Post by Zuyuri on Apr 8, 2017 18:58:53 GMT
BELLEROUGE LOUISIANA, 1989
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered to witness the union of Wendy Seddon and Joaquin Mondragon."
The congregation sat at St. Rose's Cathedral staring at the couple. Wendy and Joaquin were a picture of different worlds coming together; hers being the daughter of an English banker and his of being on the sides of war. Both had met in Louisiana and had bonded over a common love of quieter lives. The stained glass bounced off of his decorative medals, splashing a rainbow on her demure cap-sleeved wedding dress. The cathedral length veil had a sun=shaped madela embroidered in the very tip, and it was constantly being fidgeted by bridesmaids. Even her bouquet of sunflowers, which matched his medals, seemed to glow.
As they exchanged vows, blue eyes looking into green, Wendy was surprised how Joaquin, being so admired for his courage and could have easily taken any woman because of his reputation for being a hero, had chosen to marry into her family. He was even choosing to take her name over the name of his father, who had died defending the border. He was every bit as handsome as he was when he wooed her. Part of her wondered if some of the congregation members were jealous. Well, with his smile and looks, who wouldn't be? She was beaming, glad to know that her family's biggest secret was safe. For now.
Joaquin slid the band onto her finger. The band had been one of his medals, refashioned. He was giving it all up to settle with her. That was all that mattered.
______________________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 1999
It was so hard to believe that 10 years into their marriage, she had finally come. Joaquin had taken time off from training soon-to-be soldiers to see her. He had been gone for so long that Wendy wasn't sure if he would be the same. He had let the fame of his endeavors slowly consume him, to the point where she wondered if him signing pictures was just to get attention.
When he came in through the door, he was holding his lucky 'sombrero'. It had been the momento of his father, and he always wore it for good luck. He was beaming when Wendy greeted him.
"Hey, Wendy," he grinned. He leaned his cheek forward, smelling like tobacco flowers and bergamot. She chuckled and pecked it expectedly. "So, is she here/"
Wendy nodded upstairs. "Now you don;t have to worry about just seeing photographs."
The door to the nursery was highlighted by a quilted sun. In purple stitches was the name of the little girl. Inside, the baby;s room was painted a pastel pink. The changing table, rocking chair, and shelves were an off-white. The crib was carved in a Spanish style. A mobile depicting small figures dangled above, where a happy face in the center of a sun spun overhead. Cooing in the crib was the product of Wendy and Joaquin's love night before he returned to work. She was rosy-faced, and her hair fanned out. It was a golden blonde, glistening in the lighting. Her large green eyes were fixated on the smiling face, and she did her best to imitate the smile.
Every time she saw her daughter, Wendy's eyes teared. She was the most perfect, beautiful baby in the world. The baby had taking to chewing on her foot, to which she shook her head with a laugh and reached forward. The baby let out a squeal of delight, smiling up at her own widely grinning mother.
Joaquin looked at the picture with an unreadable expression. It was a girl. He had wanted a boy, but flexibility would have to suffice. His daughter's chubby hands were groping at Wendy's blonde hair, and she was giggling and cooing contentedly. What would she think of him? Would she cry if he held her? Would she recognize him as 'Daddy'? He stiffened as his wife turned to face her towards him.
"Say hello to Rachel Lily," she cooed.
Joaquin's face melted into a smile. "She's the happiest baby I've seen," he said wistfully. Rachel was babbling at him, talking in her own language. He reached a hand for her, and she gripped it tightly. Next thing he knew, he was cradling the tiny blonde baby, who was reaching up for his combrero. He chuckled. "Oh, okay," he mumbled, taking it off with a free hand. Two things fell to the floor, which Wendy collected. One was a autographed picture reading,
TO RACHEL,
WITH LOVE,
JOAQUIN.
The second was something she had never expected him to obtain. It was a bejeweled circlet. At first, she thought was a bracelet, but as he brought it up, she saw the symmetric designs, complete with the large teardrop shaped diamonds, weren't meant to be worn on the wrist. Joaquin didn't have the heart to tell her where he obtained it. He'd say it was from the money he earned helping out with the veterans. He picked up the fallen tiara and placed it on her head,
'There you go. A little princess of sunshine."
Rachel's response was a happy giggle.
____________________________________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 2000
Wendy heard the screams from Rachel's room. Joaquin had gone on duty as usual. A baby's cry was one of the many sounds that everyone would know was an automatic distress call, no ifs ands or buts. She got up from the bed and ran down the hall, hearing her daughter's cries getting louder. She swore she had gained super speed with how fast she ran. A smiling sun greeted her, and she burst the doors open.
