m sure you do.  And what shall I do?”
“Go from my dreams.  Find a new mind to occupy.  Or better yet, learn of love yourself, and visit the broken hearts, healing them instead.”
Cozbi rested her hand on Charity’s.  “And then what shall I call myself?”  Her eyes were deep and sad.  “I cannot go by the name Cozbi, if I no longer lie.”
Charity didn’t have to think.  It was a dream, and when in dreams people often know so much more than they do when they’re awake.  “Amara.  It means love.”
Cozbi closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  When she opened them, her eyes were soft and gentle.  “I had thought to teach you of power.  But you’ve taught me instead.  I visited your sisters long ago.  I tried to tell them of the power I could teach them.  They sent me away, angrily.  But you, you shared with me true power.  Not incantations.  Not magic or vengeance.  Love.”
“Goodbye, Amara.”
“Goodbye, Charity.”
And when Charity awoke the next morning all was well.

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” I Corinthians 13:13 KJV

©2018 Katie Holm