#sunray quilt

[meatriarch]

@johnnysslaughter & @lifesver : a lil domestic nosy treat for lee & johnny !

although the morning sun had already begun its slow creep above the horizon line, the bedroom lied, still, under darkness. curtains layered by carefully hung quilts to block the sunrays from illuminating the room too much, stopping the light from signalling to the pair of sleeping men that it was long overdue for them to awaken.

clock had been snuck from the room. the third was already awake and moving silent around the home. the youngest of the children already fed and content, perched on maria's hip as she started the kettle for coffee. the oldest of the kids trailing into the house from the back porch, quietly muttering to one another, kicking muddied workboots off and pausing to wash dirt and grime off their hands.

the oldest of their girls trails up to her mothers' side, peering around her as she asks, voice still hushed, " want me to take over making the pancakes? " smile crosses maria's face as she gives her a small nod, turning to peck a kiss against her temple, " please. the coffee's already going, so just be sure to take it off when its done, " turns from the stove to let lil' luda take over, looking to tom as he strolls through the doorway, " all the animals got taken care of? did you make sure to call over to your grandmothers'? do they need anything? " a shake of toms head and a smile crosses his face as he walks up to her and kisses his mama's cheek, kissing the top of little daisy mae's head as well, drawing a happy coo from her, enthralled by maria's hair.

" mamaw luda said they're all taken care of, cousin tommy went out real early this mornin' and got everythin' handled. and nana said she's fine too. and yes, " he holds up a hand before maria can interject, " yes, i asked 'em both a good ten times over, mama, they said they don't need anythin'. told 'em though to call if they do and me and ollie'll go on over. " maria closes her mouth and narrows her eyes at him, studying his face, his eyes. knows he wasn't lying — but she watches his brow as it perks up back at her : the same kind of look that crosses his papas' face at times, same questioning, daring expression. and she can't help but to grin and laugh softly, reaching up to fix his hair from his eyes, " alright, i believe you. help your sister with breakfast, okay? daisy and i will get papa and dad woken up before everyone else rushes in there and startles them. "

fixing daisy mae on opposite hip and kissing her cheek, maria leaves the kitchen to lil luda and tom, and makes her way to the master bedroom, pausing to stop ollie leaving the hallway bathroom, to quietly ask if he can keep an eye on the time and in about ten minutes, go and get the rest of their brothers and sisters up. ollie gives her a nod, idly reaching out and playing with daisy's hand as maria talks, " want them to go to your room when they're up..? or to the table? " maria shakes her head, smiling at him and daisy, " oh, no, they'll be running to the room to say good morning, i'm sure. just ask them to be quiet on the way over though, please? " ollie gives her a glance and nods again, letting daisy's hand go.

maria watches him, the hesitation on his face, at a question seemingly stopping itself at the backs of his teeth. as maria adds, gently, " you can come in with them too, you know. just like josie and angel and river have. its up to you, of course, sweetie. but you can. they won't be upset. " ollie's brows furrow and he tenses. gives another short nod and mutters out an okay and averts his gaze from her.

understandable, his hesitation. oliver had only been with them a little over half of this past year. she'd catch him, still, lurking around in the background, hesitant to join in on family outings, stiff and tense at the dining table at first, with the other children. he was especially off-put with tom and with lil luda — the oldest two — seemed to tip-toe around them, as if worried he was overstepping. maria brings a hand to his cheek, gives him a reassuring smile when his eyes meet hers again, and repeats herself, " you can go in, too, sweetie. they won't be upset. " she smiles more, dimples showing, and hopes her words are encouraging enough to help him bring himself to feel included with the other kids as she continues on to the bedroom.

quietly, she opens the door and slips through with daisy, peeking over at lee and johnny still asleep side-by-side under the covers. johnny, on his usual end, closest to the door. protective, still, as always of the two of them. lee, last night, having taken the space between him and her. daisy mae let's out a soft coo again as maria walks over to the side of the bed, next to johnny, and carefully she lifts daisy off from her hip and sits her down in the small space between the two of them, wobbly where she's placed, still figuring out how to balance herself upright. but, seeing papa to her left, and dad on the right, her little rosied face brightens up and a toothless grin crosses her face, babbling and patting her little hands against lee on one side, johnnys' arm on the other.

maria leans down, then, and lightly kisses johnnys' cheek, " babe, time to wake up, okay? " and johnny stirs, brows pinching together as he breathes in deep, eyes opening slightly, peering up at her and grumbles out something she can't make out. opposite hand raising from their tangled mess of the covers to her, bringing her back down, where she smiles and kisses him before peppering the rest of his face in kisses as well. he scrunches his nose, eyes closed, as he grumbles something again, giving her side a pat, " . . . what time is it? " turns his head, squinting over at the window and frowns at the quilts blocking out most of the morning light, looking back to her after passing a hand across his face and over his eyes, wiping away the sleep, waking himself more.

maria smiles as she straightens up, climbing up onto the bed and over his legs and lee's to the opposite side, crawling up to lee, " it's a little after nine— " glances back at him, holds up her hand as realization crosses his face and a flash of annoyance flares up in his eyes, " tom and luda and ollie all went out and got the animals and chores handled, already, " he frowns more at her, starts to open his mouth and she gently cuts him off again, "—tom also called to luda and to your mom, they're both okay for the day. thomas woke up early and got everything they needed over there done. your mom says she's good, as well. and tom made sure they both knew if they needed something they can call. everything that needed to be done this morning is done, babe. if they need anything, tom and ollie said they'd go and help out. "

she stops to look at lee as he stirs, as well, peering at them both past half-closed eyelids, mumbling out a good morning questionably, suspiciously. maria smiles down at him, wishing him a good morning as she leans down, too, and peppers his face all over in kisses — sending a wide grin across his face as he chuckles sleepily, returning them with a kiss to her cheek. she turns and picks daisy up, sitting her atop of lee's chest, him responding with a playful grunt and a grin at her.

" anyways. daisy mae wanted to tell you both something important, before the rest of the kids are awake. didn't you, sweetie? " maria watches johnny lift and move his hand to one of daisys, gently taking hold of hers, half-smile crossing his face at her as she starts happily babbling at the both of them, lee going serious as he nods along, letting out mhm's as he stifles a yawn, glancing to both maria and to johnny, " she's right, you know— ", johnny snorts out a laugh in response, raising a brow at maria for the translation.

maria grins at him then, and looks down at daisy, voice sing-songing as she more than happily obliges, " daisy mae wanted to wish her papa and dad a happy fathers' day, and that she made you guys coffee and pancakes and bacon alllll on her own. " lee's brows perk up in faux surprise, absolutely dumbfounded, as he looks from daisy to maria to johnny and back to her, " oh shit, she can cook— " cuts off at the sound of thundering feet cross the house, and the room door swings open on its hinges.

maria scoops up daisy immediately, already knowing what's next, and both lee and johnnys faces drop, johnny already propping up repeating no! as all the kids pile into the room, bambi and theo and rosie and angel and river running inside, shouting, and mouthing, happy fathers day! at the tops of their lungs as they immediately launch themselves up onto the bed and at lee and johnny, the both of them grunting in near-unison at the impact before lee devolves into laughter with them, grabbing them and hugging them close, tired scowl melting off of johnny as he, too, gives in and scoops them up close, struggling to sit himself up with the entanglement of kids each scrambling about back and forth between the both of them to give them a hug and kiss.

the older kids linger back, patient as ever, knowing they'll be able to wish the same sentiments once the younger kids are . . . relaxed, and out of the room. ollie standing by the doorframe, watching the commotion go down.

as the youngest ones settle more, stopping their hopping about across the bed, over their fathers', maria ushers them to scurry off to wash up and go to the dining room for breakfast. lil luda giving her a nod and turning with josie to follow them all out — make sure they dont snag a bite off anyone elses' plates, and to make sure they wash up right.

tom lingers a moment longer, as maria crawls back off the edge of the bed to join the kids, to reiterate when johnny opens his mouth to ask, " yes, i did call mamaw and nana. they're all good n' set for the day. they don't need anythin'. i asked a good ten times over. if they do, me n' ollie'll go over and see what they need. " he looks between lee and him, same crooked lil smile on his face, " happy fathers' day dad, papa. " and pauses to hug them both as they get themselves further out of bed.

tom leaves ollie standing there, deer in the headlights, staring at them both from the doorframe. he hesitates, mouth opening, then shutting. uncertainty in his expression. a bit of fear in his eyes. before he blurts out, words stumbling over one another as he speaks too quickly, turns on his heel and bolts it back out of sight to join the rest of them, before they can respond.

a thank you. for taking him in. for accepting him into their family.

being good dads to them all — to him.

[somediyprojects]

Our Lady of Guadalupe stitched by Julie Grandfield Holahan. Pattern designed by Joan Elliott.

“This is Joan Elliott's Our Lady of Guadalupe.  I started this way back in 2007.  Put it away when grandbabies and work took over more of my free time.  Then I picked up quilting and have been doing that for 7 or 8 years. When I retired 3 years ago, I cleaned out much of my cross-stitch but keep my UFO's.  Decided it was finally time to finish this beautiful and challenging piece. Before I put it up, I had already finished Our Lady and the angel.

About a month or so ago I took it out and started on the roses and vines.  I was intimidated to stitch the sunrays but just took my time and used the best gold thread to withstand the tension.  I substituted the gold thread that came with the kit with DMC Diamant thread.  

I have been stitching since the the early 80's.   This is my 14th religious project but my first Joan Elliott.”

[chaand-sitara]

τρία

"No m'e,de dio,Hamare-o.No de me yo,Se ya noeh.No mo de yo,Hamare-o,Ovamieh,seyah noeh." A Serene voice sang, under the deep ocean.. Calling for someone.

The voice now stopped and looked at the crown floating in front of, as soon as it was about to touch it...

" Ahhh!" Primadonna woke up from her nightmare and felt all sweat around her and then saw it on the pillows, She yanked the suffocating quilt away from her body and got up, but as soon she she did so she fell down on the ground when she felt her legs were asleep.

"Fuck!" she sat there for awhile in the darkness of her room and let the feeling of thousand of needles pricking her leg, go away.

"Finally" She got up and looked at the mirror 'God I look so sick, who am I kidding I am sick today..'

She picked up her phone and messaged Bonnie about it and told her she was on a leave from school today.

Primadonna closed her phone and opened the blinds of the window,She squinted her eyes because of sunrays almost blinding her.

Primadonna went to the kitchen to make herself a PB&J sandwich with apple juice.

She took the bread and the peanut butter and jam and finished making it in a span of few minutes.

She took out the juice box from the fridge and drank directly by it.

After she had her breakfast she cleaned her room and left the house 'Maybe I should meet Pandora tomorrow' she took her cycle and spent rest of her day alone and watched tv

•◌•◌•★•◌•◌•

"Prim, how nice of you to come honey, how are you?" The sweet old warden asked her as soon as she came in the Mystic falls orphanage, bearing gifts for the children in it the next day.

"Oh nothing, took a leave from school today, not feeling well. How about you?" The Warden shook her head and said "Oh nothing just taking care of the few children in the orphanage, nothing much, here, give me the gifts, I will give them and I believe Dora is in the garden colouring her book."

Primadonna smiled at the warden and went to the garden to see the little pretty child sitting there and filling colours in her book which by the way is not a colouring book

Then she looked at the new colouring book and colour pencil set in her hand and slowly went towards the child, she placed the gifts down and covered her eyes with her hands.

"Guess who?" the Child smiled, immediately recognising the voice and shouted "Prima!"

She got out of her hold and hugged the taller girl "Hey Andi, how are you?" Primadonna asked the young child, whose name was Pandora Caesar, her last surname being same as the rest of the children in orphanage who were named after the first owner of this place, Fillius Caesar.

"Nothing, just having some fun time! What did you brought me?" Pandora asked the highschooler, Primadonna pointed down and the little girl saw the book and the pencils.

"Oh my god! Thank you Prima! I love you so so much!" the child said as she hugged her gifts and Primadonna too. Then Primadonna smiled and said "Well, go and keep them in your roo., we are gonna have so much fun today, okay?"

