Post by Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford on Feb 3, 2008 19:21:46 GMT
It felt good to be back.
Shaun strolled lazily through the gardens of Orchid Hill, noting all the little details carefully.
There was the flowerbed that had been blown up by a small bomb five years ago... and there was the stone bench, decorated with cherubs - one of them with a distinctive handlebar moustache carved into it.
God, that had been a fun day.
And over there, there was the ancient gardener, oul' Albert who'd been there since the year dot - always guarding that one patch of shrubbery. Always there, never anywhere else. Rumours used to flow around like wildfire about buried things; money, stolen diamonds, a body... Back when Shaun was in his final year, some first-years had tried getting past him one evening to look and see...
Shaun winced as he dandered past Albert. Those had been some pretty extensive burns.
The old man looked up as Shaun passed, suspiciously glancing about him, certain that he'd heard something; felt a presence. But, upon seeing only empty space, he'd glanced about with his eyes narrowed, before turning back to his shrubs, turning over some soil with a decrepit fork.
Shaun continued on his way through the gardens, gazing pensively at the scenery. There was the weeping tree - bent practically in two, covered in knots and scratches, initials carved into the trunk. JL 4 KR, PA loves MH 4eva... And over there, behind that tree... well...
Shaun grinned, shaking his head, dark waves tossing, before letting his feet move on, silent footsteps in Converse that left no mark in the thick white blanket of snow covering the footpath.
And over there, at that bench... well, Maddie had sat there crying to Jude.
Shaun stopped still, gazing at the bench, feeling his heart tear a little. Seeing his little sister cry like that... well, sh*t.
And the worst bit was, he hadn't been there to fix it.
The thing about being dead was that you got to see everything. Everything - and that wasn't always a good thing. For example, Shaun didn't need to see the polar caps melting. didn't need to see his sister with her tongue down a guy's throat. And he definitely didn't need to see her pushed to the brink of madness.
The worst bit was, although you could see everything - you couldn't do anything about it, at all. He couldn't stop the polar ice caps from melting, couldn't stop the war, or anything else.
But he could also see the good things happening. Like someone helping an old lady across the road. Tony Blair resigning. Al Gore making "An Inconvenient Truth". And the ending of the Harry Potter series before anyone else. It was brilliant.
And Maddie had given him a few things to see and feel good about. She'd won two battles, stepped into the role of Head of the Warriors, and was kicking ass at it - literally! And Shaun was pretty sure that she was taking some giant steps into winning the war.
Oh, and she'd gotten engaged.
When Shaun had watched that... well, mixed feelings. Her heart had been stitched back together, sure, and she loved the guy, but in his eyes, no one was ever going to be good enough for Madeleine. Ever.
But when he'd thought about it, he'd decided that he was thrilled. Maddie was happy - and to him, Lee had proved that he was going to look after her. After that bloody coma, Shaun couldn't doubt that. And Madeleine... well, you just had to look at her to know that this was doing the right thing.
So... he was happy about it.
Maddie had walked past him earlier, iPod plugged in, a smile on her face - and Shaun could feel nothing but pride, hope... and longing. He missed her.
But when she'd walked past, she'd stopped for a second, raising her head and glancing around - looking right at him, but not seeing him! - before closing her eyes, and moving on.
And he was sure that she'd felt him there.
But whatever, right now, that wasn't the point. Shaun looked about him, biting his lip.
She should be here by now.
Shaun knew that Maddie had a friend who was a 'medium'. He also knew that Maddie desperately wanted his approval of this engagement. He also knew that he really, really wanted to let her know that he was there - especially after the incident at his grave.
So he was going to wait here for Tamika, and he was going to pass on a message.
Hopefully it'd work.
Shaun strolled lazily through the gardens of Orchid Hill, noting all the little details carefully.
There was the flowerbed that had been blown up by a small bomb five years ago... and there was the stone bench, decorated with cherubs - one of them with a distinctive handlebar moustache carved into it.
God, that had been a fun day.
And over there, there was the ancient gardener, oul' Albert who'd been there since the year dot - always guarding that one patch of shrubbery. Always there, never anywhere else. Rumours used to flow around like wildfire about buried things; money, stolen diamonds, a body... Back when Shaun was in his final year, some first-years had tried getting past him one evening to look and see...
Shaun winced as he dandered past Albert. Those had been some pretty extensive burns.
The old man looked up as Shaun passed, suspiciously glancing about him, certain that he'd heard something; felt a presence. But, upon seeing only empty space, he'd glanced about with his eyes narrowed, before turning back to his shrubs, turning over some soil with a decrepit fork.
Shaun continued on his way through the gardens, gazing pensively at the scenery. There was the weeping tree - bent practically in two, covered in knots and scratches, initials carved into the trunk. JL 4 KR, PA loves MH 4eva... And over there, behind that tree... well...
Shaun grinned, shaking his head, dark waves tossing, before letting his feet move on, silent footsteps in Converse that left no mark in the thick white blanket of snow covering the footpath.
And over there, at that bench... well, Maddie had sat there crying to Jude.
Shaun stopped still, gazing at the bench, feeling his heart tear a little. Seeing his little sister cry like that... well, sh*t.
And the worst bit was, he hadn't been there to fix it.
The thing about being dead was that you got to see everything. Everything - and that wasn't always a good thing. For example, Shaun didn't need to see the polar caps melting. didn't need to see his sister with her tongue down a guy's throat. And he definitely didn't need to see her pushed to the brink of madness.
The worst bit was, although you could see everything - you couldn't do anything about it, at all. He couldn't stop the polar ice caps from melting, couldn't stop the war, or anything else.
But he could also see the good things happening. Like someone helping an old lady across the road. Tony Blair resigning. Al Gore making "An Inconvenient Truth". And the ending of the Harry Potter series before anyone else. It was brilliant.
And Maddie had given him a few things to see and feel good about. She'd won two battles, stepped into the role of Head of the Warriors, and was kicking ass at it - literally! And Shaun was pretty sure that she was taking some giant steps into winning the war.
Oh, and she'd gotten engaged.
When Shaun had watched that... well, mixed feelings. Her heart had been stitched back together, sure, and she loved the guy, but in his eyes, no one was ever going to be good enough for Madeleine. Ever.
But when he'd thought about it, he'd decided that he was thrilled. Maddie was happy - and to him, Lee had proved that he was going to look after her. After that bloody coma, Shaun couldn't doubt that. And Madeleine... well, you just had to look at her to know that this was doing the right thing.
So... he was happy about it.
Maddie had walked past him earlier, iPod plugged in, a smile on her face - and Shaun could feel nothing but pride, hope... and longing. He missed her.
But when she'd walked past, she'd stopped for a second, raising her head and glancing around - looking right at him, but not seeing him! - before closing her eyes, and moving on.
And he was sure that she'd felt him there.
But whatever, right now, that wasn't the point. Shaun looked about him, biting his lip.
She should be here by now.
Shaun knew that Maddie had a friend who was a 'medium'. He also knew that Maddie desperately wanted his approval of this engagement. He also knew that he really, really wanted to let her know that he was there - especially after the incident at his grave.
So he was going to wait here for Tamika, and he was going to pass on a message.
Hopefully it'd work.
