It was July twenty-first, and it was hot. It was the kind of hot that made your sweat drip from the tip of your nose, the kind that made the coolest of creeks boil beneath the rays of the beaming sun. All the townspeople of Waldenstol City stayed indoors and slept away the hot day, dreaming of soft, glistening snow.
The country folk of Waldenstol sat in their cellars to stay cool and they conversed with the goods that had been packed away, and worried for their crops and livestock.
But the women of the Browne family, in Oriana’s, sister and mother, massive bedroom, were only concerned about which of their lovely imported Chinese fans they would use that day. And this is how their conversation went:
“Oh Oriana, that sapphire fan just looks lovely! It really brings out your eyes!” said Betony.
“Thank you, Betony. But don’t you think the red fan would look better with my dress?” asked Oriana.
“Your eyes are much more important, not to mention prettier, than your dress.” she replied.
--
Etc. Etc. The conversation went on. Betony was a strong, happy, young lady with short, curly, brown hair. Oriana was tall, blond, and fair with sparkling, blue eyes and a very calm attitude. The two were sisters, very different, but all the same they loved each other dearly.
Oriana had two beautiful daughters the eldest, Brilliana who was three, and the youngest, Florian whom was one.
Brilliana was looking out the window down into the garden. The flowers were blooming despite the heat, but Brilliana really couldn't remember a time when the flowers weren't blooming. They always were, even in the winter. But this didn't seem odd, it was only how it had always been.
"Girls what do you think?" asked aunt Betony, she had found a purple fan.
"Wovy!" Florian babbled. (She had meant lovely. The few words she knew were Mu, for mother, Du, for dad, Benny, for Betony, Billy, for Brilliana, and a bit more baby gibberish.)
"I like it. Mummy can I go outside?" Brilliana asked.
"No darling, it's too hot outside." said Oriana.
"But the flowers say it's very pretty out." Brilliana argued.
"Silly......." But Oriana didn't get to finish quarreling with Brilliana because Betony had already interrupted.
"Did they tell you that Brilliana? You know that our flowers aren't very honest, don't you?" asked Betony. She stooped low so that she could look Brilliana in the eyes.
"They did tell me and they are honest."
"I bet they did tell you that. But, Brilliana, did you know that our flowers are enchanted? Oh, yes, they are.
"How are they enchanted, Aunt Betty?"
"Oh, I believe that one of your great, great, great, great uncles planted a magical flower in the garden. And that flower kept all of our flowers alive, even when it was snowing. So sometimes when the flowers say it is nice outside, usually they are not being honest because to them it is always nice." said Aunt Betony.
"Really?" asked Brilliana.
"Really." replied Betony.
Aunt Betony, or Betty as Brilliana called her, told marvelous stories, and she was always telling them, too. Brilliana loved the stories and on the days that weren't so terribly hot she would act them out. She had a gift for acting and singing.
As Florian grew she, too, loved the stories and played along with Brilliana. Florian inherited Aunt Betony's knack for telling stories and the sisters would put on plays. Brilliana thought her sister was wondrous and loved bringing her stories to life with her own words.
“Vladimir held his sword high above his head and struck down mightily. The ogre lie there motionless; dead.” Brilliana finished reading the long story Florian had written.
“Florian, that was lovely!” she exclaimed after a slight pause, “I don’t know where you get the ideas!”
“If I told you where I got them you’d never believe me.” said Florian with a silly grin on her face. “If something ever happens to me you’ll have to find out though.”
“I’m sure you’ll have a grand story to explain it to me.” said Brilliana sitting down next to Florian on Florian’s big fluffy bed.
“It would be grand enough. There would be so many characters in it! Vladimir and his son Motega, Jennyver the Pegasus!” said Florian.
“Ophelia, the helping nymph, Juniper the forest troll! All your finest characters!” said Brilliana.
Apart from their plays the girls played in the garden, helped with housework (what the maids didn’t already do for them), and their studies. In the garden, Florian would show Brilliana flowers that she said were fairy houses and how to catch beetles and butterflies.
In school Brilliana would show Florian how to properly divide 64 by eight and how to spell the word "because".
They were a great team. They even had matching necklaces, made to look like flowers, the petals and leaves were made of silver, and in the center of the flowers there were small opals.
It was said they could never be separated. But sometimes people are separated against their own will.
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