Sisterhood

• Jye Cannon, Grade 12, Geelong High School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'The Write Track 2015' competition

I drew a deep breath and felt it slide and slither down and around the arch of my throat, down into the depths of the tunnels and chambers below. I felt my chimney smoking with words that may make my mistress choke and tear up or even put me out, but my deep and buried embers were still alight with the rage of finding myself under the blame of such an instance; and so, my billows bellowed.
“Sister…” I halted, my just-made eyes falling once again in a chance to regain my last ounce of strength, “Patty, I was not with your husband.” I found myself clinging to the inner support beam of the barn in a tight embrace as I sighed one last time; “No – he was with me.”
Her face remained unmoved at the information momentarily; then, a muscle twitched above her lips, and – although her eyes had obviously shadowed over – she found herself in this unnatural quasi-grin, one almost displaying a sarcastic countenance, or as if she had just heard and thought she’d misheard something embarrassingly humorous.
“My apology, but I must ask you to repeat what you just sai—”
“You heard my words, sister. Did my breath find struggle or words catch on my tongue? Did I stumble?” I suddenly found my anger rising out of the grave of my chest as the venom that had been injected into me had found its escape route up and out of my torso. “Your husband found me. He found me! He was the one who encouraged his own advances; he was the one who slipped an extra bill in my weekly pay for the household duties; he is culpable for all that is wrong in our relationship; a coxcomb of a patriarch and always such an undignified flirt with me! Sister, I have found my pity upon this man only to have his weaknesses thrust back upon me in ways that I didn’t think providential or prudential. He made this out of me – it was him!” During a fierce throw of emotion at the older woman, I found my back facing the beam I had been holding, a mere foot or two away due to my angry advances, and from this realisation, stumbled back until contact was established, slipping down the support for the ground beneath.
In my anguish, I had not seen my sister at a standstill with the universe as she contemplated my keeping. ‘Do I believe the woman, or believe the man that I have trusted with my everything?’ Thought Patty. She held her narrowed eyes upon the fragility of the girl who sat in front of her, huddled and sobbing with grief, and a million thoughts persisted, tiring her mind but firing up her spirit.
The words came like an unforeseen gift from a loved one, as that was exactly what it was: “No more weakness, sister. It’s about time we showed this man who’s Queen and Princess Bee around these parts.”