Pandora nodded and sprinted towards the old victorian Building and towards her dorm who she shared with three other girls. As soon as she entered she saw all three of them scowling at her.

" Tch, why does she always pay so much attention to this malnourished brat? And she isn't even old enough to adopt her!" Pandora knew if she kept her gifts in her drawer they will either take it or destroy it so she kept it in her chest, which came with her when she was a baby and locked it, she took the key with her and left to go to Primadonna.

" Hey you are back! That was quick! Let's go." Primadonna settled Pandora at the front of her bike and sat behind Pandora and they both rode off to have a nice ride.

Primadonna remembers the first time she met the child, she was 15,and Pandora 5,now 17 and Pandora 7,they both were like sisters, When she saw her at the orphanage, The child looked alone, as no one was talking to her which reminded Primadonna of Herself so she went upto her and they bonded instantly.

"Where do you wanna go?" Pandora pondered on the question for awhile and said "How about.. Our place? We can grab some snacks and go there!"

Primadonna nodded and said "Alright! Let's go to the grocery store, we will find some snacks there!" and Then Primadonna sped towards the said store.

-ˏ͛⑅　‧̥̥͙‧̥̥ ̥ ̮ ̥ ⊹ ‧̫‧ ⊹ ̥ ̮ ̥ ‧̥̥‧̥̥͙　⑅ˏ͛-

Primadonna stopped at the store and then got Pandora off and they went inside. They brought Wafers, cold drinks, Candies and chocolates and many more things for the orphanage too.

Soon they reached there special place which was a little far away from Mystic Falls and almost no one knew about it.

They both sat down and ate the snacks they both, talked about they melancholy lives and tried to guess weird shapes in the hypnotic Sky filled with sad clouds of Mystic Falls

They both sat down and ate the snacks they both, talked about they melancholy lives and tried to guess weird shapes in the hypnotic Sky filled with sad clouds of Mystic Falls.

After sometime Primadonna got a call in her phone, she picked it up and saw it was Bonnie. "Is it your friend?" Primadonna thought for awhile and said "You could say that."

She answered the call and they asked "Hey Bonnie, what's up?" Then she heard a commotion in the other line and heard "Nothing much we all are in the Grill and I thought you should come too, haven't see you for awhile."

Primadonna then Looked at Pandora who was listening to the conversation and made a look which said 'You wanna go with me?'

Pandora smiled and nodded her head up and down several times then Primadonna said" Uh ok, I will come, but I am bringing a kid with me."

Then Bonnie said" Oh ok, she can drink milkshake of the grill! Come quickly. "

They both then packed the bag and went towards back Home to drop of the snacks Primadonna brought for herself, as soon as they reached her home they saw a car Pandora then said" Wow!Prima! Is this your car?!" Primadonna looked and saw a beautiful car.

Primadonna looked confused about how would someone drop a car at her house, then she looked at a note and then everything made sense.

Happy Birthday in advance sweetie,

daddy loves you the most

Have fun in your new ride

-your Dad

-ˏ͛⑅　‧̥̥͙‧̥̥ ̥ ̮ ̥ ⊹ ‧̫‧ ⊹ ̥ ̮ ̥ ‧̥̥‧̥̥͙　⑅ˏ͛-

They both reached the Grill and then went inside and Saw all three of the girls in there, both of them went towards those three and Primadonna sat next to Elena and Pandora next to Primadonna.

"Oh my god! Who is this cute kid?" Caroline squealed, Primadonna looked at Pandora and said "Uh,my cousin, I am babysitting her today, after this I will go drop her off to her parents." Primadonna quickly made up, Which brought relief to both fo them as they both didn't wanted the secret to be out.

They nodded and Elena said "She looks like you alot!" Primadonna and Pandora looked at each other and shrugged.

"I was talking to Grams and apparently the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there were lots of death. So much blood and carnage that it created a bed of paranormal activity."All of them now looked uncomfortable because of what Bonnie said.

Then to diffuse the tension Caroline said" And then you poured another shot of glass and she told you about Aliens. " and then she turned towards Elena and asked" And then what? "

" Then Nothing" Elena said while Primadonna sat confused "You and Stefan talked all night? No sloppy first kiss? Or touchy feely of any kind?". 'wait, what? Did these two progressed so much?Nice. For them.. I guess'

"Nope, we didn't go there" while she started to smile and blush a little. But Caroline didn't wanted to buy it and raised her eyebrows while asking "Not even a handshake? Come on we all are friends! You're supposed to share the smut!"

"There was no 'smut' care we just talked all night, that's it, and that was sweet too." Elena replied. Primadonna looked at Elena and she could see in her eyes that she liked Stefan alot.

The Caroline rolled her eyes and said "What's with the blockage? Just jump his bones already!" which made Primadonna and Elena covering Pandora's ears "Boy likes girl-Girl likes boy, boom! Sex!"

Which made Elena And Primadonna have a relief that they didn't removed their hands from Pandora's ears. Then they both and Bonnie said "Caroline!" she looked Pandora and winced and said "Sorry!"

Then Elena thought for awhile and said "You're right..It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of doing what I started the day saying what I was gonna do." Then Primadonna asked "What you gonna do?"

Elena thought for awhile and said "I am gonna talk to him!" then they nodded and went outside to bid Elena bye then they saw Primadonna and Caroline said "Woah! Which hottie's car is this?"

Then Pandora said "It's of Prima!" then all three of them looked at Primadonna and then Caroline said "Woah! You finally got a car! How?" then Primadonna said "Uh.. Early birthday present."

They nodded and Bonnie said "We so need to celebrate your birthday!" Primadonna smiled and said "Yeah.."

Then Caroline said "Wait! Elena! Go in Primadonna's car! It would look so cool!" Then Elena looked at Both of them and asked "Uh will it be fine?"

Primadonna then said "Uh yeah it's ok.hop in!" Then all three of them drove to the Salvatore Boarding House.

‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊ ♡ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙·̩̩̥͙*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ °̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥ ♡ ‧̍̊·̊‧̥°̩̥˚̩̩̥͙°̩̥‧̥·̊‧̍̊

Elena got off and went towards the house as soon as she got in, Primadonna saw A crow flying in, she ignored it and looked at the backseat to see Pandora sleeping peacefully.

Elena

Elena went in and looked around searching for Stefan, a second later a crow flew in and freaked her out she turned around and saw the door was closed, then she turned back around and was starteled to see a man in front of her.

She looked at him carefully and saw How nice he looks, from his raven hair to his hypnotic Eyes.

"I am so sorry, the door was open so I.." Elena said before she trailed off, The Man looked at her and smirked and Said "You must be Elena."

Then he said again "I am Damon, Stefan's Brother." Elena then thought for awhile and said "But Stefan said he didn't had any brother.?"

Then Damon rolled his eyes and said "Well Stefan isn't the one to brag about it. Please come."

Elena looked around the house and said "Woah, is this your living room?"

Then Damon replied "Living Room, Parlor. It's a little glitchy for my taste" Then Elena suddenly remembered Primadonna and interupted Damon before he could say something and said "Uh, My friend is also here, could you call her if she can come in?"

Then Damon and Elena went outside and saw Primadonna in her car, then Damon said "Nice car, looks pretty expensive." Then Elena said "Well uh, it's actually hers. She dropped me off here can she come in?"

Damon nodded and said "But I don't wanna talk to Miss 'I am alone', you go!" Elena rolled her eyes and waved her hands up high.

Primadonna quickly noticed it and saw a very pretty looking man next to her 'It looks like I am friends with a hottie magnet'

Then when Elena saw She got her attention, she gestured her to come in. Primadonna at first refused but when Elena did it again she obliged and walked towards the house and went in.

As soon as she came in, Elena said "Primadonna meet Damon, Damon meet Primadonna."

Then Damon smirked and said "A handful of name you have here." Primadonna smiled and said "Yeah uh, it's kinda god given I guess?"

He smiled and then turned his attention back to Elena and said "Now I see why Stefan's all smitten about you, it's about time, For a while, I thought he would never get over the last one, nearly destroyed him I tell you."

Then Primadonna looked carefully at Damon and saw he looked like the man fromher nightmare, and those eyes she saw when she saved Vicky.

" Last one? " Elena asked in Confusion. Then Damon added saying"Yeah, Katherine, His girlfriend--Oh wait you both didn't had that awkward ex conversation. Oops.". 'It feels like he is doing it on purpose! Why can't Elena see it?'

"Nope" Then Damon acted like he felt cringed out and said "Well, it will come up now." and also added "Or maybe he didn't wanted to let you know because you might think he is on rebound and we all know how that ends--How those.. Relationships end."

Primadonna glared at Damon and said "You're saying as if every relation is doomed to a sad ending.."

Insted of answering her, he said "Hello Stefan." Both of them turned around and saw Stefan, whom Primadonna noticed was glaring at Damon.

"Elena, Primadonna, I didn't knew you both were coming.." then Elena said "Yeah, I uh should've called, Primadonna just dropped me here."

"Oh don't be silly, you're welcome anytime Elena." 'Does he doesn't see or does chooses not to. Meh I guess he likes her.. He looks little older though'

"Aren't they, Stefan?you know? I should bring out the family photos and the home movies, But I have to warn you, he wasn't always a looker."

Then Primadonna looked at Elena and gave a look which said 'I wanna go back' then Stefan said "It was nice of you both to stop by, bye." then Elena looked at both the boys and said "Yeah we should go, We are getting late. Bye Damon."

Then Damon replied "Bye Elena, visit again and in your car." Primadonna then glared at Damon while he wasn't looking and sprinted from the house.

Then Damon grabbed Elena's hand and kissed it, then Elena looked last time at Stefan who wasn't looking at her and then left.

She sat back in the car and Primadonna went towards the road. "Uh, can I come to your home?" Primadonna at first hesitated but then said "Uh Okay..sure.."

Then they reached her home and Elena's eyes went wide "This! Is your house?! Its even bigger than the Lockwoods! It's almost as the Salvatore house! That's why you weren't surprised seeing the house! Woah!"

Then Primadonna smiled shyly and said "Uh yeah.. Maybe this was the reason."

Then Elena said "Where is your mom?" Then Primadonna looked down and said "Elena.. My mom left me when I was 4...she didn't wanted to raise a child.. Then Dad took care of till 13 and since then I am living alone."

Elena then looked at Primadonna and realised how worse her situation was then Herselves.. Atleast she had aunt Jenna and Jeremy.." Any.. Siblings? " Primadonna then said" Nope.. None.. "

Then Elena smiled at her and said" Well it's a beautiful house.. Now can you please drop me back? It felt nice to be here.. The atmosphere is good here!I will see you at the night of the comet!"

Primadonna smiled and then they went back in the car and then She dropped Elena back at her home and then Pandora to her Orphanage while she was still sleeping.

When she reached back home she cooked some pasta and watched TV while she waited for the night of the comet.

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

A/n :- Thanks alot for the reads it means alot, good bye everyone and I hope you liked the chapter!! There is alot stored in for you and we even have a female love interest for awhile?

[evironsports]

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[ellentulatextiles]

Page 39 - Sunray Quilting

[the-summer-of-like]

For Eternity

This is the first fan fiction i ever wrote, it's kinda.....ehhh, but imma do requests later on.

Gerard Way (my chemical romance) X Reader ((Vampire AU))

I run into my house and head straight down to my basement, literally just in time to avoid the sunrays landing on my pale skin. Shit, I need to be more careful. But it was worth it to see her. I lie on my bed and gasp for the oxygen I no longer need, purely out of habit. Once I calm down I go into the bathroom. I look into the mirror and hiss at the sight in front of me. I quite honestly look like shit. But I don’t care because I got to see her. I run the tap, collecting the water in my hands and washing my face of all the smears of her sweet blood and my smudged make up. Once I feel as though my skin is suitably clean I dry my face. I look in the mirror again and realise that my hair is still dirty. I decide that I should probably shower.

I leave the shower feeling suitably clean and am completely ready for bed. I wrap a towel around my waist and head into my basement-bedroom, instantly climbing under the quilt. My body accepts my deep tiredness from a long night. But seeing her was worth it. With her on my mind I fall into a heavy slumber.