A stranger was hovering over Rachel. Wendy had never seen the woman leering over her daughter. Rachel's hair was glowing neon yellow and the lady was singing, her weathered hands and face rejuvenating in the glow. She wasn't singing any cliched lullaby. No, she was singing the very song a mother would sing to her child;
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are..."
As the scissors, glinting in the cold moon, made ready to sever a lock of the baby's hair, Wendy just shouted one word. A word she uttered too late as the blade snipped, taking the glowing lock.
"NO!"
Wendy closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. She hadn't charged her ability in the sun that day, and it was taking so much will to concentrate on it. Sweat was beading on her forehead. She focused on images of summer time, of the heat in Bellerouge, of seeing Rachel laughing. Small sparkles tingled in her hands. Her hair was itching and tingling, and it escaped from her bun. Power brimmed in her as she glared at the woman, who was retreating back to the nursery window. In her haste, the attempted robber dropped the hair, her youthful appearance withering back to old, complete with graying hair and her eyes sinming into deep sockets, almost like a skull. Wendy rushed forward to try and catch the lady, who was climbing over the window seat and firing a hate-filled glare in her direction. In a flash of her cape, she had disappeared.
______________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 2006
Wendy made a routine to calm her anxiety every night. She had moved Rachel's crib out of the nursery and into the room like it had been when she was only a few months old. She would check that window every hour before she went to bed. That woman would return, try to steal some of the legendary Seddon's hair. How did that secret get out?
Rachel had turned six by this point. The baby nursery was no longer that, and was instead the bedroom for their growing daughter. A girl who liked to put poster paint on her hands and smack it on the walls. She was also asleep in her bedroom, her chest rising and falling. Wendy closed the door and was about to go down to the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door. Curious, she opened it, frowning at the men in blue.
"Excuse me, is this the residence of Wendy and Joaquin Seddon?"
Wendy stammered, "Well, yes, it is. Whatever is the trouble."
The officer sighed. "Ma'am, what time does your husband return home?"
"Oh, it's...consistently around eight or so..."
"I see. Well, ma'am, I'm afraid we have some bad news. We got a call from the jeweler's on Magnolia Road. They say a few military medals AND a baby tiara costing, in total, one thousand dollars altogether, have been stolen. We just ran through some footage and...well..." He slid a photograph towards her. Wendy had to look at it once. Twice. Three times. That couldn;t be her husband tucking medals into a satchel. It couldn't. She just stared at it,completely crushed. Joaquin hadn't earned those medals at all. He wasn't going to the military schools to help train professionals. He had been a scammer all this time...and their daughter...
Wendy returned the picture, mumbling her thanks before shutting the door. She strolled quickly into the kitchen, brewing a cup of Earl Grey. The smell of bergamont filled her nose. Bergamont. Joaquin's cologne. She suddenly didn't feel like drinking it. It didn't matter if her ties to London remained in the brew, it was still there.
The back door shut. Joaquin came walking in. Wendy stirred her tea, pretending to be focused on that. He looked dishelved, like he had been trying to get away. His eyes were shifting back and forth. He sat with a sigh, and Wendy walked over, mug in hand.
"Rough day/" she asked.
Joaquin massaged his temples. 'Yeah. The recruits are getting dumber and dumber. I mean, who doesn't know that a seargant major is a above a staff seargant?"
Wendy's frown deepened. The ranks were completely reversed in that statement. The police's findings, the mix-ups, the medals...it was all making sense. He had lied to her. "You know, the police came by today," she said it casually, not bothering to correct his mistake
"Oh?"
"They said they saw a shoplifter stealing medals. Military medals."
'What? Why would anyone..."
Wendy set down her mug. She was trying very hard to keep herself under control. "Joaquin, where were you before you came home?"
'Where I always go, Wendy. I stopped by that Pendulum to get a coffee. Come on, we've been married for how long, you should know that!"
"And where exactly is this Pendulum? Come to think of it, I looked it up and not a single search came back positive." Her blue eyes narrowed. As Joaquin stood up to walk away, she noticed he was carrying a backpack. A backpack that jingled every time he walked. She stepped forward. "What's in the bag, Joaquin?"
Joaquin froze. He turned back with his expression unreadable. "Excuse me?"
Wendy folded her arms. "I said what's in the bag?"
