My Siblings' Conversation

Alice was excited. She closed the door and ran with me to our parent's bedroom. She put me on the bed and closed the door behind her. Her purple braided hair was on her shoulder, and she looked at me with a creepy smile.

"It's time to get you new clothes!". She said, clapping her hands. "I'll take some measurements and get ready to make your new clothes in no time!"

Alice had a long fabric tape. When she approached me, I thought I was going to play with it. I grabbed it and pulled it out while she tried to measure my belly.

"Henry, big sis is trying to measure you. It's not a toy!". She stopped whatever she was doing. "Don't eat it! It'll get all wet. This will be fast! Please let me do it...", I giggled in response. She crossed her arms and looked at me, defeated.

"Alice... Are you there? Where are mom and dad?", said Jonathan with a sleepy voice.

"They went to the woods to plant the herbs we got earlier. Dad said it won't take too long to be back"

"May I come in? I don't want to be alone..."

"Come in, and help me to take Henry's measurements". Alice opened the door to let Jonathan come inside the bedroom.

"Hi, Henry! Big bro is here to save you!", said Jonathan, sprinting in my direction. He sat on the bed and pulled me next to him. "She goes insane when anything involves clothing!".

"Jonathan! Dad, left me in charge!", said Alice, demanding Jonathan to move aside.

"He will grow up in no time. Mom said not to waste fabric".

"I know... ", said Alice with a sad face. "I can still change his current clothing to new styles!"

"Henry is not a doll, Alice. Dad said I have to protect my family from any harm", said Jonathan, keeping me even closer.

"Don't exaggerate! I won't do anything to him. He doesn't even know what I'm doing. He doesn't care"

"I know what you are doing, and I care"

"If you don't want me doing anything on him, let me do it on you then!", said Alice. "I need to practice before becoming an apprentice, and your clothes look terrible. I can help change them to look better, but you always run away". Jonathan's eyes were wide open. He was not expecting Alice to use him as the main target, and he could not run from her. Otherwise, I'd be targeted. Alice continued, "I can make your clothes look like dad's ones. Dad and mom would love them". It seems Alice hit him on the sweet spot.

I only saw my sibling using two sets of clothes, their pajamas, and their daily clothing. Their pajamas were the same, a white and plain dress. However, for their daily clothes, they both wore similar shoes and clothing colors. Alice wore a knee-long skirt with a shirt, on top of both a small apron that extended to her back. Her clothes' colors were mostly white, brown, and green, but with more details on the design of the apron like embroideries with different colors. Jonathan's were a white shirt with buttons and brown knee-long shorts.

"What are you going to do?". Jonathan said with interest.

"I can make your sleeves longer like dad's..." and she kept going on and on with all the possibilities. Jonathan looked at her confused, as he had no idea what she was talking about, at last, she added, "Let me take your measurements first, and we can decide what to do later". Jonathan agreed. He stood up and Alice started measuring him.

"Alice, mom, and dad are not here now, I think I can ask you this", Jonathan said, opening his arms to be measured. "You heard what mom and dad said last night, right? A feybeast is attacking the village... Mom was even crying..."

"Yes, I also heard them...". She responded without looking at his face.

"Do you think we will be fine? Dad even taught us things in the woods to survive..." A silence dropped in the bedroom. Alice was ignoring him. "Alice, I'm afraid... Do they want to send us away?". Jonathan had a crying voice. I could see tears forming in his eyes.

"Jonathan, we have to trust mom and dad. We cannot do much. However, we can do whatever we can to help them... I'm planning to learn as much as I can, like cooking and seaming. You have to keep learning too. Therefore, mom and dad will trust us. Henry will also need our help. He can't do things by himself".

"That's why you were trying to measure Henry..."

"That's right, dumb". She gave a smile to Jonathan. "I also think those flowers will help us too. Wolfsbane was a gift from a god to a goddess. Surely, it will help us if we take care of them. You know more about plants than I do. So, I require your help to keep them healthy". Jonathan looked more confident.

"I'll do my best, Alice! You can count on me too, Henry!", he said, making a fist with his right and hitting his chest twice.

"Hey! Don't move! I don't want to hurt you with the pin"

"Wait! Are you using pins?! Ouch! You are mean!" said Jonathan, going back to the open arms position. I giggled watching the two. Alice looked at me and laughed too.

"Henry is different. I remember when you were a baby, Jonathan", said Alice, measuring Jonathan's leg. She was taller than he was, and she had to kneel to take the measurements from his thigh to his feet.

"I told you! He is a weird baby!"

"I think she is smarter than you, just it. The intelligence skipped you, Jonathan". Before Jonathan could say anything, she pinned him.

"Ouch! Stop pinning me, or I'll stop helping you", said, taking a step back. Alice took me in her arms, and we laughed.

"I think Mrs. Hubson left some sweets behind. Do you wanna check it out?", said Alice, heading to the kitchen. Jonathan blushed. I looked at his face over Alice's shoulder. He wanted the sweets but did not want to give in to Alice's temptations. He made a funny face and I giggled. It did take long until our parents were back.

"All done", said dad, coming inside the house. "We still have some flowers. Alice, do you want them?"

"Yes, dad! Jonathan said he will help me to take care of them".

"We still have some vases in the backyard from last spring", said mom, putting her baskets away.

"Dad, what those flowers are going to do?", said Jonathan, directly approaching dad. "I thought we are going to plant them in the backyard". Dad kneeled and talked to him.

"Those flowers are special. Their smell keeps anyone who the goddess of darkness doesn't like away from us", said dad, patting Jonathan's head. "So, we use them as an invisible wall". Alice was paying attention. She seemed to have the same question. Mom took me from her arms and she went closer to dad and Jonathan.

"That means she likes us, dad?", asked Alice.

"Hmm… Liking is a heavy word. I think she doesn't mind us. The most important is to not make her dislike us", said dad, giving a small lecture. Mom sat down and checked if I was hungry.

"How we can avoid that?". Alice seemed interested in the topic. I could not see her face, but she must have had sparks coming out of her eyes.

"Well… it's a complex answer. The majority of the time, some people may ask her to dislike others".

"Why would people do that?", both said almost at the same time. Dad crossed his arms on his chest, and with one hand ran over his beard thoughtfully.

"People can be bad. However, doing these kinda things is forbidden. In the end, innocent people get hurt".

"Dad, that means someone that the goddess of darkness dislikes is nearby?" said Alice with a worried voice. Dad looked at mom and turned back to Alice with a gentle smile.

"We never know, sweetie. For this reason, we did that to be sure we will be safe", said dad, standing up again. "If you guys hear anything or see strange people, let me or mom know, understood?". Alice and Jonathan nodded simultaneously. "Alright, I'll make a whistle for you too, Jonathan". Jonathan looked confused, and Alice showed him hers by pulling it off from her neck. Jonathan looked surprised. All the tension among them was easy away. Dad petted their head. "I'll change my clothes, and I'll help you two set up the flowers, what do you guys think?".

Mom started breastfeeding me. I could hear Alice and Jonathan were excited because they ran outside. My parents didn't know they were aware of the feybeast, and how worried my siblings were about this situation. The day was ending, but it was too much for me. I felt sleepy and tired. I slept there in mom's arms.