She slowly advances to me, the moonlight making her shoulder length hair shine an even more blood red than I’d seen it before, the black tips at the ends only making the vibrancy of the red more prominent. The shaved sides add a contrast and make her look more… I don’t even know, but it is incredibly flattering to her beautiful bone structure. As she reaches me I have to resist the urge to comb my fingers through her hair. She looks up to me. Her gentle eyes are a beautiful pool of green outlined in a ring of cold. Her eyes are lightly rimmed in a black which, against her gentle skin tone, makes the green more inviting. She has a little nose ring which is cute, almost contradicting to how piercings are perceived. As her lips curve into a heart-warming, for anyone possessing a functioning heart that is, I can also see that she has piercings on either side of her bottom lip. Her snake bites just draw my attention to the soft curve of her plump lips. They look so gentle and loving.

“Hi,” she whispers, looking down to the ground, shy.

“Hi, I’m Gerard,”

“I’m (Y/N),” she gently replies. (Y/N), such a beautiful name. It is strange and seems as if it doesn’t fit in anywhere but in the best possible way. She fits the name, this gorgeous girl who appears to be different from everyone but not in a freaky way, in the most beautiful of ways. I place my fingers under her chin, lifting her head gently so that I can see her beautiful face again. I can only just smell her now. She smells divine. She smells like a mixture between a fresh bouquet and summer air. Her smell is intoxicating.

“Why did you come over, (Y/N)?” I ask with a smirk set across my features.

“I,” she begins, looking down again, only for me to lift her face with my fingers again, re-establishing eye contact. “I don’t really know. I felt like I had to. I felt as though I was meant to…” she trails off, chewing on one of her snake bites. “Does that make sense?” she asks, hope swimming in her eyes.

“Perfect sense,” I say before I lean down the five or so inches and connect my lips to her enticing soft ones.

She kisses back instantly and I feel that familiar hunger inside of me, a desire to feed. I try to control myself but I find myself biting and sucking on her plump bottom lip. To my surprise she doesn’t freak out. I feel her smile slightly against my lips before she starts to kiss back again.

She pulls back, needing oxygen. She smiles at me and runs her fingers over the small bites on her lip.

“Didn’t that… hurt?” I ask, concerned. Never had I bit someone who hadn’t cried in pain and had smiled. A smile signifies enjoyment and that isn’t something that has ever been present in one of my bite victims.

“Hurt? Are you serious? It was… I can’t explain it,” she trails off, smiling. “It was like you were injecting something into me that made every nerve light up. It was the best thing I’ve ever felt,” she says, a slow blush rising to her smooth cheeks. I can’t help but smile at that.

“That’s odd… but I am glad…” I say, clearly confused. “I know we just met but I think that…” I am cut off by a burn across my skin. I look up and see the sunrise. Shit. “I can’t explain but I have to go. If you want to see me again then meet me here, tonight at 11PM, okay?” I say as I rush off. I rush into my house and slump to the floor, my skin ablaze and covered in burns. That was far too fucking close.

“Gee?” Mikey calls from the kitchen where I can smell the coffee that he is making.

“Yeah?” I say before I hiss sharply, my skin is agitated and the pain is getting worse.

“Did you just get back?” he shouts, concern clear in his voice.

“Yep,” I whimper.

“Shit, Gee! You know you can’t do that shit!” Mikey shouts, rushing to my side. “Basement,” he orders and I comply, rushing into my cool basement. I sit in the corner, emerged in darkness. I feel the dark and cool air soothe my damaged body. “Why were you out so late?”

“I think I found her…” I reply, smiling even though he couldn’t see it.

“You found who, Gee?”

“My mate,” I say, grinning.

“Gee!” Mikey shouts. “Gee! GEE!!! GEE, WAKE UP!!!”

“Shit!” I yelp as I jump from my place in the bed. “What the fuck, Mikey? You ruined my favourite fucking dream!” I shout.

“Sorry, I just thought I’d wake you to tell you it’s dark…” he mutters, walking up the stairs and out of my basement. “Gee,” he says when he stops.

“What?” I ask grumpily.

“What dream?”

“The one about the night I met her,” I say fondly, smiling bright.

“Oh, right,” Mikey says, smiling back at me. “Sorry then,” he says as he leaves my room.

I decide to get up and get dressed, making sure that I am entirely ready for tonight. Tonight will be one of the most significant of my entire, eternal, existence. I am ready by 8PM and leave for the restaurant at 9PM, (Y/N) is meeting me there because she lives about three minutes from it so driving her made little sense.

I get to the restaurant and she isn’t there yet. I simply sit at our reserved table, trying to get my waistcoat neat and tie straight. As soon as she arrives I can smell it. That mixture of fresh bouquet and summer air is flooding my senses and I smile before I even see her. She soon finds the table and I stand to great her. I kiss her soft pink lips delicately and then gently nip on one of her snakebites, making her to giggle. I pull away from her, to keep this kiss decent in public, and pull her chair back for her. With a grateful smile, she sits in the chair gracefully.

“Hi,” she mutters, just as shy as the first night we’d met.

“Why are you still so shy around me? It’s been an entire year,” I say teasingly.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she says in her angelic voice. “I’ll stop being shy when you stop giving me butterflies,” she continues, looking up with a faint blush, causing me to chuckle.

The date goes as all of the others before it had, perfect. As we get onto dessert I decide that I should probably get my act together and just do it.

“So, umm… You’re my mate, right?” I say clumsily. (Y/N) laughs and nods at that. “Right, and we know everything about eachother and we love eachother, right?” I continue. (Y/N)'s laughter ceases and she looks at me compassionately and smiles, nodding again. “Well we’ve known eachother exactly a year and we both know that we are meant to be,” I say, pausing to grab her hand in mine. “I could never go on without knowing that your beautiful eyes will be there for me to gaze into. I could never go on without knowing that your silken hair will be there for me to run my fingers through. I could never go on without knowing that your soft lips will be there for me to kiss. I could never go on without knowing that you would be there with me,” I say and I can see tears well up in her bright eyes as she smiles lovingly at me, holding my hand tighter. “So, having said all of that, I wanted to ask you something,” I stand and get down on one knee, cliché I know. “Will you marry and bond with me, (Y/N)? Will you become my wife for all of eternity?” I ask, reaching into my pocket to retrieve the platinum ring, with a diamond atop and engraving inside which read ‘I promise to love you for as long as we both shall live, eternity’. (Y/N) still hasn’t responded. She is just gazing into my eyes and clutching my hand. (Y/N)? Will you?” I ask, nervously.

“Of course I will, Gerard,” she says, smile wide and bright. I smile back and slip the ring onto her finger. We stand and I instantly capture her soft lips in a meaningful and loving kiss. I reluctantly pull away to allow Talia to breathe.

“I love you,” I whisper as I cup her soft face in my hands. “I love you so much, (Y/N),” I repeat.

“I love you too, Gerard, for eternity,”

[misstinfoilhat]

It’ll be a breeze pt. 1

A 7DS fic that I started a while ago, but I lost inspiration and wasn’t sure if I would continue it. Until I got this prompt from ‘my favorites anime blog’ and I finally figured out how to move along. It will come in several parts as I finish them!  myfavourites-animeblog  Hey^^, Do you take requests? I really like your fictions on AO3 so I was wondering if you could write a seven deadly sins fic where Meliodas gets paralyzed and he or elizabeth can't heal him. Chapter title: This fall I don't know if I survived A bright light blinded Meliodas as he sluggishly pried his eyes open. His body felt strangely sore. Painfull even, which, he was happy to say that he hadn't really felt in centuries. Not to this extent, anyway. Usually, it wouldn't be much worse than a dull aching in the part of his body where the injury was located, until inevitably, he would transform into his demon form, patching his body back up for him. If he was incapable of doing that, the sunrays of Elizabeth's Goddess healing ability would take care of it shortly after. Was this the sensation he had convinced himself that he missed so greatly? He had to re-think that. But that would have to wait. The first thing on the agenda was to figure out where in the world he was. Or, what might be more accurately, out-of-this-world, he thought, as his brain finally was able to connect with his body, letting him prop himself up on one elbow and shading his eyes from the intruding brightness with his other hand. The room he had waken up in was grand. Likely some kind of foyer with white and black checkered marble flooring, bronze walls with golden details. Human-sized paintings of godlike figures decked the walls and the room was filled with luxurious furniture. A staircase was located in the middle of the room, leading up to a second story, out of sight from where he was sprawled out on the floor. The staircase also held the answer to where the offending light source came from. At first glance, it appeared to be coming from the large stained glass windows at the wall where the stair parted ways into two different directions. At a second glance though, it was clearly illuminating from the beautiful, if not slightly intimidating, woman who stood three steps up. Meliodas lowered his head back to the floor, fighting off a spinal headache. When he was finally fairly certain that he wasn't going to throw up, he raised his head again, squinting his eyes to rid himself of the double vision and locked his eyes with the celestial beauty. She was tall, at least 5'10, with bright, light hair. It almost seemed silvery, sparkling graciously in the shimmering of the gloss that radiated around her and enveloped her shoulders. Just like a certain girl he had known for a couple of years now. Her curvy figure was gracefully draped in an elegant white dress, flowing seamlessly around her and held in place by golden, braided bands, gently tracing her dress all the way to the floor. Meliodas felt a flicker of familiarity. Almost like a dèja vu, coming and passing too quickly to knowing for certain if it was real or not, looking into her splendid copper eyes. His own emerald green, trickster gaze lowered to the ethereal woman's bosom for a quick assessment, before blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes in a long rehearsed aversion, returning to meet her eyes with the innocence of the child he knew he looked like. “Yo,” he greeted merrily, trying and failing to push himself off of the floor. His elbows wouldn't fold far enough behind him, for him to put his palms to the floor, without the blood in his head seemingly wanting to burst out of his ears, making him dizzy and nauseous and he imagined he could literally taste his spine. “You're injured,” she noted. It was more of a statement than a question. Her expression remained as stoic as it had been for the few minutes he could remember being there. He couldn't be sure if this was a friendly visit or not. “It would appear so,” he answered her chipperly, while the searing pain of what could only be a stab to his lower back screamed for attention. He hid his face in his arms once more, gritting his teeth and flinching, unable to keep from giving the wound exactly what it wanted. What had happened? He remembered waking up at the boar hat like any other day, snuggling his face to Elizabeth's back as she sighed softly in her sleep, before he got up, got dressed and went down to make some coffee. Ban was fast asleep, hunched over one of the tables as usual with a half-full jug of ale still clutched in his right hand. Diane, luckily remaining under Merlins shrimping spell, was cuddled up against King on Chastiefol by one of the windows. King looked at Meliodas with terrified, bloodshot eyes, frozen in fear of waking her by any slight movement. Meliodas had chuckled, giving him the thumbs up as he entered the kitchen to continue his quest for caffeine. Nothing else came to him. It was clouded by a black fog that he couldn't see through, no matter how hard he squinted at it. The confusion on his face must have registered at the tall woman, as an invincible string seemed to tug at the creek of her mouth, forcing it into a reluctant and crooked smile. “I've taken your memories, dragon sin of Wrath- Meliodas.” So, they had met before, then. He should probably apologize right away. “Oh, well, that's a bit inconvenient, miss...” Nope, no name, so he tryingly added, “...iss?” She closed her eyes with a humorous smile on her lips, folding her bat-winged sleeves in front of her and walked the few steps down the stairwell. To Meliodas chagrin, he realized she was standing barefoot in front of him. Even if he was a 3.000-year-old demon, unable to age by the curse put upon him by his father, he felt a little bitter that he couldn't have stopped aging after he had grown to a somewhat more desirable size. At least, so he could reach the dishes at the higher shelves in their kitchen. Ban, that stupidly tall son of a bitch, had taken a liking to lift him up so he could get them for himself, mockingly exclaiming an “uuup-si daisy”, whenever he did. A blow almost harder than having to ask him to get them for him in the first place. He wasn't a particularly prideful person, which a series of up-the-skirt incidences had clearly proved and left no doubt about. But still, even he had to draw the line somewhere. “I'm sorry, I can't recall your name,” he finally admitted. “Meliodas, that part of your memory, I have not taken,” she said wistfully, coming to a stand only a few centimeters away from him. “I know. Someone else did, though,” he chuckled, winching noticeably at the burning it left in his lower back. “I'm afraid there's a lot I can't remember anymore.” “That should be understandable. It's about 1.500 years since we last met, after all.” If that was not a hint, he wouldn't have known one if it had punched him square in the jaw. Meliodas wracked his brain for the answers. From what he had gathered up to this point, specifically from her ability to extract from his memories, this woman must be either a mage like Merlin or a Goddess, which was more likely. Especially considering the crew he surrounded himself with at that time, half a lifetime ago. Half of his lifetime, anyway. But wait, a Goddess? That could only mean...

