The old homestead - Petra
Jul. 24th, 2014 03:12 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
allyourwonders.insanejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
darker_london"Pearl! Give it back or I'll kill you!"
From upstairs there was the sound of running feet followed by a heavy thump that made Petra wince; Someone had hit the floor and from the sound of the high laugh that belonged to Pearl, it had been Louise. From where she sat in the living room, flicking through a recent TIME magazine, Petra considered (rather briefly) whether she should get up and see whether a) Louise was hurt, b) what Pearl had taken, or c) if she could forestall whatever minor upstairs war was about to erupt.
Petra loved her sisters but all three of them being back at home had turned out to be an overwhelming situation, The house was big, but it was no longer big enough for three young women who'd gotten used to being the only Walshe in their own respective spaces. Louise, being the youngest, had had the last year to enjoy being the only one of the children left at home, and she'd luxuriated in the attentions this gave her from their parents, and the freedom over the whole farm. Pearl spoke adoringly of her dorm at Bangor University where there was a lock on her door and people didn't borrow her dark green cardigan without asking.
Petra was enamoured by her own dorm as well. It wasn't so much the student housing situation itself - which, to be quite honest, was sometimes awful. Who wanted to share a bathroom and kitchen with a hundred other young people? Someone in the planning process hasn't thought this though. It was what that single room (a complete world unto itself with little microwave, toaster, bar fridge, and kettle) represented. It represented Not Living With Her Parents, and it was very good at it. A year out from under their house seemed to have changed Petra's ability to deal with them for large chunks of time. They did these little things that just frustrated her, even though she loved them to death. She had to wonder if Pearl felt that same way. She wanted to ask her, wondering if maybe it was just a natural part of growing up, but what if she asked and Pearl thought she was awful? Petra didn't want to come off as a horrible person who hated their parents, and so she said nothing about it.
There was a laugh (definately Pearl) and a slammed door (most likely Louise), which settled Petra on any matter of whether she had to get up or not. It wasn't long before Pearl appeared in the living room, crunching down on one of the marvelously large apples from the kitchen.
"What did you do?" Petra asked, although she was sure by this point she didn't really want to be involved.
"Stole her diary," Pearl said with a shrug and a toothy grin. "Didn't even read it, just pretended to. She's so easy."
"And then you threw her into a wall?"
"Nah, she tripped over the runner." Another bite of her apple. "And now she's pouting."
"You would have killed me if I'd ever touched your diary," Petra pointed out, not really looking up from her magazine, but feeling this was a very valid point.
"And I still would." Not that Pearl kept diaries anymore. She'd grown out of her, she said. It used to be a thing she often did, and Louise wrote in hers every single day, but Petra had never really had the habit herself, despite the fact that she owned a lot of unused notebooks. (She liked the idea of notebooks, liked buying them and owning them, but then she never really used them outside of school.)
Then Pearl was leaving again, running a hand through her short hair and leaving her lily perfume in her wake. (The perfume was still recent, just like the hair still felt recent - Pearl had gone off to university and there she'd become a little bit of someone else that Petra didn't quite know. It was normal: Petra got that, she'd probably changed as well over the last year, but it was still strange.)
Petra put her magazine down and listened to the house. She thought she could hear muffled music from upstairs, but maybe not. Outside it was drizzling and when Petra got to the window she could see Pearl crossing the field, tossing her apple core away as she walked.
She'd only been away from school for a couple of weeks, but Petra was already feeling out of sorts back at home. She'd thought being here with her family would feel like a return to the status quo, but it turned out to be the opposite. She missed the people in her dorm. She missed her classes.
From her pocket, Petra pulled out her phone and scrolled through the numbers she had. Eventually she settled on one and dialed. She needed to get off the farm and have some fun with friends, just for a few hours.
From upstairs there was the sound of running feet followed by a heavy thump that made Petra wince; Someone had hit the floor and from the sound of the high laugh that belonged to Pearl, it had been Louise. From where she sat in the living room, flicking through a recent TIME magazine, Petra considered (rather briefly) whether she should get up and see whether a) Louise was hurt, b) what Pearl had taken, or c) if she could forestall whatever minor upstairs war was about to erupt.
Petra loved her sisters but all three of them being back at home had turned out to be an overwhelming situation, The house was big, but it was no longer big enough for three young women who'd gotten used to being the only Walshe in their own respective spaces. Louise, being the youngest, had had the last year to enjoy being the only one of the children left at home, and she'd luxuriated in the attentions this gave her from their parents, and the freedom over the whole farm. Pearl spoke adoringly of her dorm at Bangor University where there was a lock on her door and people didn't borrow her dark green cardigan without asking.
Petra was enamoured by her own dorm as well. It wasn't so much the student housing situation itself - which, to be quite honest, was sometimes awful. Who wanted to share a bathroom and kitchen with a hundred other young people? Someone in the planning process hasn't thought this though. It was what that single room (a complete world unto itself with little microwave, toaster, bar fridge, and kettle) represented. It represented Not Living With Her Parents, and it was very good at it. A year out from under their house seemed to have changed Petra's ability to deal with them for large chunks of time. They did these little things that just frustrated her, even though she loved them to death. She had to wonder if Pearl felt that same way. She wanted to ask her, wondering if maybe it was just a natural part of growing up, but what if she asked and Pearl thought she was awful? Petra didn't want to come off as a horrible person who hated their parents, and so she said nothing about it.
There was a laugh (definately Pearl) and a slammed door (most likely Louise), which settled Petra on any matter of whether she had to get up or not. It wasn't long before Pearl appeared in the living room, crunching down on one of the marvelously large apples from the kitchen.
"What did you do?" Petra asked, although she was sure by this point she didn't really want to be involved.
"Stole her diary," Pearl said with a shrug and a toothy grin. "Didn't even read it, just pretended to. She's so easy."
"And then you threw her into a wall?"
"Nah, she tripped over the runner." Another bite of her apple. "And now she's pouting."
"You would have killed me if I'd ever touched your diary," Petra pointed out, not really looking up from her magazine, but feeling this was a very valid point.
"And I still would." Not that Pearl kept diaries anymore. She'd grown out of her, she said. It used to be a thing she often did, and Louise wrote in hers every single day, but Petra had never really had the habit herself, despite the fact that she owned a lot of unused notebooks. (She liked the idea of notebooks, liked buying them and owning them, but then she never really used them outside of school.)
Then Pearl was leaving again, running a hand through her short hair and leaving her lily perfume in her wake. (The perfume was still recent, just like the hair still felt recent - Pearl had gone off to university and there she'd become a little bit of someone else that Petra didn't quite know. It was normal: Petra got that, she'd probably changed as well over the last year, but it was still strange.)
Petra put her magazine down and listened to the house. She thought she could hear muffled music from upstairs, but maybe not. Outside it was drizzling and when Petra got to the window she could see Pearl crossing the field, tossing her apple core away as she walked.
She'd only been away from school for a couple of weeks, but Petra was already feeling out of sorts back at home. She'd thought being here with her family would feel like a return to the status quo, but it turned out to be the opposite. She missed the people in her dorm. She missed her classes.
From her pocket, Petra pulled out her phone and scrolled through the numbers she had. Eventually she settled on one and dialed. She needed to get off the farm and have some fun with friends, just for a few hours.
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