As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 11

That afternoon, while I was helping Mom fold laundry, Emerys came home.  Mom went out to greet her, but didn’t come back to help me.  Great, I thought, here I am stuck folding laundry all by myself.  Not that it was difficult, but it would have been nice if Mom appreciated me enough to not leave me just because Em was here.

I placed the last towel in the laundry basket and carried it upstairs to the closet.  As I passed the railing that looked out over the parlor, I heard a sob.  I glanced over the edge.  On the couch in the parlor sat Emerys with her arms around my Mom.  She was crying.

            I put the laundry basket down and knelt beside the railing.

“I don’t understand it,” my sister said.  “He accused me of leading him on.”

“There, there,” Mom said.  She stroked Em’s hair.  “I’m sure it was all a big misunderstanding.”

I pressed closer against the railing.  What had happened, I wondered.

“Losten said I had led him on by not telling him about my tail sooner.  He also blamed me for the fact that he has to keep this secret from his family.”  She sobbed some more.  “Mom, I don’t know what to do.”

Wow, she was really into this guy.  I mean, I knew she had strong feelings for him, but I hadn’t seen Em cry since Dad died.  Losten must really be a jerk, I thought, to make my sister cry like that.

               Emerys continued to sob, so I picked up the laundry basket and put the towels in the closet.  Whatever he’d done though, Em would forgive him tomorrow.  She was that forgiving and she liked him too much not to do so.