“Panacea?” he asked in slight disbelief, looking up at her unblemished face that looked as pure as it had a kiloyear ago. “I don't understand. Why did you bring me here?” Panacea lowered herself to one knee, lending him a hand to get back up. When he wasn't able to reach for it, she propped herself down behind him instead, carefully turning him over and placing a hand under his knees and his shoulders, lifting him up bridal style. “Oh, thaaat's degrading,” he uttered as his face scrunched up in pain, unwillingly being carried by the unfaltering arms as they started up the stairs. “Where are we going?” “To my chambers,” Panacea answered, ignoring Melioda's expressed of embarrassment. “You should lay down for a bit. We'll discuss everything after you rest.” “If you would just heal me, we could save ourselves some time,” Meliodas suggested with his never-faltering positivity. He was sure that there was a good reason for her to take his memories and bringing him here, but being in the Goddess Kingdom of Theòtita, he was unable to use his own demonic powers of healing, which left him at the mercy of his genetically-caused enemy, while being in such a reduced state of health. “As I said, we'll discuss everything later.” Meliodas decided to accept the delay. He did feel exhausted, and from what he could remember, the Goddesses had some excellent beds.  

He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. These Goddesses had a few things figured out. He could only imagine that said pillow had been stuffed with angel feathers. If it was the high quality of it, or if it was plain fatigue from the pain of his injuries, wasn't really important at the time. Even if it hurt to lay on his back, and even if he was in one of the most vulnerable positions he could possibly be in, he couldn't help himself from descending into a deep, fever-induced sleep.

Luckily, the sleep was dreamless, as far as he could recall. The last thing he wanted, was for Panacea to witness the way he tossed and turned by the horrid dreams that usually shattered his mind, tearing him away from the comfort of his bed who he shared with his beloved Elizabeth and throwing him back through 3000 years of losing everyone he had ever loved. It was surprising how significant the number was. He was a demon, after all. When he woke up, the quilt had been pulled over him and a cold cloth was placed on his head. Strange, he thought. Why wouldn't she just heal me? He felt compeletley over the novelty of being cute and sick at this point. Mostly, because of the lack of slightly gullible nurses who would brush their breasts across his own chest while tending to him, or bending over while cleaning up the glasses of water, he would accidentally knock over from time to time. 'I'm kind of a sleaze bag, aren't I? …Oh, well.' He pried his eyes open, wanting to rub the sleep out of them, but his arms felt even stiffer after staying still for... how long? He looked around the room, searching for a clock, but all he could find to give him any indication of time was the window. Which, truthfully, wouldn't tell him much, as the sun never set in this place. They didn't even have the same sun as they did in Britannia. Their sun was called Chrysì Theà- Golden Goddess, and it would never go down. Time went by differently in the Goddess realm than what it did back in his world. An hour in this place would be felt like a minute at home. Well, actually, his home was somewhere entirely different from Britannia. There, it was the other way around. An hour in Brittania was a minute in, well, Hell. Even so, he knew he would be able to tell the time from where the sun was located in the sky, even if that didn't help him much, as he had no idea where it was when he came here. In the end, he gave up on his quest for the concept of time and let himself drift back to sleep.

To be continued.

[rajasthantourplanner]

Rajasthan Textiles Tours In Rajasthan India

Batik

Batik is a medium that lies somewhere between art and craft, and is believed to be at least 2000 years old. The Batik technique is a development of resist printing. The fabric is painted with molten wax and then dyed in cold dyes after which the cloth is washed in hot water.

Bandhani

Jaipur and Sikar are the notable centers. Sikar produces one of the finest Bandhanis. Another form of tie and dye in Rajasthan is the Lehriya and Mothra. Here the opposite ends of the length of the cloth are pulled and rolled together. They are then tied and dyed in different colors producing multi colored lines.

Bagru Prints

Identical to Sanganer, Bagru is also famed for textile designs but printers in Bagru use vegetable colour and use more floral designs The zigzag motifs of Bagru along with floral motifs of Sanganer, are in demand in the country and abroad.

Sanganeri Prints

Sanganer is the most famous center for block printing and screen printing the cotton cloth. Colourful cloth with various folk patterns is available here for bed- covers,table covers etc. The distinctive feature of sanganeri print is that its background is always white. Black color is used for outlines whereas red color is used to fill in the figures and floral motifs.

Barmeri Prints

Barmer from western Rajasthan produces prints that are known for their bold geometric patterns, called 'AJRAKH'. Barmer an area in the middle of the Thar Desert is known for darker shades because people in the desert believed that dark shades are cooler as they absorb sunrays.

Jaipuri Quilts

Jaipuri Quilts are world famous for their softness and warmth. The beautiful prints and bright colors make them attractive, but its essence lies in the way its made. The style makes it very light with warmth maintained.

Kota Doria Cloth

A typical style of weaving makes the kota doria cloth special. Now a days machines does the job, but its style is still maintained. Very soft and light, kota doria cloth gives a look of net where its weaving is visible. Available in white only, now its died to produce as many shades of a color.

Embroideries

The art of decorating woven fabric with various kinds of stitches is known as embroidery. Embroidery is done on cotton, wool and silk. Embroidery is also done on traditional footwear in some parts of the country.

Visit - https://www.rajasthantourplanner.com/About-Rajasthan/Rajasthan-Textiles.html

[dennou-translations]

Violet Evergarden: Chapter 2

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I could remember.

That she came around.

That she would be sitting there, quietly, writing letters.

I could remember.

The figures of that person, and of my kindly smiling mother.

That sight, surely…

I would not forget even in death.

The Girl and the Auto-Memories Doll

Ghostwriting had existed as a profession since olden times. It had once almost become extinct due to the widespread of Auto-Memories Dolls, but ancient and optimal occupations received love and protection from a great number of people in no small amount. During current times, in which mechanical dolls were at a rise, had instead granted popularity to hobbyists with a taste for the past, who claimed that professions were better off in old style.

The mother of Ann Magnolia used to be one of such tasteful people with nostalgic hobbies.

Ann’s mother, whose curly dark hair of natural waves, freckles and thin body were just the same as that of her daughter, was someone who had come from a wealthy household. Raised as an elite woman, she had married and, even after aging, something about her was still a “young lady”. The gentle smile she would wear whenever letting out a pleasant laugh was childish to whomever saw it.

Looking back on how her mother used to be, even now, Ann thought she that was like a little girl. If anything, she was a clumsy person, yet she brimmed with curiosity, and whenever she enthusiastically asserted, “I want to give this a try!”, Ann would say in disbelief, “My, my, again?”.

Boat rides, dog races, quilt embroidery and flower arrangements imported from the East. She was a person who adored learning and had a feminine hobbyist side to her, and so, whenever she went to watch plays, they were sure to be romance ones. Keen as she had been on laces and ribbons, the outfits she wore were mostly dresses and one-pieces similar to those of princesses from fairytales. She used to impose them on her daughter, fancying parent-child matching attires. Ann would wonder what could be wrong with her mother for wearing clothes full of ribbons despite having aged considerably, but never once voiced it.

Ann had treasured her mother more than anyone in the world – even more than her own existence. Regardless of having a small body, she had herself convinced that she was the only one protecting her mother, who was not a strong person by any means.

She had loved her mother that blindly.

Around the time when the mother that she was so fond of fell ill and the date of her passing was approaching, Ann had an encounter with an Auto-Memories Doll. Even though she had countless memories with her mother, the ones Ann would recall were always about the few-days period when they had welcomed a mysterious visitor.

“It” showed up on a very sunny spring day.

The lone road bathed in abundant sunrays of a beautiful spring. At its sides, flowers that revealed themselves from within the snow thaw swayed along the feeble wind, stems shaking.

Ann was observing the way “it” walked from her the garden of her home. It was an antique-looking, tasteful Western-styled house sitting on top of a hill, which Ann’s mother had inherited from her family. With its white walls and blue roof, surrounded by enormous birch trees, its aspect was like that of an illustration from a fairytale book.

The residence was peripheral, standing alone and quite far from their prospering town. Even if one were to look around in every direction, no neighboring houses could be found. For that reason, whenever there were any guests coming, they could immediately be spotted through the windows.

“What’s... that?”

Clad in a smock one-piece that had a large, light blue-striped ribbon collar, Ann possessed slightly ordinary yet lovely facial features. Her dark brown eyes were now so wide-open that it seemed they would fall off.

Peeling her gaze off “it”, which marched towards her direction while showered by sunlight, With enamel shoes that had flower adornments on them, Ann ran off from the garden and waltzed back into her home. Breaking through the extensive front entrance, she climbed the spiral staircase decorated with portraits of relatives and opened with great vigor a door ornamented with a lease made out of pink roses.

“Mom!”

As her daughter breathlessly barged in, the mother reprehended, raising her body only a little on her bed, “Ann, I always tell you that you must knock before entering my room, don’t I? And also give your greetings.”

Ann inwardly huffed upon being lectured, but lowered her hips, pinched her skirt’s hem and bowed regardless.

Did the action stem from her so-called “little lady side”? In reality, Ann was an infant. It had been but seven years ever since she was born into this world. Her limbs and face were round and looked soft.

“Mom, excuse me.”

“Very well. Then, what is it? Did you find a peculiar insect outside again? Do not show it to Mom, all right?”

“It’s not a bug! A doll is walking over here. Erm, I’m talking about a doll but it’s a huge one; a woman doll that looks like it could be from that bisque doll photo collection Mom likes,” she said with an imprecise vocabulary as if having a coughing fit.

Her mother clicked her tongue at Ann with a “tsk, tsk”. “A ‘young female doll’, right?”

“Come on, Mom!”

“You are a daughter of the Magnolia family, so your wording should be elegant and beautiful. Okay, one more time.”

Puffing her cheeks, Ann reluctantly fixed her manner of speech, “There’s this young female doll, you see! She’s walking over!”

“My, is that so?”

“It’s mostly cars that cross the road in front our house, right? If she’s on foot, it means she got off at the nearby bus stop. People who get off at that stop are bound to be our visitors, right?”

“That is right.”

“Like, there’s been nothing next to our house since forever. In other words, she will be coming to this place!” As a cherry on top, Ann added, “I have a feeling that this isn’t anything good.”

“So we are playing great detective today, huh?” in contrast with Ann’s rapid-fire talking, her mother spoke leisurely.

“I’m not playing around! Hey, let’s close every door and window... and make it so that this doll... this young female doll won’t be able to come inside! It’s okay; I’ll protect Mom.”

The mother gave Ann, who determinedly swung her arms with vigor, a strained smile. She probably thought that her child was but spouting nonsense. Even so, she decided to go along with the game in a way, getting up with slow movements. The hem of her long, light pink-colored negligee dragging along the floor, she stood next to the window. Due to the light of the Sun, her slim body was visible from underneath the translucent negligee.

“My, isn’t that the Auto-Memories Doll? Come to think of it, she was supposed to arrive today!”

“What’s an ‘Auto-Memories Doll’...?”

“I will explain later, Ann. Help me get ready!”

A few minutes thereafter, Ann’s mother threw away the Magnolia family elegance that she sought from her daughter and dressed up. While Ann did not change her clothes, she had a ribbon of a color similar to that of her smock one-piece placed on her head. The mother, being herself, wore an ivory-colored one-piece dress composed of multiple overlaid layers of lace frills, hung a soft pea-green shawl over her shoulders and put on rose-shaped earrings. She sprayed a perfume made of thirty different types of flowers in the air and spun around, enveloping her body with the fragrance.

