09-01-2016, 02:38 PM
The invitation had sent a tsunami of emotions through her body. At first, she had been shocked (shocked that they had somehow gotten her address even in her little corner of the world, shocked that they had even thought to invite her, shocked that they had considered to bring their family back to their home) and then she had been anxious (anxious that others might know where she is, anxious that they might still love her and that her devilish twin might be there, anxious that the majority of her siblings would treat her like a stranger).
Over the weeks before the set date, her stomach had been an upside-down mixture of excited, nervous, and terrified. Before boarding the plane that would fly her away from her country into theirs, she vomited in the airport’s bathroom. That had calmed her slightly (it felt almost as though she pushed out her negative emotions into the ivory bowel of the toilet) and she’d boarded the plane with a less-upset stomach.
The bright yellow taxi dropped her off in front of the long, winding driveway. A constellation of freckles crowds around a pair of warm brown eyes that look up toward the mansion of a house. Unlike the rest of her siblings (excluding Noori), she didn’t grow up here. The twins were born in the years before Scorch’s authority, before they had enough money to purchase and build such a strong, large homestead. Rather, Kaida’s childhood consisted of a modest, two-bedroom house nestled beside a small forest and a neat creek.
Dragging her olive green suitcase behind her, the chestnut-haired woman made her way up the driveway. She made it in decent time, the sturdy, well-worn boots she’d traveled the world in lending her the speed she needed to climb one more mountain. At the top, her eyes immediately fell on the expensive car with the designer-clad woman leaning against it. At first, a smile fell across the adventurer’s makeup-free face. But she hid it behind an emotionless expression before her twin could see.
It had been too long since she’d last seen her twin.
Then her eyes meet the door and she sees the other girl waiting patiently. Her outfit is a mashed-up combination of several stereotypes, but Kaida can’t argue. She’s her own person as well, with cut-off denim shorts, a red flannel with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, her chestnut hair thrown in a hazardous French braid, and a simple tattoo of the outline of mountains inked into her left wrist. Walking closer, the woman threw a freckled arm around her equally-freckled twin. “Noooooori!” she sang, face twisting into a laugh. “I know you missed me, little sister.” Kaida always insisted on being the first born; whether that was true or not, they had always bickered.
“Do you mind tossing this in your fancy lil’ car? I could use a ride to the ‘port after this.” Without waiting for an answer, the traveler slung her suitcase into the trunk of the expensive vehicle. Walking toward the front door, she smiled at the younger woman waiting at the door. “Oh, honey, you don’t have to knock. I’m sure Dad’s biting his nails off in anticipation.” Kaida knew her father almost as well as Scorch and she could just picture the tall, serious man nearly shaking with excitement and nerves. Grabbing the brass doorknob, the woman tossed open the wide door and took a step inside.
“Mom! Dad! We’re heeeere!”
Over the weeks before the set date, her stomach had been an upside-down mixture of excited, nervous, and terrified. Before boarding the plane that would fly her away from her country into theirs, she vomited in the airport’s bathroom. That had calmed her slightly (it felt almost as though she pushed out her negative emotions into the ivory bowel of the toilet) and she’d boarded the plane with a less-upset stomach.
The bright yellow taxi dropped her off in front of the long, winding driveway. A constellation of freckles crowds around a pair of warm brown eyes that look up toward the mansion of a house. Unlike the rest of her siblings (excluding Noori), she didn’t grow up here. The twins were born in the years before Scorch’s authority, before they had enough money to purchase and build such a strong, large homestead. Rather, Kaida’s childhood consisted of a modest, two-bedroom house nestled beside a small forest and a neat creek.
Dragging her olive green suitcase behind her, the chestnut-haired woman made her way up the driveway. She made it in decent time, the sturdy, well-worn boots she’d traveled the world in lending her the speed she needed to climb one more mountain. At the top, her eyes immediately fell on the expensive car with the designer-clad woman leaning against it. At first, a smile fell across the adventurer’s makeup-free face. But she hid it behind an emotionless expression before her twin could see.
It had been too long since she’d last seen her twin.
Then her eyes meet the door and she sees the other girl waiting patiently. Her outfit is a mashed-up combination of several stereotypes, but Kaida can’t argue. She’s her own person as well, with cut-off denim shorts, a red flannel with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, her chestnut hair thrown in a hazardous French braid, and a simple tattoo of the outline of mountains inked into her left wrist. Walking closer, the woman threw a freckled arm around her equally-freckled twin. “Noooooori!” she sang, face twisting into a laugh. “I know you missed me, little sister.” Kaida always insisted on being the first born; whether that was true or not, they had always bickered.
“Do you mind tossing this in your fancy lil’ car? I could use a ride to the ‘port after this.” Without waiting for an answer, the traveler slung her suitcase into the trunk of the expensive vehicle. Walking toward the front door, she smiled at the younger woman waiting at the door. “Oh, honey, you don’t have to knock. I’m sure Dad’s biting his nails off in anticipation.” Kaida knew her father almost as well as Scorch and she could just picture the tall, serious man nearly shaking with excitement and nerves. Grabbing the brass doorknob, the woman tossed open the wide door and took a step inside.
“Mom! Dad! We’re heeeere!”