You want to be married, the voice said, as if from a hallway of clouds. Your bellys already above your nose; that means youre an adult now. the mother declared, her words drifting like perfume through the dreamroom.
Emily had only just realised that a hope lay heavy in her womb. She had spent days turning the thought over, trying to find the right words for her parents, but the syllables slipped away like moths. Thinskinned by nature, she could no longer hide the roundness that was growing beneath her dress. She was only seventeen.
The question of the childs father fell out of the mist at once.
Emily had loved Daniel for years. In the first September of their seventh year at Willowbrook Secondary, she had seen him standing by the lockers, one of the first faces she could remember. Summer had stretched them, changed them, made them taller, a little wiser, though they were still boys at heart.
Their schoolbags floated between rows of desks as if the corridors were rivers. They arrived late, skipped lessons, whispered jokes, shared gigglesordinary school life, only the walls were slightly translucent.
Daniel towered over everyone, seemed quicker, better at everything. That was when Emilys heart fell into a secret garden, unrequited and quiet. She kept her silence, as if shouting would shatter the glass, and Daniel walked past her as if she were a shadow. Then one day he noticed. They walked together beneath a sky that felt like spilled watercolor.
Emily could not keep her curious position hidden any longer. Their families, as if guided by unseen puppeteers, arranged a wedding almost immediately. Emilys smile widened to a crescent moon.
The married life started in the house of her motherinlaw, a sprawling Victorian that seemed to breathe on its own. Daniel was the oldest of three children. His two sisters, Lucy and Rose, were still at primary school, while he had already begun to work.
Grow up, youve already made a child! Show us youre an adult. We have two daughters already, and were not inclined to support your wife or your baby! shouted Margaret, her voice echoing off the wallpaper.
For Emily, adulthood began with a cascade of chores. She abandoned her studies, and no one offered her a job as a cleaner; instead she swept the great house because she earned nothing. All domestic duties fell on her shoulders. Lucy and Rose laughed, delighted that they no longer had to wash dishes, mop floors, or tidy the rooms.
They even tried to make her life harder: extra dirty plates piled up, crumbs sprouted on the floor like tiny mushrooms, accidental stains appeared on cupboards and walls. Emily understood the sabotage, felt the weight, but there was no one to complain to.
Daniel worked, indifferent to the domestic storm. He never truly left the house, and his affection for Emily was thin as a wisp of smoke. He had married under the pressure of his parents. Emily tried to speak with Margaret, but the words dissolved before they could reach her ears.
You wanted marriage, the echo repeated, your bellys already above your nose!
Emily no longer felt joy in the marriage. She might have fled if the unborn child werent there, she might have survived, but now she gave birth easily, yet life grew heavier. No help arrived for the baby; the chores never ceased. Daniel came home later and later, sometimes not at all.
Emily sensed his wandering, guessed the lovers name, and the domestic life grew more suffocating. She lived in the motherinlaws house like a servant, wept at night, and imagined a different future.
One day, Daniels sisterinlaw, Irene Whitaker, arrived. To Emily she seemed a woman of iron will, quiet as a library, watching everything with a hawks eye.
Emily tried to do everything well, to keep up, and she succeeded, but Irene always found a speck of dust to pick at. She complained to Margaret, while Daniel no longer felt ashamed to leave for dates. Margaret argued, but could do nothing.
I was married without my consent! Live now with my wife, Daniel replied, drifting out of the doorway.
Irene observed everything. Two weeks stretched slow as taffy, then slipped away. She began gathering her things to leave.
And why did you come? Five years away muttered Margaret softly as Irene packed. What were you sniffing?
In the morning, all went to work. Emily offered to see Irene off.
Ill see you out, then we can walk with little Mary, she said.
Ive been watching your family. Youre exhausted, dark circles under your eyes, barely holding on. How do you endure, girl? And do you know about Daniel?
I know.
Lets go somewhere. Pack your things, well leave together, youll rest from them.
But where? Theyll never let me back, and theres nowhere to go.
Well solve that. Pack, and Ill stroll around the house with a trolley.
What about a ticket? I have no money.
Dont think about that. I have no tickets either. A car will arrive in two hours. Hurry, forget nothing. You probably wont return. Ill tell you everything on the road. Its only three hours away.
The car stopped at a gate. The house it belonged to was smaller than the motherinlaws, yet it shone brighter, as if lit from within. The driver nudged the vehicle into the yard and stepped away.
This is a neighbour. I cant drive alone, so sometimes I ask him. If you want a drivers licence, Ill help. Come in, make yourself at home. Ill rest a while. Your room is to the right.
Half an hour later, Irene began her tale.
My sister and I never spoke much. I had a daughter who went to university, then vanished. Her friends were thrillseekers, river rafters. She got caught up in that world.
Her first trek ended in tragedy. After that, my husband left, unable to stay. I was alone. I went to my sister, hoping for help, to leave a legacy.
She told me there was no room. Daniel married, youre his child, his daughter. I realized everything rested on you. They dont understand that.
My sister was used to having everything done for her. They dumped everything on you. Daniel doesnt love you. Why would he? Ive learned it all. No one will help you, not even your parents.
I wanted to leave my house to Daniel, thinking hed have a family, a child, but he Ive made my decision. Hold on a little longer; it will all be yours. I think its time to file for divorce.
I have about a year left. Well manage. Call me Aunt Iris. The house will be yours completely.
And what will they say
Dont think about that. They have enough of their own troubles. Keep the house; dont give it away! Be strong; you have a daughter.
Irene lived just over a year more. Emily divorced Daniel, and he remarried quickly. Relatives arrived for Irenes funeral, openly expressing their displeasure at the sisters decisions. Daniel even tried to rekindle things, but the road back had vanished.
Emily and her daughter now live in their own cottage. She finally earned her drivers licence, studies parttime at a university, and most of all, learns to live on her own. She loves it.
Thus life drifts in strange currents. Inheritances go not to the greedy, but to those with kind hearts, and that is just.
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