“Mom, are you excited?”

“Even more than if I were to meet a foreign prince.”

That had not been a joke. The outfit her mother had chosen were the kind that she would only wear on truly special occasions. Watching her in such state, Ann was also fidgeting.

——I don’t like this; it’s better without guests coming here.

Ann’s fidgeting had not instigated from delight.

On the topic of visitors, children would look forward to them albeit feeling nervous, but Ann was an exception. That was because, from the moment she had become aware of the things around her, it had become obvious that any guests who visited her mother would come to pester her for money. Her mother was a carefree one and visits made her happy, and so she was quick to comply with them. Ann loved her mother, but was troubled by the poorness of the latter’s monetary management abilities and her scarce sense of danger.

She could not remain unsuspecting that even a thing with doll-like looks was not after their household’s fortune. Yet what Ann disliked more than anything else was the fact she could tell even from a distant view that the woman’s appearance was definitely the sort her mother favored. Her mother’s heart being taken by anyone other than herself was to Ann nothing but unpleasant.

As her mother had claimed, “I want to hurry and meet her!” and not listened to Ann, the two of them came outside and arranged themselves to reception the guest. Ann assisted her mother, who was breathless just from descending the stairs, as they stepped out.

The world was filled with sunrays filtered by the gaps between tree leaves. The paleness in the skin of her mother, who usually only moved around inside their residence, was awfully conspicuous.

——Mom, you’re kind of smaller than you used to be.

She could not look at her mother’s face amidst the excess of sunshine, but had a feeling that the other’s wrinkles had increased. Ann’s chest ached bitingly.

No one could halt the process of so-called deadly diseases.

Although Ann was a small child, she was the one and only heiress who would later succeed her mother and administrate the Magnolia household. She had heard from doctors that her mother’s life had already been cut short. She had also been told to prepare herself. God did not have mercy even upon seven-year-olds.

——If that’s how it is, then I want Mom all for myself until the very end.

If her mother’s time was running out, Ann wanted to use it entirely for her sake. Into the world of the girl who had such a mindset, a stranger intruded.

“Pardon me.”

Something even more radiant emerged from the sun-bathed green road. As soon as Ann saw “it”, her bad feeling was confirmed.

——Aah, she’s someone that will rob Mom from me.

Why did she have such a thought? Upon looking at “its” figure, she could only say that it had been her intuition speaking.

‘It’ was a bewitchingly beautiful doll.

Golden hair that shone as though born out of moonlight. Blue orbs that glowed like gems. Bright rouge-colored lips so plump as to seem they had been pressed hard. A Prussian-blue jacket under a ribbon-tie snow-white dress that bore a mismatched emerald brooch. Cocoa-brown knit-up boots that stepped steadily onto the ground. Resting a frilly, light blue and white-striped umbrella and bag onto the grass, “it” displayed manners much more refined than Ann in front of the duo.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance. I rush to anywhere my customers might desire. I am from the Auto-Memories Dolls service, Violet Evergarden.”

“Its” voice, just as exquisite as “its” appearance, resounded in their ears. After overcoming her shock from being struck by such beauty, Ann looked at her mother, who was at ease next to her. Expression painted like a little girl who had just fallen in love, stars twinkled in her eyes out of amazement.

——And, as expected, that’s no good.

Ann thought of the stunning guest as someone bound to steal her mother away from her.

Violet Evergarden was a woman who worked as a so-called “Auto-Memories Doll” in the ghostwriting business. Ann questioned her mother as to why she had hired someone of that sort.

“I wish to write letters to someone, but they will take too long, so I wanted her to write in my stead,” her mother laughed.

Indeed, she lately relied on her maid even when bathing. Writing for an extended period would certainly be too extreme for her.

“Why that person, though...?”

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?”

“She is, but...”

“She’s a celebrity in the business. The fact that she’s so attractive and doll-like is one of the reasons of her fame, but she’s rumored to do really a good job as well! Moreover, having a woman write letters for me while we are by ourselves, and having to recite it to her aloud... one does not need to be a man for this to cause shudders!”

Her mother valued the beautiful, and Ann was convinced that was the main motive why the young woman had been chosen.

“If it’s just letters, I could do the writing.”

At Ann’s statement, her mother giggled nervously. “Ann cannot possibly write difficult words yet. Besides… these are letters that I cannot have you write.”

With her last sentence, it was clear who the one doing the writing would be.

——Surely, she intends to write to Dad, huh…

Ann’s father, simply put, had abandoned the family. He was never home and never did much work as the family provider, indulging in debauchery instead. Apparently, her mother had married him for love, but Ann did not believe this in the slightest. Not once had he visited her mother after she had become ill, and just when they had thought he was coming back home for the first time in a while, he had actually only stopped by to take vases and paintings from the house and sell them, as he was a pitiful man who took refuge in gambling and alcohol.

It seemed he used to be an heir with a promising future in the past. However, a few years after their marriage, his side of the family went bankrupt due to a small failure in trade, becoming financially dependent on the Magnolia household. From what Ann had heard, it would seem that the reason behind this minor business fiasco had been her father himself.

Ann swallowed down all the circumstances and despised her father. Even though he had collapsed once due to business failure, should he not have continued to do his best? Not only had he not done so, but he had also turned a blind eye to her mother’s disease and necessities, continuously running away. That was why Ann’s expression would distort just by hearing the word “father” coming out of her mother’s mouth.

“Making this kind of face again… What a waste of your cute features.”

A massaging thumb stretched out the creasing between Ann’s eyebrows. Her mother seemed to lament the hatred towards her father. It appeared that her affection for him had remained even while being treated so terribly.

“Do not think severely of your father. Bad things do not last. This is just what he wishes to do at the moment. He has lived his whole life seriously. That is the truth. Although our paths slightly differ now, if we wait, he will properly return to us someday.”

Ann was aware that such days would not come. Even if they did, she had no intention to welcome them warmly. Should things turn out the way her unwittingly wavering mother had predicted, the fact that he did not come see his wife even as she had become terminally sick and repeatedly found herself hospitalized was not an escapism from reality, but an act of love.

At the very least, he supposedly knew that she did not have much time left.

——It’s fine without Dad around.

It was as if he had not been there from the start. For Ann, her mother was the only one who classified in the word “family”. Moreover, those who saddened her mother were her enemies, even if one of them was her own father. Anyone who would steal her time with her mother, too. And should that apply to the Auto-Memories Doll who had come as per her mother’s request, she would be an enemy as well.

——Mom is mine.

Ann marked anything that could destroy hers and her mother’s world as a foe.

Her mother and Violet started the process of writing letters seated at a table on antique white benches under an umbrella arranged in the garden. Their contract period was of one week. It seemed that her mother really did intend to make Violet write incredibly long letters. Perhaps they were addressed to several people.

Back when she was healthy, her mother used to often throw salon parties and invite many friends over to the manor. However, she currently had no contact or involvement with those people anymore.

“So there’s no meaning in writing them…”

Ann did not come near the two, spying on their actions while hiding behind the curtains instead. She had been told to not disturb when her mother’s letters were being written.

“There’s need for privacy even between parents and children, right?”

It was a cruel demand for Ann, who had always been glued to her mother.

“I wonder what they’re talking about. Who is she writing it to? I’m curious…” She squeezed her cheek against the window frame.

Serving them tea and snacks was not up to Ann, but to the maid. Therefore, she was unable to put on a good girl façade for the sake of eavesdropping on their internal affairs. All she could do was watch, just as she could not do anything about her mother’s illness.

“I wonder why life has to be like this…” she attempted to spew out an adult-like line, but since she was a seven-year-old, it did not have any effect.

As she continued observing them with an unkempt facial expression, she was able to take notice of many things. The two worked very quietly, yet they occasionally seemed to either become quite solemn or be enjoying themselves a great deal. During the fun moments, her mother would laugh loudly and smack her hand down with force. During the sad ones, she would wipe her tears with a handkerchief lent by Violet.

Her mother was a person of intense emotional vicissitudes. Even so, Ann thought, was she not opening her heart too much to someone she had barely just met?

——Mom will be tricked again…

Ann had learned the ruthlessness, indifference, betrayal and greed of people through her mother. She worried tremendously about the latter, who was too fast to confide in anyone. She wished her mother would simply figure out how to be suspicious of others. Yet, perhaps her mother did intend to entrust that Auto-Memories Doll, Violet Evergarden, with whatever mystery was hidden within her heart.

During her stay, Violet was introduced to the house as a guest.

At mealtime, the mother had invited the young woman to join them but was declined. When Ann asked why, Violet had coldly replied, “Because I wish to eat by myself, Young Mistress.”

Ann found her odd. Whenever her mother was hospitalized, no matter how warm the meals prepared by the maid were, she was unable to enjoy them. Food that she had to eat alone was simply tasteless.

That was what meals were about.

As she caught the maid off to deliver Violet’s dinner to her room, Ann claimed that she would be the one to do so. In order to know the enemy, she first needed to interact with her.

The menu was soft bread, vegetable soup with chicken and colorful beans, fried potatoes and onions garnished with salt, garlic and pepper, roast beef with sauce, and pear sherbet as dessert. That was the usual in the Magnolia house. Although it could be considered rather luxurious, as Ann had grown up in a wealthy environment, it felt plain to her.

“There’s no helping that Mom overlooked this. We need to increase the amount of meat for tomorrow. And no sherbets; it has to be a cake. In a way… she’s a guest.”

Not forgetting about hospitality regardless of anything was the gift of good families.

As she reached an oak wood door – the one of the guest room –, she called, as her hands were occupied with a tray, “Heeey, it’s dinner time.”

Rustling sounds came from inside, and, after a pause, Violet opened the door and poked her head out.

As she did so, Ann grumbled, “It’s heavy. Hurry and take it!”

“I am terribly sorry, Young Mistress,” she immediately accepted the tray with an apology, but as her expression was too apathetic, in the eyes of a child, she looked eerie.

Ann peeked through the open door from behind Violet, who placed the tray on a desk. Since the maid cleaned the room regularly, it was arranged neatly.

Ann then noticed the luggage lying conspicuously on the bed. It was a leather trolley bag clammily filled with customs clearance stickers from various countries. The bag was open, a small pistol protruding from within.

In the split moment that a realization crossed her mind, Violet returned and the object disappeared from her sight. Ann moved her body in an attempt to look at it again, yet Violet immediately blocked it once more.  Just as would happen in a pantomime show, the two of them continuously moved in perfect synchrony with each other. Eventually, Violet lost her wit.

“Young Mistress, is a gun something usual for you?”

“What’s up with that? Hey, is it a real one?”

As Ann inquired excitedly, Violet answered, “Self-defense is a necessity for women who travel alone, after all.”

“What’s ‘self-defense’?”

“To protect oneself, Young Mistress.”

As Violet narrowed her eyes slightly, Ann’s body trembled at the movement of her lips. Had she been a little older, the girl would probably have recognized her own reaction as a sign of fascination.

A woman capable of numbing people with her voice and gestures was a magical one. Ann felt far more threatened by Violet’s charms than the fact that she carried firearm.

“So you… shoot that thing?”

As she imitated the shape of a pistol with her hands, Violet straightened her arm immediately. “Please enclose the sides more. If your hand is loose, you become unable to withstand the recoil.”

“This isn’t the real deal. It’s a finger.”

“Even so, it should be enough to serve as practice for a time when you could possibly need it.”

What was that Auto-Memories Doll saying to an infant?

“Don’t you know? Women aren’t supposed to use these kinds of things.”

“There is no separating women from men when it comes to possessing guns,” Violet replied without hesitation, and Ann thought she was the coolest.

“Why do you have that with you?”

“The next place I will be dispatched to is an area of conflict… Be at ease. I shall not use it here.”

“Obviously!”

At Ann’s sharp attitude, Violet lightly forced a question out of curiosity, “Is there no such arming in this mansion?”

“Normal homes don’t have that.”

