Blog Only Teaser

In the school room, Charanel was working with his tutor. He was working with paper and pencil, drawing feverishly. “What’s he doing?” I asked.

“Charanel may be developmentally delayed, but he is an amazing artist,” Bella replied, threading her fingers with mine. “We tried to get him to work with computers, but he loved to sketch on paper with pencils, making some of the most beautiful pieces. The small picture in our bedroom, the one of my father? Charanel drew that.”

“The picture of you, Charanel and your dad?” I whispered. She blushed, nodding. “I thought it was a commissioned piece.”

“No. Charanel drew that from his memory. It was from one our favorite summers down in Ch’ich. We spent the day playing on the pink sand, making sand castles and frolicking in the waves,” Bella mused, her voice wistful. “That was what Charanel remembered and you can see that we were all so happy.”

Charanel must have heard us talk about him. He put his pencil down, looking up to see the two of us. He pushed back from his seat and ran to Bella, enfolding her into a loving hug. “Nirabelle! I missed you,” he said, crushing her to his body.

“I missed you, too,” she said, rubbing her hands along Charanel’s back. “It’s been too long since we’ve had a picnic. Why don’t we have one today?”

He beamed, nodding excitedly. He let Bella go, running back to his table, where the tutor was sitting with a warm grin. Charanel picked up the picture he was working on, galumphing back to where we were standing. He clutched it to his chest, his spots deepening in color as he blushed. “Ed, I have something for you,” Charanel said, his words jumbled and hard to understand. Shyly, he handed me the picture. Drawn in perfect detail was a picture of me and Bella. The love radiating between the two of us was clear as day. My hand was cupped on her cheek, caressing her skin with my thumb. She was on my lap, smiling softly, her mouth so close to mine. Her fingers were tangled in my hair at the nape of my neck just above my uniform. My other hand was wrapped around her tiny waist, holding her close to my body. “You love my sissy.” He clumsily repeated the Cygnarian phrase, “Te-atée miru, ti’ane miru, sa-ahari.”

“I do, Charanel,” I murmured, just staring at the perfect picture. “This is so beautiful.”

“You and Nirabelle are beautiful,” he said, standing next to me and pointing to the picture. “It’s a present for Hisnari. I know it’s late.”

“Charanel, this is the best gift I’ve ever received,” I said honestly. “This will be framed and put on my desk. It means so much to me that you drew this.”

“I only draw for people I love, fei’rene,” Charanel admitted quietly. “Norex got no pictures.” His eyes darkened and he growled lowly. “Only Nirabelle and Father. Norex called me yanhesh. Norex hated me.” He frowned deeply, so angry.

“Norex was wrong, Charanel. You are so special,” I said, placing the picture on the table next to me before I hugged him. Charanel gripped me so tightly, his sobs breaking my heart. “Te’une fei’rene. Always.”

“Te’une fei’rene,” he replied, his voice deep and raspy. “You are my true brother and my family.”