I felt trapped in Charlotte Town. There was nothing for me there, no room to grow.
So I cut my hair, changed my name, and got a job on a steamship.
I didn't expect to fall in love with Gilbert Blythe.
The only problem is, he thinks I'm a boy.
[gil...
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"Sydney, darling!"
Syd sat at her old, wooden desk as she wrote down notes for herself on her sheet music. Her head shot up at the muffled noise of her mother calling her downstairs.
Her long, blonde hair fell over her eyes and she pushed it back, grabbing a ribbon from her drawer and quickly tying it back as she yelled out, "Coming, mom!"
Running down the stairs, Sydney immediately recognized the jolly sounds of her parents laughing and the clicks of their shoes against the floor as they danced in the dining room. Her father was loudly singing a christmas song that was undoubtedly making her mother double over in laughter.
There was nothing but a blissful smile on the young girl's face as she ascended down the stairs and saw her two loving parents spinning each other around in the soft yellow glow of the fire and various lanterns littered around the cozy room.
The Salem's had gotten electricity in their living room and dining room a year or two ago but it just felt so right to be lit up by warm flames on a day like this.
The twenty-fifth of the twelfth.
Otherwise known, of course, as Christmas.
"Come, darling!" Her father's boisterous laugh rung in her ears as he beckoned her towarss them. "It's not the same without your playing!"
Sydney was still a little shy about playing in front of anyone besides her mother. Her lessons had started as soon as she could hold her head up herself but she always made sure to practice when her father was either not home or asleep. Syd didn't want to play in front of someone until she deemed herself good enough.
"Oh, yes, Sydney!" Her mother smiled widely, the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes brightening her face into pure excitement, and clapped, already moving to bring out the piano bench. When she turned towards her daughter, Chloe could see the hesitation in Syd's eyes as she was already folding in on herself. "Please, Syd! Oh, it's Christmas, it'd be such a nice treat."
"In all these years, I have never heard you play, Syd." Said her father, moving to grab Syd's hand and lead her to the piano. "I want to know what has been keeping my darling wife and lovely daughter up so late at night."
Sydney's mouth opened and closed like a fish, trying to reach deep in her brain to find an excuse but by the time she decided on faking sick, her father had already pressed down on her shoulders to sit her nicely on the bench and moved both her hands to rest on the keys.
With both her parents staring at her in anticipation, Sydney took a deep, shakey breath and prepared herself to play a simple Christmas tune that they could sing along with.
