── and i was never sure whether you were the lighthouse or the storm ──
She would never claim to be a good mother. She loves her children as much as she can, as much as she is capable of loving anything, but not even they are immune to all the toxic ways her brokenness chooses to manifest itself. She is at her best when they are small, when she knows they need her; she is at her best when their father – whoever that might be – is still fresh and bright in her mind; when she cannot cling to them and so she clings instead to the child they created.
But, there is always another man, and then another child, and some other distraction to pull her apart.
And yet Echis, somehow, remains at the forefront of her mind. Despite her series of tumultuous romances, the youngest twins, and the rocks – currently amethyst stones – that filled the recently hollowed out sockets, it was Echis that often invaded her thoughts in the quiet hours of dawn in Hyaline. It wasn’t like her to be away for so long, and when the worry had become relentless, unforgiving, she finally slips away to the river – to where she had told her daughter to wait for her.
By some strange force, she finds her, like some invisible thread has tied them together.
She cannot see her, of course, but she can hear her. She can hear the sobs that shake inside of her chest, the tears that stream down her face, but mostly, she can hear the fear – bitter and tangible – that trembles in her voice. “Echis?” Her own voice is a hushed, almost whisper, and she reaches for her.
When her nose touches the exposed muscle, she chokes down a gasp, and she fights to keep the alarm from her face and her voice when she asks her, “What happened to you? Where have you been?”
But, there is always another man, and then another child, and some other distraction to pull her apart.
And yet Echis, somehow, remains at the forefront of her mind. Despite her series of tumultuous romances, the youngest twins, and the rocks – currently amethyst stones – that filled the recently hollowed out sockets, it was Echis that often invaded her thoughts in the quiet hours of dawn in Hyaline. It wasn’t like her to be away for so long, and when the worry had become relentless, unforgiving, she finally slips away to the river – to where she had told her daughter to wait for her.
By some strange force, she finds her, like some invisible thread has tied them together.
She cannot see her, of course, but she can hear her. She can hear the sobs that shake inside of her chest, the tears that stream down her face, but mostly, she can hear the fear – bitter and tangible – that trembles in her voice. “Echis?” Her own voice is a hushed, almost whisper, and she reaches for her.
When her nose touches the exposed muscle, she chokes down a gasp, and she fights to keep the alarm from her face and her voice when she asks her, “What happened to you? Where have you been?”
ryatah
@[echis]