By now, it was around 6:24 in the afternoon. Marie had been taking her time walking to her parents' home, well aware of the vast amount of time she had before curfew set in at nine. Making her way down the pavement, she arrived at the four way intersection at Cove Avenue and looked right, towards her south. Down the road, the she saw the entrance sign to the residential area, spelling out "Blissful Orchards, Southern Residential District," her "neighborhood".
"Finally!" said Marie.
It had been a few months since she had come back to her old neighborhood, she couldn't frequent it often due to the distance between it and the Central Residential District where she resided, thus she only visited every once in a while to not exhaust herself. She approached the gate to the neighborhood, which was manned by a guard. Seeing the man at his post, Marie called out to him.
"Hello!"
"Ah! Marie! You're back!" the man exclaimed.
"Why yes I am!"
"Coming to visit your family I assume?"
"Of course Mr. Atchison!"
"Very good! What might that be in the bag you're holding?" said Officer Atchison.
"Why it's just some beignets! Want some? They're from Mr. Bell's!"
"Well now I absolutely can't turn it down if it came from him!"
"Yeah!" replied Marie, handing him a bag of beignets. "His sweets are delicious!"
"The man sure can whip up some amazing sweets, there isn't anybody in Gartersbee that can compare! On that topic, how are things up there?"
"Well it's been alright for the most part, although I think I got on Mr. Hayes' nerves today…"
"With Mr. Hayes?! What did he do?"
"He stationed me down in the industrial sector today."
"What's so bad about that?" asked Mr. Atchison.
"It's a bit noisy."
"Well is that all? Surely it was at least interesting to see what goes on in those factories no?"
"I suppose so." replied Marie, considering that fact.
"Well, I mustn't be taking your time, carry on."
"Alright, enjoy the beignets!" Marie said, walking through the gate.
"I will! Have a great evening!" replied Atchison.
Carrying on with her previous purpose in mind, she continued forth and headed inwards, taking various turns along the pavement.
The sun was getting closer towards the horizon, approaching sunset. The sky was a brilliant orange as the sun began its departure. Maple trees lined the middle of the road, dividing it into two, with bushes and flower beds lining the grass beneath them. Houses fashioned with bricks, stone, and wood were lined up along both sides of the street, in a perfect row.
After walking a moderate distance, Marie saw a small humble home furnished with flowers and flora all along the front lawn, with a large maple tree providing shade from the sun, she had arrived at her destination.
She knocked on the front door, then stepped back and awaited a response from inside.
"Coming!" a muffled voice from inside replied. Footsteps could be heard approaching the door, growing louder and louder. The door gently swung open and a woman with the same pastel blue hair that Marie had stepped out.
"I'm back mother." said Marie.
"Marie! Come inside!" replied her mother.
"Of course!"
She came inside, and was greeted by the pleasant yet nostalgic atmosphere of her household. Shelves of books and wooden tables with decor such as flowers and photo frames littered the house. Rugs and carpets covered the wooden floor beneath them, as did the various paintings and curtains hang over the wood and brick walls as well as the windows giving them a view to the gorgeous scenery outside.
"Marie has returned dear! She has returned!"
"What?!" said a man sitting down at a wooden table in the dining room.
"She's right here dear! She's home at last!"
"It's me, father."
"Oh goodness gracious! You've returned at last! It feels like it's been an eternity since you've come home to us!" the father exclaimed.
"It's only been a good three months or so!" replied Marie
"Three months may feel like three months for you, but to us both, it is three decades." he said.
"Oh father, you exaggerate too much some times."
"Take a seat Marie!" her mother said enthusiastically.
Marie sat down on the wooden chair at the dining table while her mother brought out some refreshments. The man who was her father had dark brown hair, and despite his age, looked remarkably well off and youthful.
"I've brought some beignets as well!" said Marie.
"You have? Oh how sweet of you Marie!"
"Well I had to bring something mother!"
"You being here is more than enough to bring us happiness!" she replied.
Marie smiled at her remark, "Well, I already brought them here, so might as well enjoy them no?"
"Why yes! I'll try some!" said her father.
Marie placed the two bags of beignets on the table. Seeing this, her father grabbed a beignet and bit into it.
"Delicious!" the man said.
"Well they are from Bell's place after all." Marie replied.
"Ah Bell? He always does make great pastries doesn't he?" her mother said, setting down the tea set on the table.
"Of course!" Marie exclaimed.
"We should stop on by and pay him a visit some day shouldn't we dear?" her mother said, looking at Marie's father.
"Indeed! I haven't had a pleasant talk with the man in forever!"
"I wonder what he has been up to?"
"Well he's been holed up inside that bakery of his." Marie replied.
"Has he not been with his family?" her father asked.
"Family?" Marie said, confused.
"Did you not know that man had a family? He even has a daughter too!"
"I never knew! Usually I just have some friendly chatter and buy some bread while I'm there, but I've never bothered to ask him about it."
"We should arrange a day for us and the Bell's to meet up." her mother said.
