"Emily dear, time for bed." Emily's mother crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. Mom had been really strict ever since Emily started to pretend to be a witch. Usually pretending made mom happy. Like when she pretended she didn't hear mom and dad's whispers in the night about how they were going to make rent. Like when she pretended she was a normal girl who went to school and had friends. Like when she pretended she wanted to be an Magic Eradication Guard.
"But mom, I just casted a spell! Look! I turned Harold into a toad when he was a frog!" Emily held up the toad to her mother, beaming with pride.
"Harold was already a toad, you just learned the difference between a toad and a frog. It's bed time. Put him back." Her mother pointed to the grove. Emily huffed, walking back to the small grove of trees.
"You get it, right Harold?" Emily raised the toad to look at him. Harold croaked, probably afraid Emily would eat him. She placed him on the ground near a puddle, watching as he hopped away. Emily sighed. She hadn't made any friends this summer. She tried, she really tried! She connected with a few other girls around her age, like Brittany and Beth or Sophia and Abby. But whenever they asked about what she loved, by the time she stopped talking they were all gone. Mom told Emily the key to making friends was to listen and learn. But how could Emily listen when she had so much to say with such little time? And when they didn't walk away, a friend of theirs from school came along and would talk with them. Then Emily wouldn't be part of the conversation anymore because she didn't know anything about what they spoke about.
She walked back into the house, moving her curtain back to her bed. Their "cabin" was a small room divided by curtains. She had a "room" in the corner across from her parent's, although the bed was already smaller than she was. But she was grateful, her parents only had a mattress. They had spent the extra money on her bedframe and not theirs. Sometimes it made Emily feel bad, how they gave her everything. They needed it more, they were the ones working. Emily laid down on her bed, pulling the small blanket over her. She couldn't really sleep, but as usual her parents assumed she could. She could hear their whispering through the curtain.
"How was work today sweetie?"
"Long. The boss had another outburst today. He fired a few coworkers. He said they needed to cut down on the budget."
"...Do you think you'll be next?"
"It's only a matter of time."
"Darling, have you considered…?"
"Yes. But what kind of father would I be if I were gone for months on end?"
"It's only a month for boot camp."
"But it's dangerous. What if something happens to me? I'd be leaving you two all alone."
"...Alright, it'll be a last minute option. In the meantime, I should take up a job as a laundress. It's simple work, just washing some clothes."
There was a pause in the whispers, and then Emily's father's broken voice whispering into the dark "What kind of man can't provide for his family?" Her father's quiet sobs and her mother's silent condolences filled the room as Emily slipped into sleep, feeling guilty knowing if they didn't have to feed her, they would be able to save enough money to feed themselves every day.
* * * *
Emily woke up to the smell of tea, the morning light filtering through the window in her room. She opened her dresser drawer, picking out one of two outfits she had and slipping into it. She pushed back the curtain, peeking into the chairs and sofa they called a living room. There were two noble looking people, a man and a woman, sitting on the two-person sofa, sipping the tea mom had probably brewed. Emily's mother made her own tea from resources from the nearby grove. On the special occasion that they had it, Emily thought it tasted amazing… The fancy people, however, looked as if they were trying not to vomit just to be polite. "This, ah, tea is… Interesting, Beatrice. Where do you buy it?" The woman, a short woman with blonde hair and brown eyes and enough braids to choke an elephant, placed her tea back down on the coffee table.
"Um, I make it, actually." Emily's mother answered, smiling awkwardly.
"...Figures." The man quipped. He was taller, with brown hair and silver eyes, his clothing had enough buttons to be counted as a currency. "So, Lawrence-"
"Um, It's just Larry." Her father shrunk in his chair, although there wasn't much of a distance to shrink, given her father's less than average height.
The man cleared his throat. "LAWRENCE, the reason why I asked to be invited to your… humble home was because I have been performing wellness checks on all of my employees. It is important that I keep tabs on your health, physical and environmental. Now given your-"
"Mom? Dad?" Emily peeped, unsure if she should speak up. Why were these people in their house? Who were they? Emily had met mom's friends, none of them were dressed such as these two.
