272 comments

Friendship Happy

โ€œSheโ€™s here!โ€

โ€œYou're kidding.โ€

โ€œSheโ€™s here!โ€

I couldnโ€™t believe it. Our new mom is here? Right now?

โ€œCome and meet her, April!โ€

โ€œMichael! Alright, fine. Iโ€™m coming!โ€

We stomped into the yard, the gravel scraping our boots. The garden here was empty and barren. We had stopped growing things after Mom had gone. Kicking at a clump of dirt and weeds, I pushed off the overwhelming thoughts of death and roses, and focused on the new mom. I wasโ€ฆ happy, nervous, and sad. What if she takes advantage of Dad? What if she beats us and abuses us? What ifโ€ฆ

I struggle to not scream. I donโ€™t want that. I donโ€™t want that for me or Michael. But Dadโ€™s car is already here. I gulp.

The car door opens.

Dad steps out.

I missed him so much.

Then...

A woman comes out!

She is a brown-haired, rosy cheeks, blue eyed woman. She has a burning, bright fire in her eyes, and she just wears a simple red dress. Moving to dad, she kisses him, then hugs him tight. He smiles.

Enough for me.

Then I see them.

Are you kidding me?! More kids?

Thereโ€™s a boy who is short and cute. Messy black-ish hair hangs over his emerald-green eyes. And a tiny green tuxedo to match!ย 

That's adorable.

A teen girl follows him out. Sheโ€™s very, very pretty. Glowing hair over her inherited baby-blue eyes. A perfectly matched rosy blue dress. And a serene, peaceful air. She radiates kindness.

Maybe this is a good idea.

โ€œHello my darlings!โ€

The woman- Mom, speaks.

Dad squeezed her hand, then looked at me and Michael. I rush towards him. He picks both of us up and hugs me.

โ€œI am so sorry.โ€

I wanted, craved, needed to hear that. But now I didnโ€™t. Iโ€™m not mad at him for leaving us. Iโ€™m not mad at him for beating us. Iโ€™m not mad at him for when he told us that he was going to be married.

I donโ€™t talk to him. I hug him tighter, like he is the only thing I have left. I keep on hugging him until he pats me on the back. I push off him. Michael does the same. Then I look at the pretty teen and cute little boy.

โ€œWho are they?โ€

I asked the woman .

โ€œOh sweetie! They are my dear children! The young lady is Felicity! And the boy is William!โ€ She gushed.

โ€œBut who are you, darlings?โ€ She smiled sweetly and gestured at us.

โ€œMe? Uhh- My name is April, um-and this is my brother Michael, and umm- uh nice to meet you?โ€

I awkwardly pointed at Michael and myself.

โ€œOh! Arenโ€™t you polite! Let's come in our house, for this is no place for talking, darlings!โ€

So we went into the house.


***

One week after mom died:

Dark. Cold. Scared.

Dad was at the bar again. He would come back drunk again. He would beat me again.ย 

I wince and rub my scarred back.

Mom died three days ago.

GONE! FOREVER! GONE!


She ran down the alley, clutching the photo of her family. An assassin leaped toward her. She ducked and crashed onto the factory. Shards of glass tore into her. But Nyxie knew what she was doing. She took out a potion and clutched it. Sighing, she dodged another assassin and blinked away the tears in her eyes. She didnโ€™t want to leave, but she had to, to keep her family safe. Nyxie knew what she had to do. Uncapping the potion, she drank it and then ran. Five assassins followed.ย Throwing her bag away, taking out two assassins in the progress, she ran to the edge of the window. Nyxie pressed the photo to her heart and jumped.


Why?

Why did she never tell me that she was an agent?

Why did she never tell me that her heart can give people the power to turn anything into gold?

Why did she sacrifice herself to save us?

Was she caught off-guard?

Did she plan for this?

I always saw that bottle. Why did I not destroy it?

Why?

Mom, Iโ€™m sorryโ€ฆ


I sob into my blanket. Then a hand pats me.ย 

Michael.

Michael snuggles next to me. I smile.ย 

Then the door slams.

Iโ€™m scared.

***

Wow. The house table really is small now that the womenโ€™s family is here.

โ€œYou can call me Valkyrie or Val, honey!โ€ She said.

โ€œWhy donโ€™t you kids go play. I will make Christmas dinner!โ€

The woman told me when I was coming down the stairs.