"I think we should too, I would love to meet his family." Marie replied.
"If I remember correctly, they were quite the pleasant bunch." said her father.
"Are they?" Marie said with a doubtful expression. "From what I know and have seen from Mr. Bell, I would've guessed they were a trolling and playful bunch."
"That too." the old man said, giggling.
"How have your duties been Marie?" her mother asked, handing her a cup of tea.
"Well nothing much, just the usual rounds about the city, nothing particularly interesting." Marie said, taking a sip of the tea afterwards.
"What else has happened in town Marie? Has all been well? What about with Hannah?"
"Well nothing really changes in town too much, other than Mr. Bell's lines at his bakery."
"Ah, the new bread of his?" her father asked.
"Yes, although I don't get why it's so popular." Marie said, with a sign of disgust on her face.
"And what about you Marie? Have to been well? Are you healthy?" her mother asked.
"I have been well mother. No sicknesses or disease has plagued me. Hannah has been well too."
"Thank goodness." she said, heaving a sigh of relief.
"Mother, you worry about me too much you know?"
"There is no such thing!"
"I've grown up mother, you don't need to worry about such things anymore." Marie said.
"Unfathomable! To think you could have grown up so fast, oh how far you've come Marie!" her mother said, holding back tears.
"Mother! Please don't weep!"
"My apologies, I just couldn't hold them back dear." she said.
"Indeed you can't! You were weeping when you went looking through her childhood photos earlier!" Marie's father exclaimed, chuckling while doing so.
"Adrian!" she exclaimed.
"What? It's the truth." he said.
"Well how about you? Didn't you tear up as well when you went through some of her old drawings?"
"Did not!" he said.
Marie looked on at the scene unfolding, with her mother and father fussing about over such a trivial matter. She couldn't help but laugh a little at their squabble.
"You both truly are my mother and father." she said quietly.
An hour or so passed and the sun had begun setting a minute ago. The clock was nearing eight and was a mere few minutes away. A deep conversation had ensued after the squabble, with Marie telling her parents of her experiences in the past few months.
"Bahaha! Oh the pity I feel for that young lady!" her father laughed, pounding the table as he did so.
"Marie dear, this is why we always check the label before pouring the ingredients in!" she chuckled.
"I could've sworn it was sugar though…" Marie mumbled, thinking deeply on whether or not it was.
"Sugar and salt look rather similar dear, which is why we always label the containers!" her mother said.
"But there was only one container of what looked like sugar! And even then it was salt!"
"Was there anything else?" her mother asked.
"Well there were some other jars and containers with other powders. I saw what I thought was pepper, I think cinnamon as well, herbs, and a bunch of other jars with various colored powders and ingredients."
"Was there brown sugar?"
"Brown sugar?" Marie replied, confused.
"Yes. It's another form of sugar you can also use for cooking, it looks like sugar, but it's slightly brown and works differently if you use it for cooking."
"Ah! If only I had known!"
"Besides, if you had used the regular white sugar, they would've turned out a bit crunchy!" her mother told her.
"Really?"
"Yes, in fact, I usually use brown sugar as well."
"Gah! Another blunder!" Marie said, burying her head into her arms in despair.
"Cooking takes time to learn dear, with time and experience, you'll eventually be able to cook great dishes too."
"Alright mother…" Marie said.
"Why would you look at the time, 7:49. It's starting to get a little late, why not stay here for the night Marie?" her father asked. "It wouldn't inconvenience us if you stayed here tonight!"
"Unfortunately I can't father, I have work tomorrow as well, and the walk from here to the station would be quite a hassle." Marie replied.
"Truly unfortunate." her mother replied.
"I must get going." Marie said. When she stood up, she embraced both her mother and father for a good while or so, before making her way to the door.
"Thank you mother and father, I'll be sure to visit some time soon!" Marie said.
"We'll be awaiting you as we always will!" her father said.
"Come back whenever you want Marie!" said her mother.
"I will!" she said, before she began making her way back to her apartment block.
Her parents waved her farewell, and she waved back, and continued forth. Marie's mother began tearing up, but wiped them away. As she looked at her daughter who she had raised for so long, she couldn't help but smile at the growth and achievements she had come to.
"Don't cry now honey." Adrian said, comforting her.
Marie walked back towards her apartment on the now nearly barren streets. By now, people had returned to their residences as per the approaching curfew mandated. Streetlights were lit by now, and darkness was approaching fast. She didn't pay too much mind to it, she had roughly an hour before curfew, so she took her time. A walk from where she was to the apartment would only take about ten more minutes. She had already walked most of the distance so she wasn't too concerned.
Surprisingly enough she heard the sound of kicking, likely from some kids still playing around with a ball somewhere nearby. It wasn't unusual to hear such a thing, empty streets like this were a logical place to play ball, albeit they couldn't play for that long due to the upcoming curfew.
