Lily

“Hey, Lily.”

Smiling up at Eric, my loving best friend, he touched the back of my head gently like he always had and then began to pour himself a cup of tea. 

The steam of the tea cup rose as the scent of black tea hit my nostrils. Mornings like this were my favorite time of the day, as the warmth of his comfort was always a welcoming to the rest of the day. 

He chuckled, “Do you want something to drink, too?”

I twitched my nose in response and Eric gave me a smile back and poured milk into a teacup and passed it my way.

Eric was accustomed to the silent language we spoke, despite the fact that since I was mute it tended to barricade our friendship half of the time. In fact, I did most of my talking through gestures. He understood me so well, even if he couldn’t understand every action I made.

But our tea and milk in the mornings was a ritual I was happy that would hardly, if ever, change. 

The morning would then slowly sink into the afternoon, in which he and I would make our way to the piano within this music room, and he would practice his sheet notes while I basked in the sunlight at the bay window. Eric was especially talented in music, as well as gifted in his handsome looks, and generous heart. 

Most days he would be fortunate to have his good pal, Charlie Irvine, stop by for a music lesson which Eric was happy to give at any time. Charlie was unlike the both of us put together. He had bright coppery hair, with freckles that spotted around his eyes and arms. Charlie also worked for a living, which was vastly different from Eric getting to have days to himself doing whatever he pleased.

Eric never spent lazy days, however, and would busy himself by giving piano lessons to different boys and girls who attended the catholic school near the manor.

His mother, Mrs. Van Doren, was the headmistress there during the years her husband was overseas as a doctor in the war. From time to time, she would spend a majority of her day making sure her staff were teaching the other children well enough. Eric had met Charlie one day when Charlie was hired by the Van Doren’s to sweep out the chimneys. Charlie told me once that he enjoyed hearing Eric attempt to play Beethoven and that’s what started their friendship. 

I was much younger when I had first discovered the Van Doren Manor.  Living in a box then, the last of my family, I was left out to rot behind the catholic school because nobody wanted me. There was a time I was talkative and would speak to my brothers and sisters about my day.  One by one, my siblings were chosen to be taken to their new homes.  The look on their faces as they left was something my heart yearned to know. 

But soon, it narrowed down to only myself, and I was out one night in a howling storm. The very wind was tearing through every bone in my body; I had tried speaking out but everyone either hadn’t heard me, or noticed and didn’t stop to help.

Not Eric, however. That night, he had grabbed me and held me close. Terrified, I even drew blood when I scratched him, clawing to almost escape his arms as he placed me inside of his large house.

Instead of shooing me away the next morning for my behavior, Eric extended his offer for me to stay in the Van Doren manor instead. But ever since that night, I refused to use my voice despite the kind conversations Eric held with me.

Eric Van Doren was the only son in his parents' manor.  His ebony hair was kept at a short enough length to appease his parents, but was still long enough that he would occasionally run his fingers through it whenever he got frustrated. Which he did frequently whenever he hit a wrong note on the piano, or when he sat in his room after his parents would scold him in the dining hall during dinner.

 He had a similar build to that of someone who didn’t do much heavy lifting or rigorous hours of labor.  Although he had muscle, his strengths were built instead in the arts of music, reading, and sometimes dancing.  Sneakily, I would watch him from across the hall towards the music room, as he would play symphonies beyond my comprehension.  

His skin was a lighter shade like my own, but not as white.  He always made sure to take care of his looks.  Eric spent time looking at the mirror frequently, and whenever there happened to be a mirror or reflection present, and I never saw him in anything other than a suit and bowtie.

Whenever he would stare in the mirror, I would also use the mirror while sitting next to him. Comparing my bright blue eyes with Eric’s own.  We shared this eye color with Mrs. Van Doren.  

Eric’s eyes reminded me of the seafront outside their glorious mansion, soft blue waves rippling against the sandy beaches.  But Mrs. Van Doren’s eyes were full of haughtiness, of summer storms relentlessly causing a ruckus.  I only got to glimpse into her eyes once, when I had first started making this manor a home. 

She stuck her nose up into the air, looking down at my pale complexion covered in dirt.  Her gray hair neatly pulled into a perfectly rounded bun, no strand out of place.  Her clothes reminded me of silk sheets, but she also had a knack for wearing her best gowns, with the collars all the way up to her pointed chin.  I was glad I didn’t speak, it’s a wonder what she would have said if I had. 

“What on earth are you thinking, Ericson William? Bringing something like that into our abode?” She scolded, not giving me a second glance.

 Eric looked away, mumbling. “She is my charge. She will be my responsibility.” He had his arms crossed.

I, however, hung my head in shame, becoming highly aware I wasn't like his family. His mother sniffed and dismissed us away with a flick of her jeweled fingers. 

Mr. Van Doren, on the other hand, I never saw around as much. He would complain that the music from the piano was too much noise, and he disliked seeing my toys scattered in the halls of the manor.

