Wednesday 24 September 2014

Chapter 117 - What does "sorry" do?

With winter in full flow, Elenie and Ieaun had organised a big Snowflake Day party.  Whilst waiting for everyone to arrive, Rhonwyn had a bright idea and slipped whoopee cushions under several of the chairs; just to see what people's reactions would be.
Unfortunately for her, it was Bronwyn who sat on the first one, and she knew immediately who was to blame, shooting her twin a decidedly dirty look but refrained from saying anything or reacting any further.


The party went well, although several family members were absent, Ieaun's parents having sadly passed away not long before and Coryn having a prior engagement.  Several of the twin's friends from school came and everyone went away happy with their gifts.
After all the guests had left and the children had been put to bed, Elenie and Ieaun sat in the kitchen drinking some hot chocolate and discussing their children, Rhonwyn in particular.
"Have you noticed the pranks she's been pulling?  They've been mostly harmless so far, but do you think we should be taking a stronger line with her?"

"I think it's a balancing act, she needs boundaries, but if we put too many in then she's just going to rebel against them and I'm afraid we're likely to have enough trouble with her in the future as it is..."


"What do you mean by that Ieaun?  Have you seen something?"


"Snippets, she's going to be a handful whatever we do, all we can do is try and keep a balance between telling her off when her pranks get out of hand and not being so strict as to make her rebel too much."

A few days later, Dory was out about the town when she ran into Coryn.  

"Coryn, I, I didn't expect to see you here..."

"Nor I you, mother"
They stood in awkward silence for a while, neither entirely sure what to say to the other, until Dory cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could go back in time and undo my mistakes, but I can't and I'm sorry..."
"What does "sorry" do?    You can't go back and change anything, it's too late for that.  Saying sorry doesn't put anything right, it just brings everything back!"
"I... I... What do you want me to say?  What do you want me to do?  I know saying sorry doesn't change the past, but would you prefer I never acknowledge that I was wrong?"
Coryn was silent for a while, watching the snow fall and thinking.

"Why did you do it all?  Why did you trust him?  How could you not tell what he was doing to all of us?  How could you forget 'Leni was your daughter?  You let him put her through all that abuse - how could you let him do that to any child even having forgotten she was your own?  And grandma?  How could you let him treat her the way he did?"
"I don't know"  Dory looked down at the ground; "I look back and I can't understand how I didn't see his hand in everything, how I never realised all the times he attacked my family and even killed my love.  But at the same time I can remember how everything he told me seemed to make perfect sense, even though it couldn't...

"I remember him telling me that someone had kidnapped Elenie and left a changeling in her place and somehow I couldn't even see a child where she was - only some deformed little creature which couldn't possibly be my baby, or anyone's baby; but looking back it's like I can see two images in my memory - my baby girl and this hideous thing overlaid on top of her blocking her out..."
Dory's voice trailed off and they were both silent for a while.  Eventually Coryn shook himself visibly

"I'm going to have to think about this, but I don't know what sort of relationship we can build, even if we want to; you were so distant through most of my childhood that you're like a stranger.  Where do we even go from there?"
____________

Back at home, the twins and Celyn had been spending their free time building snowmen in the garden.  It had been Rhonwyn's idea and she'd dragged her brother and sister outside, despite Celyn's protests about the cold.
Although she'd eventually convinced him to join them outside, he refused to build the same snowman as the twins, leaving them to build a rather creepy looking snow-reaper together.
 
Ieaun and Elenie were inside reading, Elenie had identified that a number of elixir recipes required fresh fish and had decided that in order to ensure their freshness she would have to start catching her own.
The following day, after school, Rhonwyn convinced the other two to go down to the fairground for some snowball fights.
Bronwyn was quite happy to, but Celyn was only convinced to stay out in the cold by Bronwyn offering to make a team with him against Rhonwyn.  
When they all got home, their parents told them that since there was no school the following day they'd be going to the winter festival as a family.  The twins were highly excited about this and at bedtime sat on their beds discussing what they wanted to do the next day.
"We need more snowball fights!  Do you think anyone else from school will be there?  We could have a massive fight!"

"We had one today, we should do something different - did you see the skating rink set up?  That looks great fun"
While Ieaun was checking that the kids were all safely tucked up in bed and the lights were out, Elenie was putting the final touches to an elixir she hoped might reverse the gold spell which had killed Ieuan and thereby reverse his ghostly state.
Having completed the elixir, she found him in the playroom, having just checked on the twins.

"I think I've got something, if I've done it right it should reverse the spell which killed you..."

As Elenie threw the elixir, they both held their breath, but apart from a flash of golden light nothing seemed to happen.  Elenie sighed in disappointment "Back to the drawing board I suppose then..."
Later, downstairs, however, Ieaun was looking at some of the ornaments in the living room and remembering the feeling of turning into gold, when his finger started to itch. 
He reached out towards a small plant on the table and was shocked when a spark of golden light leapt from his finger to the plant and turned it golden!

14 comments:

  1. Oh dear, I'm a little anxious over Rhonwyn and what Ieaun has seen about her being a handful. I hope she doesn't get herself in too much trouble...

    Double oh dear, Dory and Coryn aren't going to be able to have a happy relationship ever, are they? :( I do hope their relationship can at least improve a little, but I can get that sorry doesn't mean all too much, and what Dory did was mean, but what can she do? She can't reverse time and change it.

