Chapter Text
Cill Arney, Kerry County
August 24th, 1993
Iris opened her eyes, immediately regretting it when her skin regained feeling and she began suffocating under the humid heat of the setting summer. She sat up, groaning in disgust when she felt the matress cover peeling off her wet skin. God, she missed the autumn breeze and the rain.
She looked up at the clock hanging from the wall in front of her. Quarter to eight in the morning. The morning of August 24th, her birthday. Her eleventh birthday. She already knew how things were going to go that day: a little Happy Birthday muttered by her parents, a quick phone call with her older sister Petunia, which she had only seen a couple of times in her entire life, and then down at Lough Leane for a bath with her best friend Leanna, the only person who always tries to make her birthday special, especially since she realised Iris's own parents didn't care much.
Sighing, she climbed down her bed, already loathing that she had to go downstairs to see her parents. She took a quick shower in the bathroom she had in her own room (Lily's room) and changed into a white dress which covered the pastel pink costume she had already put on for the day at the lake.
Before going downstairs, Iris stared at her appareance in the mirror. Inevitably, her eyes darted toward the picture she stuck in the frame. Lily.
People didn't lie when they said Iris was a copy of her older sister: same long red hair, inherited from their father, same emerald green eyes, inherited from their mother. Even the lips were the same natural rosy pink they naturally had. The only difference was the nose: Lily had a narrow nose, taken after their father; whereas Iris had inherited their mother's button up nose. In the picture she was holding in her pale tiny hands, Lily was seventeen, about to begin her final year of high school. Which was a topic that was to avoid completely in front of her parents. Iris learned from her neighbours that while Petunia went to the local secondary school, their parents sent Lily to boarding school in Scotland. The reason? Well, there were many theories: 1) Lily was much cleverer than Petunia, so she was sent to a school for gifted children; 2) just before she turned eleven, Lily ran away from home for a day after a disagrement with her mother, which led people to hypothise she was sent to boarding school to be straighted out, although that was the only time she did something so stupid.
Whatever the case was, Iris had tried asking her parents, but she was immediately shut down and sent to bed without dinner. So, she learned better not to ask.
Deciding not to indulge any longer in thoughts that would make her sad on her birthday, Iris threw the picture toward the mirror frame, not surprised at all when it got perfectly stuck right where it was before.
She walked out in the corridor and closed the door behind, not knowing that the next time she would enter, it was to pack all of her belongings. Sometimes, when life gives you tangerines, you jump on a train to Scotland and never look back.
The sunlight hit the two little girls in the face, but the filtering created by the green leaves of the trees towering above them made it a pleasant experience.
Leanna O'Malley was reading a grownups
magazine she had stolen from her older sister Erin, curiosity having gotten the best of her once her eye caught the colourful cover with a beautiful model on it. She was sure that their parents wouldn't allow Erin own it, let alone having sweet, innocent eleven-year-old Leanne read it. What they can't see, can't hurt them.
You know, according to this article, to make a man fall in love with you, natural looks are the way to go. Just a bit of mascara and a nude lipgloss is the way to his heart
the older of the two girls stated, the pink frame of her sunglasses lowered down toward the tip of her nose, just enough to let her eyes read well without getting burned by the sun shining bright over them.
Iris groaned, a mixture of disagreement and disappointment present in that sound. I'm pretty sure that up until yesterday, those trash magazines said that colourful eyeshadows and very bright pink cheeks were the way to a man's penis.
the girl said without opening her eyes as she laid on a towel and sunbathed, trying to look link she had gone somewhere exotic during the summer holidays, even though she hadn't once left Cill Arney.
Leanna gasped. Don't say that word out loud! Oh my God, you have such a nasty mind, Iris Evans!
The redhead chuckled. Well, not as much as your sister or you. Because I certainly do not read that trash. And I'm pretty sure if your parents saw that magazine around the house, there would be troubles.
Yeah yeah, whatever. Let's make daisy crowns.
Iris happily agreed, sitting up and starting to look around for the best flowers to pick. She chuckled as she and Leanna raced each other to see who could pick the most flowers. Their laughters filled the air around Lough Leane, harmonising with the chirping of the birds finding comfort among the green leaves. Iris was really enjoyng herself, something she only seemed to be able to have around Leanna. Which is why it was going to be painful, leaving her behind. And, unbeknowst to her, the events that would lead to the drastic change in her life were already unravelling back at home.
A light knock alerted the inhabitans of the Evans household that someone was at their door. Patrick Evans was the first to reach the front door and when he opened it, his eyes widened in shock. In front of him stood an old man with long purple robes and glasses, a long white beard matched with hair sharing the same characteristics fell over the soft fabric. He had a kind smile on his pale face and blue eyes twinkled behind the lenses. Next to him, stood a man that completely contrasted him: long greasy black hair matched with long black robes, a look full of distaste etched on his face. It may have been a few years, but Patrick Evans remebered him like it was yesterday.
You.
he said, voice full of hatred and anger toward that young man. What are you doing here?
The man seemed to be taken aback by the fact the man immediately recognised him, so much so that he didn't even have words to speak back. So, the old man next to him intervened. Mr. Evans, we are here to talk about your daughter, Iris. Mind if we come in?
he asked kindly, showing an envelope with bright green letters elegantly written on it.
Patrick Evans paled at the signt. It had been many years since he had last seen a similar letter, yet it looked like it had been yesterday: the confusion, followed by acceptance and then excitement. Only to end in heartbreak and grief. Oh my God, not again.
Iris and Leanna were walking toward the redhead's home, bare feet getting dirty with the dry ground, usually muddy due to the constant rain that fell every other month of the year. Both girls were wearing a flower crown, the daisy flowers slowly wilting among their hair.
Iris, are you sure? I don't want your parents getting mad at you.
Leanna said with a worried frown etched in her baby face.
Yeah, don't worry. Ma and Da are probably and Granny's now. They usually are at this time of day. Besides, I don't have keys. So we're gonna climb the grutter, I left my window open. she reassured her friend. Patrick and Francesca Evans were creatures of a habit. So, unless the world was ending, they were definitely visiting Grandma's.
Anyway, isn't it wonderful how life plays games sometimes?