She paid no mind at first, after all, kids were kids, they did whatever they want. The sound got louder, and more constant, almost in a pattern too. That was unusual she thought, were they playing a rhythm game? Marie wasn't aware of what children often played nowadays as her days as a young girl were over so long ago. The kicking got louder yet again, but now something was off, the sound the kick made when it hit something didn't sound like a ball, which made a distinct sound any person would recognize, but that same sound wasn't emitted. It sounded like something else was being kicked, but what else?
Marie listened for the sound and went around, searching for it, as it got louder and louder. Eventually, she reached the entry of an alleyway formed by the space between two shops which had closed. Peeking into the alleyway, she saw an officer clad in the usual grey dress uniform and cap kicking something. At first she thought it was the ground, but after shifting her head into the alley a bit more, she saw that there was a young boy on the ground receiving the blows.
He lay there on the ground curled up while covering his head, his clothes now battered and beaten by the kicks. Taking blow after blow from the kicks, he didn't break nor utter a cry despite his youthful appearance and young age. Then the officer stopped for a short period to Marie's surprise.
"An animal like you doesn't deserve to be around! Why do you even wear your armband you filthy cur?!"
The officer ripped the armband off of the young boys right arm, thus stripping him of his right of being a person. He was met with a heavy kick to the stomach, and the kicking resumed back to normal. Despite the continuous kicks and neglect, the intrepid boy stayed defiant, not ceding himself to his oppressor for a second. Marie looked around, yet nobody was nearby, for curfew had set in and the sentries had not arrived yet. Before her, a plain old officer who just got in, was a sergeant, one who had sworn to protect the people of their land, beating and neglecting the people he was meant to protect. She looked on in shock, in disbelief that what she saw was true.
"Know your place animal!" the man said, turning back as he continued glaring at the boy.
Realizing he was about to come towards her direction to leave, Marie stopped looking and hid herself with a newspaper she had picked up along the way. As the man walked past her, Marie's mind had gone mad with questions and doubts. What had just happened before her eyes? Why?
"Stand at attention officer!" the man yelled.
Marie looked up, the sergeant was before her, staring deeply, waiting for her response. Immediately at the sight of him, she backed up and stood at attention. Caught by surprise, she was not prepared at all and tumbled about a bit clumsily at first.
"Pay attention to your seniors next time!" he said, before walking off angrily.
When Marie was sure she was out of sight, she ran over to the alleyway where the boy was. He was sitting on the ground against the wall and had buried his head into his arms resting on his knees.
She approached the young boy and kneeled down to him, he didn't look up nor make a noise.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she asked.
No response. Marie reapplied his armband to his right arm.
"Do you need me to bring you home?"
The young boy moved his head up a little and peeked at who was before him.
"No thank you." he said quietly.
As Marie was about to offer him more help, the boy got up and ran, disappearing in the complex passages of the alleyway.
"Wait!" Marie called, but it was far too late, he had disappeared.
She got up and headed over to where he went, then looked around, but it only led to more passageways and intersections. It was a endless maze that she didn't know how to navigate.
Seeing that she couldn't find him, she went back out and restarted her trip back home. Grief and confusion overwhelmed her brain. She could do nothing but watch the boy get hurt, and now she couldn't even provide relief to him.
When she arrived at her apartment and went inside, Hannah was already awaiting her arrival. Realizing she was home, Marie hid her worrisome and confused expression from earlier.
"You're back a little later than I thought." Hannah said.
"Yeah… I got caught up in something but it's over with." replied Marie.
"Well whatever, how was it with your family?"
"It went well. We discussed many things, and more importantly, I learned that I should use brown sugar for cookies!"
"Dummy."
"Well what about you? How did your day go?"
"Ferris just kept running his mouth about who knows what, and I kind of got tired of him after a while, but I put up with him."
"Did you not even pay attention to what he was saying?"
"Not after the first five minutes."
Marie was surprised that she hadn't seen foreseen the aftermath that morning, knowing how Hannah would react.
"What happened afterward?" she asked.
"Well I dealt with him during the meeting and got back here at around eight. Then I waited around for the past twenty or so minutes for you to get back since you're usually back by then.
"Oh, sorry about that."
"Yeah yeah, whatever, not really in the mood for talking anyways, I'm heading to my room."
Without warning, Hannah, who seemed to emit an aura of hatred and annoyance, headed off into her room before Marie could even ask her about dinner. Knowing better not to disturb her in her state, Marie grabbed some of the bread from the breadbox and went to her room as well.
When she entered her room, it was in it's usual messy state, but Marie ignored it and went straight to her desk and set down her belongings. From there, she sat down and contemplated on what had happened between the police sergeant and the young boy. Did he do something wrong? No, if he had committed a crime, the man would have detained him instead. There was no reason for him to be beaten so ruthlessly, yet it happened. If only she had done something instead of watch it unfold. Regret overtook her during the minutes she spent contemplating.
After some thought, she decided to go on and prepare to head to sleep, perhaps tomorrow she'd ponder more about it during her free time she thought.