    Ooh! That's the what'shisname touch thing that Ieaun's been given, isn't it? I can't wait to see if he acts any more on that.

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    1. Oh Rhonwyn is absolutely going to get herself into a whole heap of trouble, especially once she becomes a teen!

      I don't think Dory and Coryn will have a proper relationship, I actually shot that scene intending it to be a reconciliation scene, but when I came to write it I couldn't because it just felt wrong.

      It is the midas touch elixir, but I'm not planning on using it any further, I don't like the way the objects look when they've been turned golden

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  2. Oh Rhonwyn. Pranks around the house is one thing, but if Celyn wants to go in due to the cold let him. At least she didn't have them doing anything worrisome this time. That's better, if nothing else.

    Poor Coryn. I get where he's coming from, but carrying around such a burden has to be hard on him. Maybe he'll figure out how to let it go one day. I can imagine Dory feels quite guilty as it is.

    Oh Elenie! To think you're so close only to have it not work as she'd expected. :( Bless her. Back to the drawing board indeed. Here's hoping she figures it out soon. Then again, having the golden touch might prove interesting! Can he control it?

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    1. Rhonwyn doesn't think, and she's just assuming that Celyn will enjoy himself when he's out there regardless; it hasn't occurred to her that he's part plant and therefore winter isn't a good time for him.

      It is hard for Coryn, and SP seems to agree since he's not had any relationships since I had to kick him out of the active family. I really wanted them to reconcile, but I just couldn't write it.

      I found the golden touch disappointing; you can control it (you have to actually click on an item and select an option) but the things you can turn to gold are quite limited and they look more like yellow plastic than gold when you're done

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  3. I really love the relationship between the twins. I think Rhonwyn would've been much more of a handful if she didn't have Bronwyn to keep her at least marginally in check. Elenie and Ieaun is right; it's a very fine balancing act. Rhonwyn seems to be the type to chafe against the smallest restriction. :/

    I understand why Coryn feels like he does, but I think he's a little harsh towards Dory. Yes, sorry doesn't change the past, but it does provide an opportunity to put the past behind and go forward. I hope he'll be willing to give her a chance after thinking about it.

    Poor Elenie. It must be hard to have her hopes dashed like that. At least it seems like there's some progress, even if it isn't exactly what either of them expected!

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    1. Rhonwyn would be much more of a handful without Bronwyn yes, although she might not chafe at restrictions as much as you think - her problem (so far) is a lack of thought about consequences rather than outright rebelliousness.

      Coryn is being a bit harsh to Dory, but at the same time actions have consequences and one consequence of their past is that they don't have any kind of relationship to build on.

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  4. Aw, Coryn and Dory, their relationship is so sad. But so unfortunately realistic. And I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but I love Coryns face. And Dory is one kick a** grandma for wearing that outfit in the cold.

    Rhonwyn is a good handful, bet she'll be even worse as a teen. (Can't wait ;) )

    Elenie has worked a long time trying to find that special potion, to bad that it didn't work this time. Good thing he's not going to end up turning Elenie into gold. It seems like she's more dissapointed in the failure than Ieaun is. But maybe he doesn't really dare to hope. Can't be easy beeing dead after all.

    It's just something about death snowmen that makes me nervous. Is someone going to die? How old is Dory? Rhonwyns probably making death- snowmen because she's technically dead.... Yeah, I'm happy with that explanation.... time to ignore all other possibilities.....

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    1. It is sad, I wish I could have given them a happy ending, but you're right - it just wouldn't have felt realistic.

      Elenie is more concerned about the failure than Ieaun is, largely because she blames herself for the fact he's now a ghost and not properly alive and wants to put things right.

      Rhonwyn is definitely going to be more of a handful as a teen, and I think the death snowmen are either because she and her dad are ghosts or because there are gravestones on the lot. Dory is past the end of her lifespan bar though

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  5. Finally caught up! Started from Chapter 1 about a week ago... Your writing has improved a lot over time and I've grown very attached to Elenie. I loved her plot line and am so glad to see her enjoying herself right now.

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    1. Thank you, I've glad you're enjoying the story and pleased to hear my writing's improved!

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  6. I feel Coryn's burden in a personal kind of way. Even when your parent was not exactly in control of their mind at the time, their realizing and being sorry for it later does nothing to change the childhood you endured. You can forgive and even understand, but that still may never repair what was broken.

    Rhonwyn is quite the handful now...I can only imagine what she'll be like as a teen.

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  7. Rhonwyn's going to be a fun character, I can tell. I only hope she doesn't get into *too* much trouble.

    Hmm, so Ieaun's got the golden touch, eh? That could be good...or bad.

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  8. I may have already asked, I don't remember, so sorry if you already answered this, lol I was curious about why leaun's name always starts with a lowercase letter? Inquiring minds need to know! :P

    Well, back on track, I feel bad for Dory and her son. I hope someday Coryn is able to forgive his mom, because holding onto anger only hurts him.

    And leaun has the Midas Touch! How disappointing that the objects don't look more like gold. I wonder if you can recolor objects and make them look more like gold or not? I've been trying to get one of my sims to learn that potion, he's missing an ingredient though. Darn ingredient is proving illusive, lol

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  9. I know it has been years since you last updated this, but I still wanted to drop a comment and say what a fun read this was! Too bad we never get to find out what happens with Ieaun’s Midas’ touch!

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