The woman looked towards Emily and gasped. "Beatrice! Is this your little girl? Why, she's positively adorable!"
Emily's mom nodded, giving a genuine smile. She turned to Emily. "Emily dear, come say hello to our guests." Emily walked to her mom, grabbing onto her arm. It felt safer there, although these two posed no threat. "This is Ethel and her husband, Delmer. Your father works for Delmer at his workshop."
"Come here little girl, we won't bite." Ethel motioned for Emily to come closer, smiling. Emily inched closer, her mother moving with her.
"How d…'y do…?" Emily whispered, suddenly very shy.
"What was that?" Delmer asked.
"H-how do y-you do?" Emily asked louder. Her teacher once told her it was proper to ask how someone was doing and to introduce yourself.
"Very well, thank you for asking. You're raising a proper lady Beatrice." Ethel smiled up at Emily's mother who looked proud. "Now, have you played any exciting games lately?"
Emily perked up slightly. "I made one! It's- It's called witches and EG's!"
Ethel laughed. "Is that like tag?" She asked.
"No, this has rules! If you're a witch, you have to run from the EG's, and if you're an EG you have to catch the witches!" Emily began to ramble and she knew it. But only grown-ups listened to her rambles, or at least pretended to be interested. "I also like to play pretend!"
Ethel chuckled. "Oh? Do you like to dream of what you want to be when you grow up?" Emily nodded with a grin. "And what would you like to be sweetie?"
"A witch!"
Silence. It fell over the room like a blanket. Like a concrete setting. As thick as cheese that was cut with a knife. Emily's mom spoke first, quickly trying to explain. "I-I am so sorry, I- She's been saying that since she was 7, she- She doesn't fully understand-"
"Then maybe someone should teach her better. Teach her how she dishonors the crown and everyone in the gates of Brundai!" Ethel huffed. She stood up. "Delmer, take me home."
Delmer stood up with a sour expression on his face, taking Ethel's hand and leading her out of the cabin. "Wait, I- I do! I swear I-!" The two of them shut the door in her mom's face. The silence returned. That horrible, thick silence that was now accompanied with a sense of dread.
"...Mom?" Emily whispered, trying to take her mothers hand.
Her mother jerked her hand away, balling it into a fist. She took a deep breath. "...Emily, go play in the grove. I need some quiet time." Emily didn't protest, walking out the back door. Why did grown-ups always go quiet at that word? Why did they always get mad at it? She walked through the brush, finally at the grove of trees.
Emily didn't feel like playing. She felt like she had just set something bad in motion, angering Ethel and Delmer. Emily just felt like walking. She walked through the grove. Thinking. She jumped over the stream. Replaying. She climbed over rocks. Regretting. Maybe being a good kid meant pretending. And maybe pretending meant lying. But Emily wasn't good at lying. She was good at pretending. But lying? It always felt wrong. Her mother told her it was wrong. But was it wrong if it made people happy? Emily was so lost in thought, she didn't notice the stone wall in front of her. She walked right into it, hitting her head against the cold bricks. "Ow!" Emily backed up slightly, looking up. The kingdom wall. The large wall, made with both brick and stone, separating the kingdom and the Brundai woods. A wall that demanded order and compliance.
Emily put her hand on the wall, walking along it as she dragged her fingers on the concrete and stone. And then a bit of sun flashed into her eye. Emily squinted, following the twinkle to a hole in the wall. She ran towards it, curiosity replacing the foul feelings she had been wallowing in. She knelt down by the hole, picking up the shards of glass that had caught her eye. The glass used to be some kind of vial, judging by the cork and rim that was still in one piece. She looked at the broken wall. Should she tell a guard? The Brundai woods were dangerous, what if something got through? But… what if she were that something? Not getting through, but getting out?
Emily looked around, fighting with herself. Surely… 5 minutes wouldn't hurt, right? She had never been outside the kingdom wall before, and few had. But what if something happened to her? What would her parents think? But… then again, what if she found something valuable? Something worth a lot that her parents could sell? Emily took a deep breath, ducking into the hole in the wall. 10 minutes. Then she would come back. Maybe.