Violet gave her a puzzled look. “Then what do you do in case a thief ever appears…?” Seeming truly doubtful, she tilted her head. As she did so, her doll-like features stood out even further.

“If someone like that shows up, everyone will know right away. This is the countryside, after all. It was the same when you arrived.”

“I see. This could explain the low crime rate in depopulate areas.” Nodding as if that had been a lesson, she looked like a child despite being an adult.

“You’re… kinda… weird,” Ann declared tensely, pointing an index finger at Violet.

Although she had merely said so out of spite, at that instant, the corners of Violet’s mouth rose just a little for the first time. “Young Mistress, should you not be going to sleep? Staying up late is prejudicial for women.”

Due to the unexpected smile, Ann was blown away to a certain degree and could say nothing else. Tinted red, her cheeks denounced the truth behind her palpitations.

“I-I will sleep. You should sleep too, or else, Mom will scold you.”

“Yes.”

“If you stay up even later than this, monsters will come to tell you that you have to go sleep.”

“Goodnight, Young Mistress.”

Ann could not bear staying there or even standing on her feet anymore, leaving the place in a rush. However, as she walked away, she found herself curious no matter what, glancing backwards the very next second. She could see Violet holding the gun beyond the door that was still half-open. Violet’s expressions were mostly deadpan, and so, it was hard to tell her mood changes. Nevertheless, even the all-too-young Ann could understand what she had seemed to feel at that moment with just a look.

——Ah, she’s kinda...

She was somewhat lonely.

Incompatible with her current appearance, she held onto a brutal, fierce weapon. Ann could hardly imagine growing attached to her, yet she was becoming familiar with the black gloves covering Violet’s hands. Using those two hands, Violet pressed the rib part of the gun that she was gripping against her forehead with a bump. Her figure was similar to someone uttering a prayer, which pilgrims would often do. Before Ann turned around the hall’s corner, her ears were able to catch said prayer.

“Please, give me an order,” she asked somebody.

Ann’s chest suddenly began to thump faster.

——My face is hot. It stings.

She did not understand very well why her heart beat so rapidly, but it was because she had caught a glimpse of a woman’s adult side from Violet.

——How strange. Even though I don’t like that person, I’m interested in her.

Interest was just a step behind of romantic love. Ann did not yet know that, sometimes, feelings such as “like” and “dislike” could easily reverse.

Ann’s observation of Violet went on even after that. The progress of writing letters seemed to be doing well, for the bundle of envelopes had increased. Violet would glance discreetly at her direction every now and then, causing her to wonder if the woman was aware of her peeking through the window. At those moments, Ann’s heart would throb. She ended up acquiring the habit of grabbing onto her chest, to the point her clothes crumpled in that spot.

The little girl continued to change.

“Hey, hey. Hey, I said. Put a ribbon on my hair.”

“Understood.”

Although she was sad about her mother being monopolized, she could not bring herself to feel angry.

“What’s a bread so hard that you can’t bite through?”

“I believe any will soften if dipped into soup; is that not the case?”

During the breaks in-between the letters’ writing, Ann would inadvertently chase after and spend time with her.

“Violet, Violet.”

“Yes, Young Mistress?”

Before realizing, instead of referring to her with a demeaning “you”, she had changed it to “Violet”.

“Violet, read me books, dance with me and catch bugs with me outside!”

“Please state the priority order, Young Mistress.”

Violet was challenging to stick with, but did not neglect her in any way.

——What a weird person. I kind of also become weird when I’m with her.

Albeit resenting it, Ann became obsessed with Violet.

The peaceful times met a sudden end later on.

Ann’s mother had become a little healthier a couple of days after Violet’s arrival, but her already poor physical condition gradually worsened. Perhaps it had been a mistake to expose herself to the wind outside. She had a fever, and the fuss over it came to the point that a doctor was called over to the manor. But even in such a situation, she and Violet did not halt their work. The mother lay on her bed while Violet resumed typing the letters, sitting next to it.

Uneasy at the change in her mother’s condition, Ann worriedly came to see how things were going in the room and to persuade her. She meant to make her stop writing the letters.

It would be a problem if she let the flame of what life she had left dissipate because of mere letters. That was most definitely unacceptable. Even as Ann was negated to, she forcefully entered the room with continuous objections.

“Why do you push yourself so hard to write these letters? The doctors say it’s useless…”

“If I do not write them now, I might never be able to. It is all right. See, it is… because my head is not doing so well that, when I was reciting, I ended up having this psychological fever. How unpleasant…”

Her mother smiled weakly, but she was unable to reciprocate. It was a smile that pierced Ann’s heart.

The joyful moments had disappeared as if they had been a lie and the bitter reality had abruptly come back.

“Mom, stop it already.”

Although her mother had been fine ten seconds before, she could stop breathing in a matter of three or so minutes. The sorrow of living with someone in such circumstances wound up resurfacing.

“Please, don’t write these letters anymore.”

If doing so would earn her fevers… if doing so would shorten her life...

“Please, please...”

...even were it something that her mother wished for, Ann did not wish her to do it.

“Just stop it!”

Her accumulated anxiety and depression burst out at that instant. Even Ann herself was surprised by her own voice, which had come out much louder than she had imagined it would.

In that moment, she ended up spewing at once the selfishness that she would normally not vent out, “Mom, why don’t you ever listen to me? Do you prefer being with Violet over me? Why do you not look at me?!”

It might have been better for her to say it in a more lovable manner. She had accidentally let her distress show.

With a shaky tone, she wound up asking in an accusing way, “Am I... not wanted?”

All she had wished for was to be looked after.

Her mother shook her head with wide eyes at those words. “That is not it. There is no way that would be the case. What is the matter, Ann?” She desperately attempted to lift the mood.

Ann evaded the hand that reached out to pat her head. She did not want to be touched.

“You don’t listen at all to anything I say.”

“That’s because I’m writing these letters.”

“Are the letters more important than me?”

“Ann, there’s nothing more important than you.”

“Liar...!”

“It’s not a lie.”

Her mother’s voice was internal and full of grief. Still, Ann did not stop her arguments from coming. Her resentment towards how things were not going the way she hoped bled out of her.

“Liar! You’ve always been a liar! All the time... All the time, it’s nothing but lies! Mom, you haven’t recovered in the slightest! Even though you said you’d get better again!”

After having said it, as it was something she should not have uttered, Ann immediately regretted it. Such was the kind of line that would normally be said in a fight devoid of love between parent and child. But that day was an exception. Her mother, red-faced from the fever, remained smiling while growing silent.

“Mom, hey...” While she was in that state, Ann called out to her. The spur-of-momentum heat was suddenly gone. Yet, as she tried to speak, her mouth was covered by a touch.

“Ann, please, leave for a bit.”

Tears spilled from the eyes of her whispering mother. The large droplets quivered loose and eventually cascaded down her cheeks. Ann was shocked that her mother, who perpetually smiled despite the pain she had to endure from her disease, was actually letting her tears be seen.

——Mom is crying.

Since her mother was not the type to cry, Ann had believed adults to be creatures that never shed tears. After realizing that was not the case, the fact she had done something terrible rang within her mind.

——I’ve hurt my Mom.

Even though Ann knew that she, more than anyone, was not supposed to place herself before her mother, and even though she was convinced that the task of protecting her mother the most was up to her, she had made the latter cry.

“M-Mo...” she attempted to apologize, but was driven away by Violet, who proceeded to drag her out of the room as if dealing with a dog cub. “Stop! Let go! Let go!” Ann exclaimed, left alone in the corridor as she was unable to put up resistance.

Her mother’s sobs could be heard from the other side of the closed door.

“M... Mom...” She clung to the door, distraught. “Hey, Mom...”

——Sorry. Sorry for making you cry. That wasn’t my intention.

“Mom! Mom!”

——I just wanted you to take care of your own body. So that... So that... I could be with you even for a second longer, if possible.

“Mom...”

——That was it.

“Mom, hey!”

——Is this... my fault?

Due to the frustration from not receiving any response, her loneliness reverberated. She tried banging her fists against the door violently. However, even without hurting, her hands became weak and numbly fell down.

——Am I being selfish?

A mother who was at death’s doorstep. A daughter that would be left on her own.

——Am I selfish?

A mother who kept writing letters, for she might not be able to do so in the future. A daughter that hated it.

——Was being together with her... something so bad to wish for?

The tears that had dried out were on the verge of overflowing again. Ann inhaled deeply and yelled in one breath, “Is someone else more important to Mom than me?!” As her shouts came out, she started bawling. Her voice was muffled, her timbre cracking. “Mom, don’t be writing letters and spend time with me!” the child begged.

Wailing when their requests could not be fulfilled was simply what children did.

“Without Mom, I’ll be alone! All by myself! How long will this last? I want to be with Mom for as much time as I can. If I’ll be on my own after this, stop writing these letters... For now, be with me! With me!”

That was it; Ann was but a child.

“Be with me...”

Still too young to be able to do anything, she was a mere child that had lived for barely seven years and adored her mother.

“I want to... be with you...”

She was someone who, in fact, had always, always wept over the fate granted to her by God.

“Young Mistress.”

Violet came out of the room. She stared down at Ann, whose face was wet with tears. Just as the girl had thought that was clearly a cold treatment, a hand made its way to her shoulder. The warmth of the act abated her hostility.

“There is a reason for me to be robbing your time with your mother. Please do not resent her.”

“But... But... But...!”

Violet crouched down to meet the small Ann’s line of sight. “It is evident that Young Mistress is strong. Even with such a small body, you have already acknowledged your mother’s disease. Children usually will not complain or care for someone to this extent. You are a highly respectable person, Young Mistress Ann.”

“That’s not it. That’s not it at all... I just... wanted to be with Mom for a little more...”

“Madam feels the same way.”

Violet’s words sounded like nothing but pity.

“Lies, lies, lies, lies… I mean… she’s concerned about those letters for someone that I don’t know rather than about me. Even though there’s no one else in this house that really worries for Mom!”

——Everyone, everyone is all about money.

“I’m the only one... I’m the only one who cares for Mom!”

The way her dark brown eyes saw it, adults and everything related to them were wrapped in fabrications.

Her shoulders shivered as her tears trickled to the floor. Distorted by said tears, her vision was as blurry as the world felt to her. Just how many things in that world were actually real?

“And yet...”

The young girl believed that, regardless of how long she would live afterwards, if the world was filled with so much hypocrisy and treachery from the very start of one’s life, the future did not have to come.

“And yet...”

The amount of things Ann deemed as true could be counted with one hand. They shone unrelentingly in such a false world. With them, she could tolerate any sort of dread.

“This is how it is... and yet...”

——Even though I wouldn’t need anything else as long as Mom was with me...

“And yet, Mom doesn’t love me the most!”

As Ann yelled, Violet placed an index finger against her lips at a speed that could not be perceived by human eyes. Ann’s body quivered for a moment. Her voice ceased seamlessly. In the quiet corridor, her mother’s sobs could still be heard from behind the door.

“If it is about me, you can be as angry as you will. Hit me, kick me; I will not mind whatever you feel like doing. However... please refrain from using words that would sadden your beloved, honorable mother, for your own sake as well.”

As Ann was told so with a severe face, tears started to rapidly form in her eyes again. The cries that she suppressed and swallowed back in were fresh and painful.

“Am I in the wrong?”

“No, there is not a single thing that you are to blame for.”

“Because I’m a bad child, Mom became sick, and... will soon...”

——...die?

Violet answered Ann’s question in a whisper with a tone that was still a little dispassionate but unperturbed, “No.”

The tears poured from Ann’s stroppy eyes.

“No, Young Mistress is a very kind person. Illnesses are unrelated to this. It is… something that no one can predict or do anything about. Just as I can no longer have a skin as soft as yours in place of my robotic arms, it is something that cannot be helped.”

“Then, is it God’s fault?”

“Even if it were, even if it were not... we can only concentrate in how we should live the lives that we have been granted.”

“What... should I do?”

“For now, Young Mistress... you are free to cry.” Violet opened her arms, her machine parts letting out a faint noise. “If you will not hit me, is it all right if I lend you my body instead?”