Joaquin just stared her down. "We'll talk about it in the morning. I'm going to bed." He had just turned before Wendy grabbed the backpack. He in turn grabbed the other strap. Both of them pulled at it, shouting and yelling at one another to let go. In the struggle, the bag strap ripped and the contents spilled onto the floor. About fifty medals spilled out, clinking like coins. The ribbons tangled over one another. Among the medals included ropes of rubies, and a now recently shattered mirror encrusted with emeralds and aquamarines. Wendy looked at the contents, then at the bewildered Joaquin. Everything could be spelled in her eyes.
Joaquin spoke first with a raised voice. "Do you think you're the only one afraid of that hag who tried to hurt Rachel?"
Wendy scoffed. "Like you cared about her in the first place! You weren't there when Rachel was attacked!"
Joaquin growled in frustration. "You know that demons are crawling every where. This town...it's not regular! You're not regular, neither is Rachel!"
Wendy was taken aback. Not regular. He could have called her something worse. "Joaquin, open your eyes! This town is far from regular! I thought you knew that when you married me!"
"You never told me about your power, Wendy!" Joaquin argued.
Wendy glowered. "You never told me your medals were shoplifted! What about that tiara you gave Rachel? Did you steal that, too?! TELL ME!"
Joaquin's angry expression melted into guilt. He couldn't lie to her anymore. She had learned the truth. He turned his back to her, answering her question quietly. "Yes."
Wendy sobbed out, "Why?"
"Because..." Frustration and sadness waivered in his voice, "because Rachel is, was, the only ray of sunshine I have." He stomped upstairs, leaving Wendy to sink into a chair and cry.
______________________
"Mommy, where's Daddy going?"
Rachel had asked that question after seeing something she didn't think she'd see. She was coming downstairs to get a bowl of cereal when she had stopped. Mommy had been sitting at the kitchen table with a hand to her face. Her tea was still steaming. But the biggest shock was that Mommy was crying. Crying like she had hurt someone. But where was Daddy? The window was shut, which meant it took all her childish strength to open the shutters. Joaquin was walking from the door, his lucky hat placed on his head, not once looking back to wave or say good bye or anything.
Rachel asked it, to which then Mommy pressed her tear-streaked face into her hair, continuing to cry.
"Now, listen to me...Sunshine. Daddy....Daddy won't be coming home anymore."
"Dearly Beloved, we are gathered to witness the union of Wendy Seddon and Joaquin Mondragon."
The congregation sat at St. Rose's Cathedral staring at the couple. Wendy and Joaquin were a picture of different worlds coming together; hers being the daughter of an English banker and his of being on the sides of war. Both had met in Louisiana and had bonded over a common love of quieter lives. The stained glass bounced off of his decorative medals, splashing a rainbow on her demure cap-sleeved wedding dress. The cathedral length veil had a sun=shaped madela embroidered in the very tip, and it was constantly being fidgeted by bridesmaids. Even her bouquet of sunflowers, which matched his medals, seemed to glow.
As they exchanged vows, blue eyes looking into green, Wendy was surprised how Joaquin, being so admired for his courage and could have easily taken any woman because of his reputation for being a hero, had chosen to marry into her family. He was even choosing to take her name over the name of his father, who had died defending the border. He was every bit as handsome as he was when he wooed her. Part of her wondered if some of the congregation members were jealous. Well, with his smile and looks, who wouldn't be? She was beaming, glad to know that her family's biggest secret was safe. For now.
Joaquin slid the band onto her finger. The band had been one of his medals, refashioned. He was giving it all up to settle with her. That was all that mattered.
______________________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 1999
It was so hard to believe that 10 years into their marriage, she had finally come. Joaquin had taken time off from training soon-to-be soldiers to see her. He had been gone for so long that Wendy wasn't sure if he would be the same. He had let the fame of his endeavors slowly consume him, to the point where she wondered if him signing pictures was just to get attention.
When he came in through the door, he was holding his lucky 'sombrero'. It had been the momento of his father, and he always wore it for good luck. He was beaming when Wendy greeted him.
"Hey, Wendy," he grinned. He leaned his cheek forward, smelling like tobacco flowers and bergamot. She chuckled and pecked it expectedly. "So, is she here/"
Wendy nodded upstairs. "Now you don;t have to worry about just seeing photographs."
The door to the nursery was highlighted by a quilted sun. In purple stitches was the name of the little girl. Inside, the baby;s room was painted a pastel pink. The changing table, rocking chair, and shelves were an off-white. The crib was carved in a Spanish style. A mobile depicting small figures dangled above, where a happy face in the center of a sun spun overhead. Cooing in the crib was the product of Wendy and Joaquin's love night before he returned to work. She was rosy-faced, and her hair fanned out. It was a golden blonde, glistening in the lighting. Her large green eyes were fixated on the smiling face, and she did her best to imitate the smile.