Only once, in the dining hall, a servant had put out some food for me and left through the back door towards the kitchen.  As I sat down to eat, his father entered through the two grand doors at the front of the room.  He was tall, built exactly like Eric but more round in the waist.  His hair was salt and pepper colored, but given that it was also thinning away, he didn’t have much to cover the bald spot on the top of his head.  He hadn’t even given my presence any notice, but upon our eyes locking, he stayed away from me like the plague, his gray eyes wide with fear.

Mr. Van Doren ran out of the front doors before I had a chance to escape through the back one. 

Most of the time the manor's staff were kind to me. They gave me many toys to play with, and always had food and water readily available for me.  I was just getting used to their restroom situations though, and they almost always had to clean up after me.  Hearing them speak sometimes, one of them said they could tell I lived here because of the smells.  I would even hear sighs if they had to clean after me, and one of them sniffled whenever I was around.  I assumed I smelled horrible to them, despite having bathed myself frequently. 

Eric never seemed to mind, however.  He always greeted me with a smile and had no problems keeping up the conversations when my words failed me. And Charlie doted on me whenever he was around Eric.

The three of us were inseparable. Eric would play upbeat piano jigs, while Charlie would hold me in his arms, dancing and swaying to the music. Hearing the two of them laugh together and connect in merriment would make me hum like a hundred bees making a colony inside my very body, my very happiness buzzing in my ears.

Whenever Eric wasn’t practicing the piano or teaching his young students, he would sit and talk with me.  Only him and I would sit in the spare room which he dedicated to me.  The room was small but I didn’t need a lot of room.  I had a bed to sleep in, pushed up to the far left corner.  The window in the center of the room was huge, and there was enough sill there for me to spend my days resting in the sunlight like I enjoyed doing in the music room. 

Eric would frequently stop by to see me, but most of the time he spent talking, I would sit there listening, watching his hands run through his hair. He would complain about how stubborn his parents were to change, and how they disliked having Charlie come over so often. He didn’t understand why his parents hated Charlie, but whenever he would ask me, I closed my eyes in contemplation not knowing what to say back. Anytime I thought I had the courage to speak in those moments, Eric would pat my head gently and explain that it was okay I didn’t talk. 

Eric was my best friend, but he reassured me that I was also his best friend and he trusted me with anything he felt, even if he wasn’t able to speak up to his parents about it all. 

Eric’s generosity wasn’t only given to me, however. Whenever Charlie would stop by in the middle of the night, they would both sneak into my room, and huddle close together, sometimes cuddling me between their arms. The warmth of their embrace around me was enough to convince me to stay here in the Van Doren manor for the rest of my life.    

Taking in a deep breath as I stared into the teacup full of milk, I realized I was going to have to admit it to Eric how I felt.  My heart buzzed with thoughts of ways I would talk for the first time today, telling him how watching him dance with Charlie, protecting me from judgmental eyes, and listening to him teach children piano made me feel at home.  Eric may not be a golden prince in a fairytale, but I would have given everything to become a princess in his eyes. 

“I have some news, Lily,” Eric said, rubbing his hands nervously. 

I watched him set down his tea cup, listening to his words as intently as I always did. But watching the way he kept his hands together, the firm look upon his face, made me twitch with nerves.

 His eyes pierced my own blue ones, and for a moment my heart was skipping faster than I had anticipated it would.  He could probably hear it from where he was standing, I was sure.

“Lily,” He sighed then and looked out the bay window. “I'm going to be engaged soon. My parents have found me a woman to marry and start a family with.” He hung his head, shaking it slowly. “They’ve been hounding me to make a decision about my lifestyle and have come up with a threat to kick me out of the manor if I deny her.” Looking back at me now, he continued sadly, “It’s more than I can handle.”

My heart dropped like an anchor into the ocean.  I knew exactly what this meant.  He was going to have to give me up.  There was no place for me in his home, or heart, once he was with this new woman.  I didn’t even want to drink the rest of my milk.  Squeezing my eyes tight, I forced tears to fall but none came. Did I even have tear ducts to cry with?

 Despite my eyes being closed, I heard Eric shuffle closer to me, his soft hand outreached, but I backed away. 

“Lily, please don’t be upset. I won’t give you up! They can’t take you away from me. Do you understand?”

 I understood perfectly.  I knew that once he married this woman, it would mean I was put into another box, thrown into another alley behind another school of children.  No one would notice me, no one would hear me either thanks to my muteness.

Eric stood up and looked at me, his soft eyes staring into the depths of my being.

 He placed a gentle hand on the back of my head as he had done earlier before pouring the milk. “Don’t worry, Lily. If this woman doesn’t like cats, I refuse to marry her.  My parents will just have to accept the fact that Charlie and I – Lily!” He exclaimed.

 I didn’t want to hear any more.  Instead my mouth pulled back into a fanged hiss, and I jumped off the table, quickly padding away from Eric. The first time I had ever run away from him since that one fateful night. 

He said the one word I hated being called.  Cat.  I didn’t understand that word. Was that what I was? Was that why I wouldn’t talk, or couldn’t cry? Was that why people avoided me and called me smelly?

Despite not understanding the word, I knew it meant something horrible in Eric and Charlie’s lives. It meant too that I would never be acceptable to Eric Van Doren, the human owner of his white, mute cat.