That could be interpreted as “you can jump on and hug me”, even though she did not seem like the type to say such things. Ann could cry securely, so to speak. Without hesitation, she embraced Violet.

Was she wearing any perfume? She smelled of several different flowers.

“Violet, don’t take Mom away from me,” she said, tightly pressing her face against Violet’s chest and soaking it with tears. “Don’t steal my time with Mom, Violet.”

“Please forgive it for only a few more days.”

“Then, at least tell Mom that it’s okay if I stay by her side while you’re writing. It’s fine if you two ignore me; I just want to be close to her. I want to be by her side and squeeze her hand tight.”

“I apologize, but my client is Madam, not Young Mistress Ann. There is nothing I can do to change this.”

——I really can’t stand adults after all, Ann thought.

“I hate you... Violet.”

“My deepest apologies, Young Mistress.”

“Why do you write letters?”

“Because people have feelings that they wish to deliver to others.”

Ann knew she was not the center of the world. Regardless, the fact that things never went as she desired caused more tears to pour down out of frustration.

“Things like that don’t need to be delivered...”

Violet merely continued to hug the frowning Ann, who bit her lip out of displeasure. “There is no such thing as a letter that needn’t be delivered, Young Mistress.”

It seemed her words were directed at herself rather than at the girl. Ann pondered over why. Because of that, the phrase was somehow strikingly engraved in her mind.

The time that Ann Magnolia spent together with Violet Evergarden was of only a week. Her mother managed to finish writing the letters one way or another, and Violet reticently left the mansion once the contract period was over.

“You’re going somewhere dangerous, right?”

“Yes, since someone awaits me there.”

“Aren’t you scared?”

“I rush anywhere a client might desire. This is what the Auto-Memories Doll Violet Evergarden is about.”

“Can I call you over if I someday meet someone I’d want to write letters to?” was what Ann could not bring herself to inquire.

What if the woman died at the place her next client was? Even should she not, what if Ann ended up never finding someone she would like to write to? Thinking about that, she was unable to ask it.

While being seen off, Violet turned around only once and waved at her.

It was several months after the woman had left that the disease of Ann’s mother reached its worst. She soon passed away. The ones who took care of her in her last moments were Ann and her maid.

Until she closed her eyes, Ann continuously whispered, “I love you, Mom.”

Her mother simply nodded slowly. “Yes, yes.”

On a calm day of a quiet spring, her dear mother passed away.

From that point on, Ann became extremely busy. In regards of her heirloom, after a discussion with lawyers, she decided to freeze the family’s multiple bank accounts until she was of age, summoned a private tutor to the manor and studied hard. As it was difficult for her to part ways with the land that bore deep memories of her mother, she obtained qualification for a bachelor’s degree through correspondence education.

She never again saw her father. He had attended the funeral, but they had barely exchanged two or three words.

After her mother died, he completely stopped coming home. His recklessness with money ended as well. Ann did not ask directly the reason behind his change of mindset, but believed it to have been a good one.

Ann opened a law counseling office at home after graduating. She did not earn that much, but she no longer had a maid, so it was about enough for her to sustain herself. She was also in the middle of a small love affair with a young entrepreneur who often came for counseling.

As she did not succumb to sorrow even after having lost her mother at seven years of age, people would ask, “How come you don’t break down?”

To that, Ann would answer, “Because my mother is always looking after me.”

Her mother was, of course, deceased. Her bones resided in a family grave where their relatives had been buried for generations.

Yet Ann would say, “My mother has been rectifying and guiding me all this time. Even now.”

There was a reason why she would affirm that while smiling. It was connected all the way to the time that she had spent with Violet Evergarden.

Ann’s eighth birthday had been the first after her mother had passed on. A package had arrived for her on said day. It had contained a big stuffed bear with a red ribbon. The name of the sender was of her late mother, the present accompanied by a letter.

Happy 8th birthday, Ann. Many sad things might have happened. There may be several others to work hard on. But do not give in. Although you might be lonely and crying desolately, do not forget: Mom will always love you, Ann.

It had been unmistakably her mother’s handwriting. At that instant, the image of Violet Evergarden had resurfaced in the back of Ann’s mind. Had it gotten mixed with the letters she had ghostwritten? If that were the case, it would be unnatural. In the past, although her mother had said that she was going to write letters, everything had been penned by Violet Evergarden. Could it be that the Auto-Memories Doll had gone as far as imitating her mother’s handwriting?

In shock, upon questioning the postal agency that had delivered it, Ann had been informed that the company had signed a long-term contract with her mother and was supposed to send gifts on her birthday every year. Moreover, the certain someone who had written the letter was Violet Evergarden, and all the other letters transcribed by her had been carefully stored.

Ann did not receive an answer when asking for how long the letters would be delivered due to contractual secrecy, but they had arrived every single following year. Even as she had turned 14.

You have already become a wonderful lady by now. I wonder if you have found a young man that you like. Your way of speaking and attitude are a little boyish, so be careful.

I cannot give advices regarding romance, but I shall protect you so that you do not become involved with a bad boy. This is about Ann, who has always been firmer than me, after all. Even if I do not do that, surely, if you are the one choosing, it will be a truly great person. Do not be afraid of love.

Even as she had turned 16.

Have you ridden in a car by now? Would you be surprised if Mom told you that I actually could ride in cars too? I used to drive a lot in the past. But I would be stopped by the people riding with me. They would go blue.

My gift for your birthday is a car of a color that suits you. Just use the enclosed key. But I wonder if it is now considered a classic model. Do not call it ‘lame’, okay? Mom is looking forward to you becoming able to see various different worlds.

Even as she had turned 18.

I wonder if you are married by now. What do I do? To become a wife at a young age is troublesome in many ways. But your child will definitely be cute, no matter if it is a boy or a girl. Mom guarantees that.

I do not mean to say precipitously that parenting is rough, but... the things you did that made me happy, the things you did that made me sad – I want you to raise your child with them in mind. It is all right. Regardless of how insecure you might become, I am here. I shall be by your side. Even as you become a mother, you are still my daughter, so it is fine to let out a screech sometimes. I love you.

Even as she had turned 20.

You have already lived 20 years now. Amazing! To think the little baby that was born from me would become so big! Life is truly whimsical. I am saddened that I could not see you grow into a pretty young woman. No, but I shall be watching over you from heaven.

Today, tomorrow, the day after; you will always remain a beauty, my Ann. Even if disagreeable people discourage you, I can affirm this with a puffed-out chest: you are gorgeous and the coolest young lady. Have confidence and move forward with full responsibility towards society.

You have managed to live this long because you have been taken care of by countless people. This is thanks to the structure of the community you are in. You have been helped out a lot without knowing. From now on, in order to pay back for it, please work even for my part.

I am kidding, sorry. You are a hard worker, so saying something like this is overdoing it. Have strength and enjoy life, my dearest. I love you.

The letters kept reaching her forever. The words her mother had written were recited in Ann’s mind by a voice that she would occasionally forget.

Back in the old days, the feelings of her sick mother had all been addressed to her. Each and every one of them were future birthday cards to her beloved daughter. Meaning that the one Ann had been jealous of was herself.

“There is no such thing as a letter that needn’t be delivered, Young Mistress,” Violet’s words echoed in Ann’s ears beyond the borders of time.

The letters continued finding their way to her, even as she married and had a child of her own. She – a woman of long, wavy black hair, who lived in an enormous peripheral mansion of her possession, located far from town – would make sure to go outside in the morning on a certain day of a certain month. She would wait while taking in the scenery that spread out before her.

As her ears picked the noise of the bike ridden by a postman clad in a green frock coat, she stood up with her eyes shining. Her figure as she anxiously waited while thinking, “Is it now? Is it now?” was certainly similar to that of her late mother.

The postman arrived at the residence, handing to her an enormous package with a smirk. He, who knew about the gifts sent to her every year, offered warm words of his own as well, “Congratulations for your birthday, Ma’am.”

She replied with slightly wet dark brown eyes, “Thank you.” And, at last, she asked what she had been wanting to for a long time, “Say, do you know Violet Evergarden?”

The post office and the ghostwriting industry had a close relationship. Once Ann inquired with her heart pounding “what-if”, the postman replied while grinning, “Yes, since she’s famous. She’s still active. Well, then...”

Ann watched as the postman took his leave, caressing the gift with a smile. Her tears slowly poured down. Still smiling, she whimpered a little.

——Ah... Mom, did you hear this just now?

That woman was still working as an Auto-Memories Doll. The person she had shared a part of her time with was still doing well, carrying on the same occupation.

——I’m happy. I’m really happy, Violet Evergarden.

From within the mansion, she could hear a call, “Mom!”

She turned to the direction of the voice. Someone waved from the window that she used to be at when observing her mother and Violet. It was a girl with slightly wavy hair that keenly resembled Ann herself.

“Another present from Grandma?”

Ann nodded at her innocently smiling daughter. “Yes, it arrived!” answering enthusiastically, Ann returned the wave.

Inside the house, her daughter and husband were about to commence her birthday party. She had to hurry back. Crying softly, she walked towards the mansion. As she did so, she was deep in thought.

——Hey, Mom. You said before that you wanted me to give my child all the happiness you’d once experienced, right? Those words… made me incredibly happy. They really resonated with me, is what I thought. That’s why I’ll do what you did. This isn’t an excuse to see that person, though. It’s part of the reason, but not all. I, too… have feelings that I want to convey. Even many years after our first meeting, I have a hunch that she definitely won’t have changed a thing. With her beautiful eyes and voice that has a sweet ring to it, she will write about my love for my own daughter. Violet Evergarden is that kind of woman – the one that does not disappoint. On the contrary, she was the type of Auto-Memories Doll that one would want to witness doing her work once more. When I see her again, I shall thank her and apologize to her without reserve. After all, I’m no longer that girl who could do nothing but cry.

Ann Magnolia would never forget the woman who had embraced her back when she was small.

I could remember.

That she came around.

That she would be sitting there, quietly, writing letters.

I could remember.

The figures of that person, and of my kindly smiling mother.

That sight, surely…

I would not forget even in death.

[joemccright]

#sunrise #sunrays #bluesky #quilt

[earnyourbacon]

[:en]6:30 a.m. In semi-darkness I see a headlamp scurrying across the clearing. I am still lying cuddled up in my quilt, still unwilling to get up. I can’t and don’t want to keep up with the boys’ schedule anyway, as they want to leave at 7.30 a.m. already to take the cool morning hours with them. Because the bubble is pressing, I still feel myself outside ten minutes later and am happy about an enchanting sunrise over the Floridian prairie. Dense wafts of mist give the grass landscape between palm trees and bushes a mystical atmosphere.

  Together with Warren and Jason I enjoy the first and also last coffee of the day on the clammy wooden bench and hope that the tent will be dried by the sunrays. Because of the immensely high humidity everything is wet. While I am still wet in my pyjamas the boys pack their things. It is already far after half past seven when I notice “Oops, they’re probably waiting for me.” In no time at all I stuff the damp tent into the packsack, my household goods into the rucksack, disappear behind the next palm tree to get changed and am ready to leave within ten minutes. If only it were that easy in everyday life.

Our hope to still see the female alligator is unfortunately disappointed. Obviously she is a late riser. The way leads us from the campground into the open terrain, briefly into a beautiful oak forest, which, with its imposing, fern-covered oak trees, puts us directly into Avatar, and soon onto the next road. Even today the amount of asphalt is not insignificant and it gets hotter than yesterday. We take it with composure, because we can’t change it. Warren tries to make the alternative route to the original trail tasty for us with a small bistro. Alternative means: even more road instead of swamps. I wave my thanks and Jason also prefers to get wet feet rather than continuing to melt on the asphalt.

  Our high spirits are of course rewarded with mud wading. Ankle-deep we all sink into the brown mud and are happy about small ponds to wash off the dirt – only to sink back into the mud after five minutes. I somehow enjoy it, because it is my first swamp experience on the Florida Trail. The two men, however, have already done several miles and days in the black water.

  With muddy calves and shoes we arrive at our campground in the late afternoon. There is already a tent there and a caked hiker comes to greet us together with his happy dog. Scrarecrow and Oreo – his black and white dog – are real dropouts and have a ten-year plan to cover almost all trails in the USA. First he hands us a brownie and nobody says no. Except Warren, who is on low carb.