Every time she saw her daughter, Wendy's eyes teared. She was the most perfect, beautiful baby in the world. The baby had taking to chewing on her foot, to which she shook her head with a laugh and reached forward. The baby let out a squeal of delight, smiling up at her own widely grinning mother.
Joaquin looked at the picture with an unreadable expression. It was a girl. He had wanted a boy, but flexibility would have to suffice. His daughter's chubby hands were groping at Wendy's blonde hair, and she was giggling and cooing contentedly. What would she think of him? Would she cry if he held her? Would she recognize him as 'Daddy'? He stiffened as his wife turned to face her towards him.
"Say hello to Rachel Lily," she cooed.
Joaquin's face melted into a smile. "She's the happiest baby I've seen," he said wistfully. Rachel was babbling at him, talking in her own language. He reached a hand for her, and she gripped it tightly. Next thing he knew, he was cradling the tiny blonde baby, who was reaching up for his combrero. He chuckled. "Oh, okay," he mumbled, taking it off with a free hand. Two things fell to the floor, which Wendy collected. One was a autographed picture reading,
TO RACHEL,
WITH LOVE,
JOAQUIN.
The second was something she had never expected him to obtain. It was a bejeweled circlet. At first, she thought was a bracelet, but as he brought it up, she saw the symmetric designs, complete with the large teardrop shaped diamonds, weren't meant to be worn on the wrist. Joaquin didn't have the heart to tell her where he obtained it. He'd say it was from the money he earned helping out with the veterans. He picked up the fallen tiara and placed it on her head,
'There you go. A little princess of sunshine."
Rachel's response was a happy giggle.
____________________________________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 2000
Wendy heard the screams from Rachel's room. Joaquin had gone on duty as usual. A baby's cry was one of the many sounds that everyone would know was an automatic distress call, no ifs ands or buts. She got up from the bed and ran down the hall, hearing her daughter's cries getting louder. She swore she had gained super speed with how fast she ran. A smiling sun greeted her, and she burst the doors open.
A stranger was hovering over Rachel. Wendy had never seen the woman leering over her daughter. Rachel's hair was glowing neon yellow and the lady was singing, her weathered hands and face rejuvenating in the glow. She wasn't singing any cliched lullaby. No, she was singing the very song a mother would sing to her child;
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are..."
As the scissors, glinting in the cold moon, made ready to sever a lock of the baby's hair, Wendy just shouted one word. A word she uttered too late as the blade snipped, taking the glowing lock.
"NO!"
Wendy closed her eyes tightly and concentrated. She hadn't charged her ability in the sun that day, and it was taking so much will to concentrate on it. Sweat was beading on her forehead. She focused on images of summer time, of the heat in Bellerouge, of seeing Rachel laughing. Small sparkles tingled in her hands. Her hair was itching and tingling, and it escaped from her bun. Power brimmed in her as she glared at the woman, who was retreating back to the nursery window. In her haste, the attempted robber dropped the hair, her youthful appearance withering back to old, complete with graying hair and her eyes sinming into deep sockets, almost like a skull. Wendy rushed forward to try and catch the lady, who was climbing over the window seat and firing a hate-filled glare in her direction. In a flash of her cape, she had disappeared.
______________________________________
BELLEROUGE, LOUISIANA, 2006
Wendy made a routine to calm her anxiety every night. She had moved Rachel's crib out of the nursery and into the room like it had been when she was only a few months old. She would check that window every hour before she went to bed. That woman would return, try to steal some of the legendary Seddon's hair. How did that secret get out?
Rachel had turned six by this point. The baby nursery was no longer that, and was instead the bedroom for their growing daughter. A girl who liked to put poster paint on her hands and smack it on the walls. She was also asleep in her bedroom, her chest rising and falling. Wendy closed the door and was about to go down to the kitchen when she heard a knock on the door. Curious, she opened it, frowning at the men in blue.
"Excuse me, is this the residence of Wendy and Joaquin Seddon?"
Wendy stammered, "Well, yes, it is. Whatever is the trouble."
The officer sighed. "Ma'am, what time does your husband return home?"
"Oh, it's...consistently around eight or so..."