She was very nice to me, treating me like I was with her since day one. Michael hugs her a lot. No hitting or harsh words yet. Iโ€™m warming up to her. She got dad out of drinking, and he is back to his cheerful, hard working nature. She got us new clothes, and new toys. But, most importantly, she gave us new hope.

I head off with Felicity. We pass Michael and William, giggling and laughing. They hit it off since they met.ย 

Maybe itโ€™s because their ageโ€™s are so similar.

Felicity is not like any other girl. She is compassionate and sweet, adventurous and brave. And a very nice friend.

โ€œSo what do you guys usually do for Christmas?โ€

โ€œWe eat fried carp and borscht (beetroot soup) with uszka (ravioli), and also the regular Christmas dinner.โ€

โ€œThat sounds delightful!โ€

She smiles.

โ€œIt is! We also eat open sandwiches (sandwiches without the top bread) with any topping!โ€

โ€œI canโ€™t wait to eat it!โ€

โ€œMe too!โ€

We both burst into laughter.

โ€œThe last tradition is camping out in front of the Christmas tree, eating snacks, enjoying songs, and having fun! Donโ€™t forget to pray before eating though!โ€ She added the last part so seriously that I chuckled. Then I jumped as the woman called:

โ€œGirls! Come on! We are starting dinner~โ€

I trip over my thick, wooly socks and stumble to the table, Felicity following gracefully. The dinner table is mixed with exotic colors, wonderful smells, and delicious food.ย 

โ€œDonโ€™t forget to pray!โ€

I fumble a lot of words when we are praying, but I come out with a smile. Sitting down, I already know that this, and hopefully, the rest of my life, will be great. Of course with tumbles and turns and trips. I smile.

โ€œPass the gravy please, Felicity!โ€

This story is dedicated to Felicity Williams for being a great, awesome, wonderful friend. Compassionate and understanding, well-liked and smart. Too kind! Too Sweet! Too Awesome! AAAAAAAAAaaaaAaaaaaaaย 

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO FOLLOW HER!!!!!!!

https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/felicity-williams/

GOOOO GIVE HERRR LIKESSSS AND FOOLLOOWERSSS!!!!!!!!


I Am Sorry If You Are Offended By This. Please Donโ€™t Down-Vote Me. SOrry!ย 



November 26, 2020 09:03

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272 comments

Akshaya Sutrave
07:58 Dec 07, 2020

Hi Cho Chang! Marvelous story! The characters were well-written, and so was the plot. I suspected the step-mom at the first, but she turned out good! There are a couple of slight grammatical errors I noticed, though: 1. 'The house table really is small now that the womenโ€™s family is here'. 'women' can be singular. 2. โ€œWhy donโ€™t you kids go play. I will make Christmas dinner!โ€ A question mark after the first sentence? The contest is over, so you won't be able to make any changes, but I thought I'd mention them. I really enjoyed reading...

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Akshaya Sutrave
02:25 Dec 08, 2020

Of course! :)

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Akshaya Sutrave
02:51 Dec 08, 2020

:D

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Akshaya Sutrave
06:43 Dec 08, 2020

By the way, I'm a Harry Potter fan too :)

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Aisha H.
19:47 Nov 26, 2020

This story was amazing! One thing though: At the beginning of the story, there's the โ€œSheโ€™s here!โ€ โ€œYour kidding.โ€ โ€œSheโ€™s here!โ€ The "your kidding" should be "YOU'RE kidding". Since it's you are, not your. Sorry if I don't make any sense whatsoever...I suck at explaining things -_-

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O! Thank you so so much! YOU DON"T SUCK I AM TERRIBLE AT THIS BUT YOU DON'T SUCK YOU'RE GREAT!!

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Amaya .
04:09 Dec 06, 2020

ayyy i love playing quidditch with you tooooo

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Amaya .
04:23 Dec 06, 2020

totally. We'll need seven per team though...

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Hmm... Fleur says she can play.. and... Bill? Hmm... (P.s. You wanna chat with Fleur? Come to my newest story "thank you" and find the harry potter chats. :D)

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02:48 Dec 04, 2020

Hey, Celeste (AKA Cho Chang)! How are you? I just read your bio, and realized that I am #13 for the types of readers. How about you?

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03:15 Dec 04, 2020

That's good! Other than the fact that Pansy Parkinson and I have been arguing, I'm doing good as well. I feel like I haven't talk to you in a while, Cho. Are you married yet?

