A mother's treasure

[Brunhilde Sigurd]

Curling her fingers into a ball, the woman raised them to the door. Brunhilde's hesitation shook her fist. She wasn't certain if she was ready for this. The girl beyond was her daughter, but really, she belonged to someone else. Brunhilde had never raised her; she hadn't been there for the good nights and the bad, for the puking, the crying, the smiles, and the laughter. She was invasive, an alien in this young girl's life.

The tall blonde used to take pride in her composure. She had been better than anyone else at holding herself together, and now she couldn't keep from falling apart. Grezhen might be prepared to be a parent; Brunhilde wasn't. Could she even call herself a mother?

Giselle had moved in with them just a few days ago and had hardly left her room since. Brunhilde needed to speak with her. Just what she needed to speak about, she had no idea.

The witch put her knuckles to the painted wood. She rapped the white surface twice and waited. "May I come in?" she asked softly, her accent lacing the inquiry.

 

[Giselle Varius]

Giselle was far from her usually bubbly and energetic self as of late. With her father dying sometime ago, being put up for adoption and then being adopted she had found herself being in a daze of sorts, barely coming out of it and being like a living zombie of sorts. She only interacted with people when she came out for food mostly, everything else she kept in her new room. Her room was the only thing she really liked about her new home. She had barely spoken two words to her new parents since they had brought her home, to be honest she would prefer to be back at the home for all the kids in the adoption agency where she had spent the time after her father’s death until her adoption was finalise. Lying on her bed she kept her dog, Sycamore, beside her who was lying peacefully and quiet, as if the dog sensed that his owner was sad and didn’t want to annoy her. Giselle let her hand stroke the dog’s soft hair gently when she saw its ears pop up. Looking up she figured someone was at the door. Upon hear the knock and the request Giselle replied, “Yes.” her voice soft and quiet, almost as if she had forgotten how to talk due to being so quiet as of late.