"I see. Well, ma'am, I'm afraid we have some bad news. We got a call from the jeweler's on Magnolia Road. They say a few military medals AND a baby tiara costing, in total, one thousand dollars altogether, have been stolen. We just ran through some footage and...well..." He slid a photograph towards her. Wendy had to look at it once. Twice. Three times. That couldn;t be her husband tucking medals into a satchel. It couldn't. She just stared at it,completely crushed. Joaquin hadn't earned those medals at all. He wasn't going to the military schools to help train professionals. He had been a scammer all this time...and their daughter...
Wendy returned the picture, mumbling her thanks before shutting the door. She strolled quickly into the kitchen, brewing a cup of Earl Grey. The smell of bergamont filled her nose. Bergamont. Joaquin's cologne. She suddenly didn't feel like drinking it. It didn't matter if her ties to London remained in the brew, it was still there.
The back door shut. Joaquin came walking in. Wendy stirred her tea, pretending to be focused on that. He looked dishelved, like he had been trying to get away. His eyes were shifting back and forth. He sat with a sigh, and Wendy walked over, mug in hand.
"Rough day/" she asked.
Joaquin massaged his temples. 'Yeah. The recruits are getting dumber and dumber. I mean, who doesn't know that a seargant major is a above a staff seargant?"
Wendy's frown deepened. The ranks were completely reversed in that statement. The police's findings, the mix-ups, the medals...it was all making sense. He had lied to her. "You know, the police came by today," she said it casually, not bothering to correct his mistake
"Oh?"
"They said they saw a shoplifter stealing medals. Military medals."
'What? Why would anyone..."
Wendy set down her mug. She was trying very hard to keep herself under control. "Joaquin, where were you before you came home?"
'Where I always go, Wendy. I stopped by that Pendulum to get a coffee. Come on, we've been married for how long, you should know that!"
"And where exactly is this Pendulum? Come to think of it, I looked it up and not a single search came back positive." Her blue eyes narrowed. As Joaquin stood up to walk away, she noticed he was carrying a backpack. A backpack that jingled every time he walked. She stepped forward. "What's in the bag, Joaquin?"
Joaquin froze. He turned back with his expression unreadable. "Excuse me?"
Wendy folded her arms. "I said what's in the bag?"
Joaquin just stared her down. "We'll talk about it in the morning. I'm going to bed." He had just turned before Wendy grabbed the backpack. He in turn grabbed the other strap. Both of them pulled at it, shouting and yelling at one another to let go. In the struggle, the bag strap ripped and the contents spilled onto the floor. About fifty medals spilled out, clinking like coins. The ribbons tangled over one another. Among the medals included ropes of rubies, and a now recently shattered mirror encrusted with emeralds and aquamarines. Wendy looked at the contents, then at the bewildered Joaquin. Everything could be spelled in her eyes.
Joaquin spoke first with a raised voice. "Do you think you're the only one afraid of that hag who tried to hurt Rachel?"
Wendy scoffed. "Like you cared about her in the first place! You weren't there when Rachel was attacked!"
Joaquin growled in frustration. "You know that demons are crawling every where. This town...it's not regular! You're not regular, neither is Rachel!"
Wendy was taken aback. Not regular. He could have called her something worse. "Joaquin, open your eyes! This town is far from regular! I thought you knew that when you married me!"
"You never told me about your power, Wendy!" Joaquin argued.
Wendy glowered. "You never told me your medals were shoplifted! What about that tiara you gave Rachel? Did you steal that, too?! TELL ME!"
Joaquin's angry expression melted into guilt. He couldn't lie to her anymore. She had learned the truth. He turned his back to her, answering her question quietly. "Yes."
Wendy sobbed out, "Why?"
"Because..." Frustration and sadness waivered in his voice, "because Rachel is, was, the only ray of sunshine I have." He stomped upstairs, leaving Wendy to sink into a chair and cry.
______________________
"Mommy, where's Daddy going?"
Rachel had asked that question after seeing something she didn't think she'd see. She was coming downstairs to get a bowl of cereal when she had stopped. Mommy had been sitting at the kitchen table with a hand to her face. Her tea was still steaming. But the biggest shock was that Mommy was crying. Crying like she had hurt someone. But where was Daddy? The window was shut, which meant it took all her childish strength to open the shutters. Joaquin was walking from the door, his lucky hat placed on his head, not once looking back to wave or say good bye or anything.
Rachel asked it, to which then Mommy pressed her tear-streaked face into her hair, continuing to cry.
"Now, listen to me...Sunshine. Daddy....Daddy won't be coming home anymore."
I like it!
