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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 9:07:44 GMT -5
*She stood in the garden at Manderley, picking roses.*
Mam?
*A high, sweet voice called to her in her dreams. Sorcha turned and saw a small child, neatly-dressed, gazing at her with Liam's eyes and a shy smile. Beaming, she knelt and held out her arms.*
"Come to me, there's a sweetheart," *she cooed. Laughing, the child toddler towards her, grasping at her hands with chubby little fists.
The laughter became a wailing sob as the child pricked a finger on the thorns of the roses. Sorcha tried to gather the child into her arms to soothe, but the child recoiled, suddenly clothed in ragged, grimy clothes that were too large--hand-me-downs from another child. Bright beads of blood rolled along the child's hands and seemed to coat its skin with grotesque slicks of sticky brownish-red until it seemed all its poor, pale skin was covered in blood. The child's eyes clashed accusingly with Sorcha's gaze as it continued to scream--here was her baby that had died.*
"No..." *she moaned, weeping.* "No..."
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 9:59:56 GMT -5
*Liam was there, trying to shake her awake, within second.*
"Sorcha? Sorcha, wake up." *He urged her, shaking her gently.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:02:42 GMT -5
*Sorcha's eyes flew open with an air-swallowing gasp, her tears still wet on her cheeks. She stared blindly at Liam for a moment before she hastily reached up to wipe away her tears.*
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:03:44 GMT -5
*He gently pushed her hand away from her face and wiped her tears away with the pads of his own thumbs before holding her to him tightly.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:05:15 GMT -5
*Sorcha rested her forehead against his shoulder, still shaking with terror.*
"It was a dream...only a dream," *she muttered feebly.*
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:07:03 GMT -5
"Only a dream." *He repeated for her, only with far more conviction. He didn't know what it had been about but he wouldn't ask.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:12:19 GMT -5
*Sorcha's mind spun. Could she really stay the summer with Liam if it might only build false hope? Or should she just enjoy what little time they could have together before she went back to school and tried to move on with her life? A career, she decided, made more sense than marriage. She loved Liam, but he deserved so much more than she was prepared to offer him. And, like a man, he'd stubbornly insist that love was enough and that he didn't care that she was only the daughter of a washerwoman and the stablemaster and that she didn't want to have children even if the de Winters needed an heir to honour the family and continue the bloodline. Liam wasn't stupid. He knew these things just as she did--he just wouldn't think of them; it was too hard. Sorcha knew she would have to do all of the breaking herself; and the knowledge of that tore at her heart.*
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:18:01 GMT -5
"There's only a month left in the summer." *He said softly, realizing it himself for the first time.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:21:52 GMT -5
"Yes."
*She'd seen the leaves beginning to turn, and had closed her mind from the idea. But still...it was there. Time moved on with or without them.*
"I should start getting my things in order for school..."
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:23:46 GMT -5
"You should." *But the way he said it made it obvious he didn't want the summer to be over.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:25:33 GMT -5
*Sorcha kissed his forehead.*
"Thank you, Liam..." *she said softly.* "Thank you for this...this time together."
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:30:46 GMT -5
*He knew by the way she was speaking that she'd go to school.*
"I'll be at Manderley, of course."
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:40:32 GMT -5
"Of course," *she said softly.* "And I'll be back next summer..."
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Post by Liam on Apr 27, 2008 10:42:12 GMT -5
"What do you think you'll do after school?" *He asked tentatively.*
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Post by Sorcha on Apr 27, 2008 10:44:52 GMT -5
"I haven't thought that far ahead," *she said with a half-smile.* "I'll probably come back to Manderley. I've nowhere else to go."
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