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Nope. Harry's been giving me looks... Ginny's looking angry... hmmmmmm :D (p.s. I'm doing great, how is Ron, and I'm number #3)

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05:14 Dec 04, 2020

WHERE HAS HARRY BEEN?!?!?! He was in ravenclaw's place..... ChO cHanG?!?!?

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14:08 Dec 04, 2020

Oh, I hope for the best for you three. That's good! I'm great as well. Ron and I are are still happily married, and taking care of Rose. :)

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Amaya .
03:21 Dec 08, 2020

:(

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Marissa Yates
02:41 Dec 02, 2020

This is a very interesting story! It definitely took twists and turns I wasnโ€™t expecting. One thing I might suggest is changing some wording. For example, โ€œtheir ageโ€™s are so similar,โ€ could be โ€œthey're so close in age.โ€ Sometimes Iโ€™ll read stuff out loud to see how it sounds, and adjust it based on that. Just a thought! Well done!

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. .
15:53 Dec 01, 2020

Wanna do an upvote for upvote spree!!?!?!?!?!?

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. .
17:43 Nov 29, 2020

Felicity Williams is amazing, but so are you!! Great story!!

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THANK YOU! THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU! But seriously, THANK YOU!

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Emerald Pearl
20:03 Nov 28, 2020

Absolutely beautiful transition to the past! I adore the whole storyline :) Can't wait to read more of your writing!

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Awwwwwwwwwwwwww....... Can I just say that made my day? I can't wait to read your stories! (If you make any- no presure!

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Emerald Pearl
22:58 Nov 28, 2020

Aw yay Iโ€™m glad!! Iโ€™m working no one right now that Iโ€™m super psyched about!! Should be done by tomorrow. Yay thank you so much! Youโ€™re an amazing author!

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Ari Berri
13:34 Nov 26, 2020

This story is awesome, as usual. Great job!

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Ari Berri
18:25 Nov 26, 2020

If you want to write it. I'm not sure what name you would use, though.

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I WOULD LOVE TO WRITE IT!!!! Hmmmmmm...... I'll just update it in the comments! *wink wink*

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Ari Berri
20:51 Nov 26, 2020

Okay, thank you! Tell me when you do!

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Lilliane Wei
19:56 Dec 05, 2020

Bonjour, Cho! I loved this story so much, especially managing to incorporate Felicity's name into it. I'm very sorry about Cedric but I'm glad that you got into writing! Yours, Fleur Bill is helping me write this so that I don't embarrass myself.

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Lilliane Wei
20:29 Dec 05, 2020

Thank you, I've been practicing very much. How have you been? Are you yet married?

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. .
19:56 Dec 03, 2020

NEW STORY OUT!!!!!!! IT HAS YOU IN IT SPARINGLY!!!

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Kristin Neubauer
19:36 Nov 30, 2020

This is lovely, Celeste. Such a story of hope, renewal, acceptance and love. I imagine you're quite busy and maybe move on from one story to the next like I do, but if you ever choose to extend it, I would love to see more of a backstory about her mother's job as an assassin, her father's violent side and how Val helped changed him. Your writing is so fresh and vibrant that you leave me wanting more! Well done!

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Your comment is wonderful and kind. I might keep this story going, maybe for another contest, like a backstory or such. Thank you a lot, you made my day better. ;D

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Kristin Neubauer
21:18 Nov 30, 2020

Thatโ€™s great! I will keep my eyes open for your new work!

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Joe Bob
17:20 Nov 30, 2020

Wow, nice story! I like how she's scared at first and you fit in the action scene. Overall, a definite winner!

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Joe Bob
17:41 Nov 30, 2020

THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!!

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Joe Bob
17:47 Nov 30, 2020

WELKS

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Joe Bob
17:41 Nov 30, 2020

What do you think about "Plead My Case"? Do you have any feedback?

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Iโ€™m not even lying, I seriously wish I was even half this good!

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Heh. No Iโ€™m not. XD Just ask Lord Hunkyhair (sheโ€™s a friend I know IRL), Iโ€™m not even slightly as good as you! So keep writing! Iโ€™m rooting for you to win! :D

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Writer Maniac
11:09 Nov 28, 2020

Aww! This was an adorable story, thank you for writing it! I love how April finally begins to accept and love her new mother! And also, I really appreciate you putting me on your bio, that was a really pleasant surprise, so thank you! P.S. I'm a girl.

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*Gasp* Thank you soooooooooooooooo much, you deserve to be in my bio! Oof. Sorry for the boy/girl confusion!

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