Let's Start At The Very Beginning

Chapter 1

 "Mother, why do we have to go?" a girl of 8 brushed through her blonde hair as her mother brushed her bangs from her own face

"Because darling, I haven't seen my friend for 10 years, and right now he really needs me. Not to mention it would be good for you to get to know some people. It's always nice to have allies at a new school." The woman walked over to her daughter and kissed her head.

"Mother, my shirt is stuck." a 6-year-old boy came out of the connected bathroom of their shared hotel room, his arms sticking straight up and the shirt covering his head.

"Oh Michael," the boy's mother laughed. She dutifully undid the top button and pulled the shirt over her son's head.

"What do you think father would have thought of Austria?" the girl asked as she plopped on her bed.

"I suppose he would have found it a great adventure, a new country for him and for you." the woman smiled as she tapped her little girl on the nose.

Maria on the other hand, she felt like it was a homecoming 10 years in the making. She hadn't set foot on Austrian soil, her soil, in 10 long years. Sure, she had seen pictures around and in books, but being back, being home, to her was a great relief.

"What is this Captain like anyway?" Michael asked

"Michael, stop being so nosy." his sister scolded from her bed as her mother smirked, her daughter was prim and polite, how they were related she never knew.

"Oh, Jane don't be so hard on him, the Captain, Georg, and I go way back. We grew up together, we were neighbors, except he was three years older. He comes off stoic, after all he's in the military, however I remember he always had a soft spot. In the last letter he wrote to me his youngest child had just turned 5." Maria explained.

"Imagine, 5 sisters, that's 4 too many." Michael's eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"Imagine 2 brothers, that's two too many." Jane rebutted and crossed her arms.

"Watch it you two." Maria stood up from kneeling in front of her son. "I expect you to be on your best behavior, it's only been 18 months since his wife died and I expect you two out of compassion to be good to his children. You have learned to be resilient and have dealt with similar things. Help them." Maria instructed as she picked up a coat off the bed and shrugged it on.

"Mother, I'm six." Michael gawked.

"Practically a man." Maria grabbed a cap and firmly placed it on her son's head. She opened the hotel room door and ushered her children out.

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They took the bus to Captain von Trapp's estate. Maria was unsurprised that Georg had ended up back in his father's house. He was never one for change, she knew that all too well. As they passed markets and landmarks from her childhood Maria pointed things out to her children. Jane's nose was pressed to the window and Michael strained on his mother's lap to see over his sister's head.

"Look!" Jane turned to her mother to point to an old brick building, next to it a park.

"I spent many hours as a child in that park." Maria held Michael closer to her "That's where Georg and I became friends."

"Maria, I have to run to the market, do you want to come?" Maria's mother asked her six-year-old.

"No." Maria crossed her arms and dropped her head.

"I know you had a rough first day of school, it will get better I promise. Why don't you go to the neighborhood park down the road and see if you can make any friends?" Maria's mother had approached her and cupped her chin with her fingers. "I know deep down this won't make you shy," the woman chuckled, "Or you can always stay here, locked up like a nun, it's up to you sweetheart." and just like that Mrs. Kutschera walked out the door.

Maria sat in her chair at the kitchen table for what felt like an hour, in reality it was only 3 and half minutes, but she was six. She grabbed her sun hat and left through the back door.

The park was only a quick skip away and Maria had been there before the year previous. There was a slide, a teeter totter, a sandbox and some swings, but towards the back there was a patch of flowers. She ventured over there and began to pick a bouquet for her mother. As she did, she began to hum, and then sing to herself and then ended up belting whatever thoughts came through her little head. But she noticed the shadow that cast over the daffodils.

"My my my, a wee soprano." a red headed girl stated. Maria stood up and turned around slowly, the girl had been in her recess earlier that day, and had remarked how she was a bad singer, how her words didn't make any sense.

Maria didn't say anything, but the bouquet of daffodils fell from her hands.

"So, you can sing but not talk?" the red head, who was a year older, bent over Maria "I can make you sing." the bully's right hand went for a fistful of Maria's golden curls but before she could yank, she was interrupted

"Hey Martina!" a boy of 8 or 9 ran over "I think you should probably get on home before your brother tells your mother you already have detention."

Martina turned back to Maria and dropped her hair "Freak!" she shouted and began her jog home

The little boy was tan, and brunette with big blue eyes. He was sweating as if he had been playing yet his light blue shirt was spotless.

"Martina's a bully don't mind her, she always targets the new kids." the boy, who wasn't that much taller than Maria walked over to her. He bent down and picked up the flowers she dropped and handed them back to her

"You can keep picking flowers or you can come play with me and my sister Hede if you want. We're playing U-boat." The little boy looked to where a girl of 11 or so was pretending to look through a telescope.

"I've never played U-boat." Maria said

"We'll teach you, I'm Georg by the way." he said as he began to walk to his sister

"I'm Maria." Maria skipped to catch up

"Well Maria, you are about to watch me become the best naval captain in the sea."

"We'll see about that," Maria crossed her arms. "I might become the best naval captain, you never know."

As the bus pulled to the stop Maria helped her children out and they began the short walk down the dirt road to the villa, the walk she had made so many times before. As the wall began to show Michael began to jump to try to see over.

"You're not a frog Michael." Jane reprimanded. She watched him jump and stumble while she walked quickly holding her mother's hand.

"It's not much to look at yet, You can see better through the gate up ahead." Maria explained. That was all Michael needed to run up ahead and Maria couldn't help but laugh. She knew the minute he got to the gate because his mouth fell open. She could hear her husband now "You're not a codfish son", even though he had never said it to his son.

Jane reluctantly let go of her mother before skipping to join Michael. "Mother! This isn't a house, it's a palace."

"I know," Maria smiled as she slowly approached the gate behind her children, as soon as she saw that fountain, the gravel, the stairs, the front door, the window, she could only say one thing

"Oh help."

Hello Hello Hello! This is so exciting. I think with every story I write I like it better than the last, even if this one technically isn't done yet. I hope you keep reading and feel free as always to comment, I love reading them!

Thanks for reading!