The four of us share the rickety camping bench, because the rust has probably gotten to the second one a long time ago. After I tested my dehydrated pumpkin soup yesterday, today the homemade ratatouille is on the table. The men look a little envious into my bowl, but in the end everyone is full and satisfied. At 7 p.m. it’s reading time again and we have also agreed for the next day: we will continue hiking together.

  Lemon and Orange Paradise

After an extensive breakfast with instant coffee and lemon cake, we say goodbye to Scarecrow and Oreo, because they take things very slowly and do just short milage a day. Why rush it, they have ten years time.

Not even five minutes on the trail I stomp through ankle-deep water in a dense palm forest. The shoes and socks from yesterday were not quite dry anyway.

  My schedule for the next few days is this: today about 14 miles, tomorrow 20, to get to the reserved campground with hot shower. 20 miles is not a cardboard handle for me in the current condition, because since my return from sabbatical I spent much more time at my desk instead of walking. Therefore I am thinking about hiking more today in order to have less remaining distance the next day.

The plan is nice, but it is even hotter today than the days before. We enjoy every shady section through the semi-tropical forests. And they sweeten the heat in a very unexpected way. At the side of the trail and partly over the trail, wild orange and lemon trees with fruits ripe for harvest rise up. Of course I can’t resist the temptation and carry two oranges and a lemon to the next resting place. The fruits are super juicy and rich in seeds. The lemons are not nearly as sour as the ones from the supermarket, the oranges on the other hand are quite close to the lemons citric acid. Delicious. The fruit juice has spread all over my hands and I try to shake it off. This causes my Garmin watch to squeak like mad, because it means: Accident detected! No shit.

The heat has become unbearable. Now of all times the trail follows a never ending stretch of a shadowless ditch. After I feel already half baked, I wait for Jason, who walks a little bit worn out behind me. Something stings me above my socks and when I look down I see dozens of little red ants scurrying over my feet. I have placed myself in the middle of an anthill. Like a madwoman I wipe the critters off my legs, triggering another accident report with my watch. In addition to the fifty or so mosquito bites I already got on the first day, there are now about thirty ants bites. Fantastic!

The rest of the day passes relatively uneventful. We get some water from a small creek and hope for a water cache near some of the roads we cross. Unfortunately without success. The last miles lead again over asphalt. In zombie mode we bear our fate, but I have already made the decision: I won’t go one step further today than originally planned. So 20 miles tomorrow it is. The weather forecast also promises a considerable cooling off over night. A heavy storm is announced. Pretty dehydrated we arrive at the campground and thank the trail angel “Waterboy”, who has cached a lot of water gallons here.

  In a porta-potty we find a huge bottle of disinfectant lotion and take a good bath with it. We move together with our tents under a gigantic oak tree, because this seems to be the best place to survive the thunderstorms. Tornados not excluded. I do feel a bit uncomfortable…

[:de]6.30 Uhr. Im Halbdunkel sehe ich eine Stirnlampe über die Lichtung huschen. Ich liege noch in meinen Quilt eingekuschelt im Zelt und bin unwillig, aufzustehen. Mit dem Zeitplan der Jungs kann und will ich sowieso nicht mithalten, denn die beiden wollen bereits um 7.30 Uhr losziehen, um die kühlen Morgenstunden mitzunehmen. Weil die Blase drückt, wühle ich mich dann doch zehn Minuten später nach draußen und freue mich über einen zauberhaften Sonnenaufgang über der floridianischen Prärie. Dichte Nebelschwaden geben der Graslandschaft zwischen Palmen und Sträuchern in eine mystische Atmosphäre.

Gemeinsam mit Warren und Jason genieße ich den ersten und auch letzten Kaffee des Tages auf der klammen Holzbank und hoffe, dass das Zelt von den Sonnenstrahlen getrocknet wird. Durch die immens hohe Luftfeuchtigkeit ist alles nass. Während ich noch im Schlafanzug vor mich hin sumpfe, packen die Jungs ihre Siebensachen. Es ist schon weit nach halb acht als ich merke:

„Ups, die beiden warten wohl auf mich.“ In Windeseile stopfe ich das feuchte Zelt in den Packsack, meinen Hausrat in den Rucksack, verschwinde mal eben zum Umziehen hinter der nächsten Palme und bin innerhalb von zehn Minuten aufbruchbereit. Wäre es nur im Alltag auch so schön einfach.

Unsere Hoffnung, das Alligatorweibchen noch zu sehen, wird leider enttäuscht. Offensichtlich ist sie Langschläferin. Der Weg führt uns vom Zeltplatz ins offene Gelände, kurz in einen herrlichen Eichenwald, der uns mit den imposanten, farnbewachsenen Eichenbäumen direkt in Avatar versetzt und alsbald auf die nächste Straße. Auch heute ist der Anteil an Asphalt nicht unerheblich und es wird heißer als gestern. Wir tragen es mit Fassung, denn ändern können wir’s ja nicht. Warren versucht, uns die Alternativroute zum Original Trail mit einem kleinen Bistro schmackhaft zu machen. Alternativ heißt: noch mehr Straße statt Sümpfe. Ich winke dankend ab und auch Jason kriegt lieber nasse Füße als weiterhin auf dem Asphalt zu schmelzen.

  Unser Übermut wird natürlich mit Schlammwaten belohnt. Knöcheltief versinken wir alle im braunen Modder und freuen uns über kleine Tümpel, um den Dreck abzuwaschen – nur um dann nach fünf Minuten wieder im Schlamm zu versinken. Mir macht das ja irgendwie Spaß, denn es ist mein erstes Sumpferlebnis auf dem Florida Trail. Die beiden Männer allerdings haben schon etliche Kilometer und Tage im schwarzen Wasser hinter sich.

Mit verschlammten Waden und Schuhen kommen wir am späten Nachmittag an unserem Campground an. Da steht bereits ein Zelt und ein schlacksiger Hiker kommt uns zusammen mit seinem fröhlichen Hund begrüßen. Scrarecrow und Oreo – sein schwarzweißer Hund – sind richtige Aussteiger und haben einen Zehnjahresplan, um quasi alle Trails der USA abzuklappern. Er reicht uns erstmal einen Brownie rüber und da sagt keiner von uns nein. Außer Warren, der auf Low Carb unterwegs ist.

Zu viert teilen wir uns die klapprige Campingbank, denn die zweite hat der Rost wohl schon vor langer Zeit hingerafft. Nachdem ich gestern meine selbst dehydrierte Kürbissuppe getestet hatte, kommt heute das selbstgemachte Ratatouille auf den Tisch. Die Männer gucken schon etwas neidisch in meine Schüssel, aber jeder ist am Ende satt und zufrieden. Um 19 Uhr ist wieder Lesestunde und wir haben uns für den nächsten Tag verständigt: wir wandern weiter zusammen. 

  Zitronen- und Orangen-Paradies

Nach einem ausgiebigen Frühstück mit Instant-Kaffee und Zitronenkuchen verabschieden wir uns von Scarecrow und Oreo, denn die beiden lassen alles sehr langsam angehen und machen wenige Tageskilometer. Warum auch überstürzen, sie haben ja zehn Jahre Zeit.

Keine fünf Minuten auf dem Trail stapfe ich in einem dichten Palmenwald schon wieder durch knöcheltiefes Wasser. Die Schuhe und Socken waren ja von gestern eh noch nicht ganz trocken.

  Mein Zeitplan sieht für die nächsten Tage so aus: heute rund 22 Kilometer, morgen 32, um zum reservierten Campingplatz mit heißer Dusche zu kommen. 32 Kilometer sind für mich im aktuellen Zustand kein Pappenstiel, denn seit meiner Rückkehr aus dem Sabbatical habe ich weit mehr Zeit am Schreibtisch statt auf Wanderschaft verbracht. Daher überlege ich, heute mehr zu wandern, um am nächsten Tag weniger Reststrecke zu haben.

Der Plan ist schön, allerdings ist es heute noch heißer als die Tage zuvor. Wir freuen uns über jeden schattigen Abschnitt durch die semi-tropischen Wälder. Und die versüßen uns die Hitze auf ganz unerwartete Weise. Am Wegesrand und teilweise über den Trail ragen wilde Orangen- und Zitronenbäume mit erntereifen Früchten. Natürlich kann ich der Verlockung nicht widerstehen und schon schleppe ich zwei Orangen und eine Zitrone zum nächsten Pausenplatz. Super saftig sind die Früchte und reich an Kernen. Die Zitronen sind nicht annähernd so sauer wie man es aus dem Supermarkt kennt, die Orangen dagegen kommen der Zitronensäure schon recht nah. Köstlich. Der Fruchtsaft hat sich jedoch überall auf meinen Händen verteilt und ich versuche ihn abzuschütteln. Das veranlasst meine Garmin-Uhr auf einmal wie wild zu quietschen, denn sie meint: Unfall erkannt! Ach was.

Die Hitze ist inzwischen unerträglich geworden. Ausgerechnet jetzt folgt der Trail auf einem nicht enden wollenden Stück einem schattenlosen Graben. Nachdem ich mich schon halb gebacken fühle, warte ich auf Jason, der ein wenig abgeschlagen hinter mir latscht. Irgendwas piekst mich oberhalb meiner Socken und als ich nach unten schaue, sehe ich dutzende kleine, rote Ameisen über meine Füße wuseln. Ich habe mich mitten in einen Ameisenhaufen gestellt. Wie eine Irre wische ich die Viecher von meinen Beinen und löse damit erneut eine Unfallmeldung mit der Uhr aus. Zu meinen schon rund fünfzig Mückenstichen vom ersten Tag gesellen sich nun noch etwa dreißig Ameisenbisse. Fantastisch!

Relativ vorfallsfrei geht der Rest des Tages vorbei. Wir bedienen uns an einem kleinen Bach und hoffen auf einen Wassercache in der Nähe einiger Straßen, die wir kreuzen. Leider vergeblich. Die letzten Kilometer führen wieder nur über Asphalt. Im Zombiemodus ertragen wir unser Schicksal, aber ich habe schon die Entscheidung getroffen: ich gehe heute keinen Schritt weiter als ursprünglich geplant. Dann sind’s halt morgen 32 Kilometer. Der Wetterbericht verspricht zudem eine erhebliche Abkühlung über Nacht. Heftiges Unwetter ist angesagt. Ziemlich dehydriert kommen wir am Campground an und danken dem Engel „Waterboy“, der hier jede Menge Wasser deponiert hat.

  Im Dixieklo finden wir eine riesige Flasche Desinfektionslotion und nehmen erstmal ein ordentliches Bad damit. Ziemlich dicht rücken wir mit unseren Zelten unter einem gigantischen Eichenbaum zusammen, denn das scheint der beste Platz für die angesagten Gewitterstürme zu sein. Tornados nicht ausgeschlossen. Ein wenig unwohl ist mir schon…

[:] [:en]Hiking the Florida Trail Day 2 & 3 – Accidentally[:de]Auf dem Florida Trail Tag 2 & 3 – Versumpft[:] [:en]6:30 a.m. In semi-darkness I see a headlamp scurrying across the clearing. I am still lying cuddled up in my quilt, still unwilling to get up.

[the-woodland-spirit-blog]

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again." ~L. Carroll ✨ - Photo taken a long time ago during a winter forest hike. Lets hope that father-winter gives us a better and more snowy winter this year! 🌬 - #forest #rune #heathen #darkart #darkartist #magic #earthling #woods #woodland #darkphotography #darkphoto #viking #alternative #sunset #hike #snow #dutch #magic #witch #witchcraft #winter #cold #sunray (bij Berg en Dal)

[dauwza-laalno]

Michael Kors Norie White Sunray Dial Ladies Quilted Leather Watch MK2617 https://t.co/k95JvY611X https://t.co/Jt9Y18IJOu http://twitter.com/Dauwza_Laalno/status/858145440260345856

[acasaconmanu]

Sunrays: Handmade and Vintage Etsy Gifts di paulinemcewen contenente easter home decor

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