School was a strange thing for me, surrounded by other kids, so far from home. I would talk to other kids but all of them were confused by my sister having ‘fluff’… The longer I questioned it the more it confused me. Elenore didn’t look like the babies on tv, she didn’t look like the baby in pictures or videos from school. I didn’t know why she was so different. Until at 7 I learned to use the tv remote…
I changed the channel, flipping through a few channels before stopping at one that caught my eye. Colorful… Things, dancing about, I didn’t know what they were but they looked like Elenore.
“Wewe gonna be wite back on fwuffy teebee! Don’t change da channew!” A cute cartoon fluffy popped on screen before an advertisement. Things seemed to be more confusing at that moment, but I panicked and changed the channels back to nickelodeon when hearing Elenore walk in.
“Kay-tee, ebay-fing otay?..” Elenore asked me, I stood there for a moment, just holding the remote.
“Uh- y-yeah, just don’t tell mama I had the remote, ok?..” I asked her, still confused about what I saw.
“Otay, can we pway? Ewenowe wike pwaying wiff yuu big sistah.” just a few words, but it helped me put down the remote and follow her off to play. I was still confused but, it was ok, we were happy. It didn’t matter at that moment what a fluffy was or why Elenore didn’t seem like my peers’ siblings, I loved her.
We’d go outside to play more often, as I got bigger and stronger over the months, Elenore only grew a bit then stopped, and mama still treated her like a baby, dressing her and feeding her. I got bored of the normal little kid games by 10 ish, and mama bought me a DS, i loved playing it with Elenore, talking to her about the games and how i played them with kids at school. She was confused but happy, i was happy. And of course we played outside. Mama started watching us more outside in the fenced yard. Something about the cranky old lady who lived next door not liking kids, she really hated Elenore for some reason.
I was starting to understand more and more what Elenore was, babies came from mommies tummies and grew to kids, but fluffies were bought from a store, like a cat or dog. I think I started to understand that Elenore the baby from mom’s tummy, and Elenore the fluffy were 2 different people. But… I’m unsure if mom ever realized that. I’d try to ask her about when i was little, or Elenore from mom’s belly and she’s always say “when you’re older honie” or “now’s not a good time, let’s speak about this later”, it frustrated me but, i couldn’t stay mad at her for long. She continued to baby Elenore, talking baby voice to her sometimes, carrying her around the house. Now that I wanted to be alone most of the time, mom clung to her more, the two becoming inseparable. I felt bad but, other kids my age spend a lot of time alone too, right? 12 came and went, growing older ment understanding more, and testing with alt fashion as any tween dose. The neighbor grew older, and grumper too.
As time passed mom became more and more anxious of the neighbor lady, asking me to watch Elenore play. Like any tween I sat out there on my phone, Elenore would sit by me and watch me play sometimes or ask me to toss the ball for a bit, but we were happy to just enjoy each other’s company and play our own games, her with blocks and me with my phone.
One day I came home from school a mess.
Someone said my pants were so last year, and my shirt, which i thought was punk, was lame. I cried more than I should and Elenore comforted me. At the time it was the worst day ever and i didnt think it could get worse. Mama got me into pjs and got me some ice cream, asking me to watch Elenore play as she prepped dinner. So i sat outside on the chair, on my phone, starting to well up seeing that there was a picture of me from school on the internet now, they were making fun of me. It was so silly but it was my whole world in that moment as i typed an angry message to them, about hating them and never wanting to see them again, and…
There was a scream.
Elenore had an apple, when did she get the apple- how did she get it? And she was bleeding. I dropped my phone and ran over to her , calling out for mom. I looked at her, my fluffy- my little sister, bleeding from the mouth with a sharp blade stuck in the roof, blades in the apple that she bit, and more blood coming from her throat.
I screamed and rushed to mom. Crying and telling Elenore she’d be ok the whole car ride, nothing else mattered, I didn’t know why I was so distracted from her earlier. All I knew is we couldn’t go fast enough, as mom sped us down to the vet clinic. We rushed in and it felt like forever till they were able to take us back. But, having to sit in the waiting room was worse than hell. When the doctor came out to tell us something, his face grim and sorrowful. I don’t even remember what he said, I just remember my mothers scream of agony. Elenore had died not once, but twice.
We never got proof the neighbor did it, but we knew it was her. With no proof mom couldn’t do a thing about it. Her smug smile made my blood boil for as long as she lived.
Mother… Wasn’t ok after that. I don’t think she ever got over Elenore the first time, and now, a part of her died with Elenore this time. It was a part kept alive by playing pretend, pretending she never lost her baby, but now she just lost her twice. We both would just sit in silence for hours, school felt numb, home was just hearing mother sobbing or drinking, and my games that were once everything felt like little nothings. It took years to get over elenore’s death, and mother, sadly never did. I miss them both dearly,
And that’s the End of Elenore’s story, i hope you enjoyed. feel free to give criticism I’m still learning how to write well for the FC, i think things in a mostly visual way
so translating to words are a little funky. i hope to write more soon!
