Anne DeCuir, Chp. 6, Gen. 4, 1780

     No one seemed to hear Anne enter, so Anne dressed for bed.  She felt exhausted, as if she should fall asleep within one minute of closing her eyes; however, Anne tossed and turned with no avail to sleep.  Anne could not help but feel jittery and excited inside.  She had overcome a hindrance that had put her life on hold and now she was finally free!
     Restless, Anne decided to descend the stairs and maybe read a book to calm her scattered mind.

     Anne, however, nearly ran right into a sobbing Abigail once she was on the first floor of her home.

      "Oh, Annie-Kins!  I must be the worst Aunt in the land for you to want to run away from me!"  Abigail wailed.  "Anne, if only you knew how much you really mean to me.  I always wanted a little girl of my own, and you were -- and still are -- all I could ever ask for and more!  Are you alright, dear? Oh, Annie-Kins!"  Abigail burst into sobbing and hysterical wheezing.  Anne felt like she had betrayed her best friend.  And, in a way, she had.

     Abigail reached out to Anne, pulling her close.  Anne tried to brush away a (not so) invisible tear from her own face as her Aunt buried her tear-dripping face into her guilty niece's shoulder.  "I am sorry we don't have enough money to buy you some shoes!  And -- and I'm sorry I did not cook your favorite meals more often.  And I should have let you have my shoes even though my feet are much bigger than yours are!" Abigail cried on.
     "I am so, so sorry, Abigail."  Anne whispered so silently that she herself could not even hear her barely audible words.  But, somehow, Abigail did.  She froze, became tense.  Wasn't sure if her mind was playing a trick on her.  

      "You are the best aunt a niece could have.  I regret running away.  I hope you can forgive me," whispered Anne apologetically.

      Abigail struggled to grasp the situation.  "How?  Why?  Annie-Kins -- you just spoke to me!"

     Smiling shyly, Anne nodded.  Mysteriously and wisely, Anne added, "It is fine to be silent from time to time, but we all must speak to show the world the meadows we hold inside ourselves."
      Anne looked away.  "It is my biggest regret that I ran away from  you, of all people, who has shown me love at a time when I needed it most.  I will never forget your kindness and good nature, your willing to face challenges with new ideas as long as I live.  I just want you to know that you have been the mother I never had."

     Despite the shock at the sudden turn of events, Abigail smiled and took joy and pride from the beautiful words Anne spoke.
     "You -- you really mean that Anne?  Really and most truly?"  More tears came to Abigail's eyes, but they were tears of happiness.  "I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that you are speaking to me, the fact that we are having a real conversation with words!"
     Anne smiled, nodding her head in strong agreement.  The two headed over to sit on the sofa for a chat, as neither of them seemed in the mood to go back to bed, despite the untimely hour.

     "Oh, Annie-Kins, I have never been more proud of you!  You have finally pushed through that brick wall of silence.  How did you do it, dear?  How?"
     Anne stopped to consider.  She was about to tell Aunt Abigail about Elizabeth, but then she remembered that Elizabeth wanted this to be a secret.  
     "It's a secret." Anne confessed.  "I wish I could tell you.  I guess being in that woods sort of showed me that I needed to break out of my comfort zone and get into the world."

     Abigail sighed.  "I guess you just needed to figure some things out.  I am so happy for you, dear.  I just wish that I would have been more of a help for you.  Your father will be ecstatic when you finally speak to him tomorrow!"

     Anne stopped smiling.  "I do not think I will be speaking to him.  I'm sorry, Abigail.  I really do not feel like talking about this any more."
     Abigail wanted to ask why, wanted to protest.  She had so many questions about Anne's silence.  Why did she stop speaking in the first place?  How did she keep quiet for fourteen whole years?  And, especially, what made her come out of that silence?  But, Abigail could see that Anne was finished talking for the moment, and she just did not want to push it.


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     Anne would eventually speak to her father again, but it was difficult for her.  Their conversations were strained, and often filled with silence on both ends.  Anne wanted to scream at him, wanted to tell him how much of a struggle she had been through, and how he was never there for her.
     Melatiah wanted to apologize to her, but wasn't sure how.  He wanted to tell her all about Aphrodisia, her mother (as he had once promised Aphrodisia many years ago), but just couldn't bring himself to do so.  Anne looked so much like Aphrodisia -- so much like her -- it wasn't even funny.


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~1781~

     Melatiah began suffering from high fevers and muscle aches.  He took many trips to the privy to vomit, especially during the night.  Abigail was extremely concerned.  She sent for an apothecary, who thought the best thing to do was to let blood.
     "Blood-letting is the best way to cleanse our bodies of sickness." He had said.  Anne, who was always rather queasy when she saw blood, was even a tad worried, despite the anger felt towards her father.  She had a gritting, unsettling feeling.


     The blood-letting proved unsuccessful, as Melatiah felt even worse.  He felt dizzy and often fainted.  One night was particularly awful.  Abigail and Anne each held one of Melatiah's hands as he lay in bed, moaning.  He slipped into unconsciousness and never woke up again.


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     Anne did not know it was all going to be so hard.  She did love her father, yes.  She loved him very much, even if she did not like him sometimes.  Anne was going to turn eighteen soon.  She knew her father was hoping to see her age up to adulthood.  She had hoped he would make it to see that, too.  Anne sometimes forgot that he had been getting old.  In fact, he had lived to be fifty-three years old, which was quite old.

     Anne wished she would have talked to him more.  She just wished that she would have gotten to know him a little better.


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Anne DeCuir

*The Antique Legacy*