Gardens For Guardians

Chapter 4: Life Changes

          "The more we talk the more I notice similarities. I am starting to wonder what we live for. Or rather who we are living for. It troubles me to no end, and I feel so powerless. My heart goes out to all the girls in your country. Let's hope for the best that something changes or that someone pressures your assembly to fix this. I couldn't imagine what I would do if my council reduced my education here. I would be at home with nothing to do. I spoke with Rolly today. They were telling me that they feel something eerie lately, like there is a shadow lurking over the island. I don't feel it. Or perhaps I haven't seen it. Rolly lives in the Residence!! It must be something happening around there. Oh no, I pray it isn't the Council of Cancer up to no good. I don't want what happened in your country to happen to us here. Tomorrow I will go visit Rolly and see it for myself. Let's wish for the best.

Yours,

Calm"

She hits a button to send the message to Rai, then folds up the device and returns it to its place on her desk. In bed, she clenches her pillow in her hand and eventually falls asleep.

          The kitchen downstairs is a mess. The dishes are clean, Alice made sure of that the previous night. The floors are well-swept, and food is stored properly. Nothing out of the ordinary, in fact Alice and her daughters keep their home in tip-top shape by default. The mess can only be seen on the walls and cabinets. Newspapers, letters, and miscellaneous scraps of paper surround the room, each with one common denominator: the name Axel, or any close resemblance of it. The letters are verifiably from him due to them being signed at the bottom, and his signature presenting a perfect match across all known documents. Without question, the letters are the most treasured of all. Every month or so they arrive at the house and bring with them relief as each updates the worrisome family on his status. The newspapers prove less meaningful and oftentimes contradictory. Sometimes the correct name would be printed, but others display such variations as "Axl," "Axle," or "Accel." Despite being unable to verify if they truly refer to the man they love, these newspapers remain in the house, just in case. Some are torn up and hidden behind others. These would be those that paint him in a bad light or dare suggest he committed an atrocity. "Firebrand Axel Joins Criminal Club" is one such newspaper clipping which has won itself a place tucked away behind more rosy alternatives, and it also faces the wrong way so it cannot be glimpsed by accident. The worst of all, secured under the sink just beside the trash is what the family suspects must be a hit-piece: "Terror Attack! Firebrand Guilty." The article itself does not specifically name Axel, but the recurrence of "Firebrand" is significant. Above all, this clipping fueled the largest argument in the house, with Calm and Winter having to convince their mom to not toss it out.

          The center of the mess is none other than Alice. She leaves early in the morning, every morning, with a smile on her face. Wavy, black hair bounces beside her ears as she glides along toward the center of Eclipse Residence. Everybody loves her and each encounter begins and ends with pleasantries traded and Alice's kindly smile brightening the street. She works a full day filling out and managing public documents, always providing her full attention and best effort. Then she makes the return home, identical to the morning trip however in the opposing direction. Back at home, she sits in the kitchen and cooks for her children, all while burying her attention into the pages and pages about her beloved partner. Each is labeled with stars; a greater number of stars reminds her of the level of comfort it brings to her. The only thing to keep her from this routine is in the case that one or both of her daughters happen to be home early to act as a delightful distraction.

          Not long after her mother departs for work, Calm slips out the front door for her surprise visit to see Rolly. Fully expecting to see Yoku once again sitting aimlessly on the steps outside of his house, she turns with her hand raised and sends out a greeting: "Yo, Yoku." To her surprise, he isn't there. "Weird. I should check on him before I go," she thinks to herself. Calm changes direction to her neighboring house and walks up the steps following up with a few "clunk clunk clunks" of fist against door. "Yoku," she calls out while knocking, "you in there?" After a minute of waiting with no response, she turns back around and sets her sights back on the path to the Residence. Her feet lead her back down the steps with arms raised in a sign of begrudging acceptance; "He's not home, then he's not home," she says to herself. Having resolved the distraction with Yoku, she steps back onto the road and heads in the direction of a giant stone wall in the distance.