Blue Sheep || ONGOING

Chapter 4

Frisson;

A shiver of pleasure.

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Downhill was a patch of grass that was covered with hundreds of small blue flowers with long, sturdy stems and a tiny sun in the middle.

Charise and Danny sat leaning against the Oak tree that watched them grow up. As a young girl she'd climb it's branches, every year trying to reach a new height. 'Give me a little lift, would'ya Danny?' she'd squeak, and her older brother would roll his eyes and say, 'Only if you help me with the sheep!' then Charise's crystal-blue eyes would light up and she'd quickly nod.

 Smiling at the memory, she picked up an oak leaf and began spinning with her thumb and pointer finger, hoping to recall another pleasant childhood memory.

"Danny, what happened while I was gone? " Charise asked, keeping her gaze focused on the twirling oak leaf as she waited anxiously for her brother to answer.

Danny sighed and she could feel his hesitation, his uncertainty of how to reply.

"When you left, mum sort of lost it - she began worrying a lot, maybe even too much. I told her everything is fine, and that you're doing fine, but she kept insisting that it was a mistake letting you go do what you want - 'She's too young' mum said,"

Charise could hear her brother's effort to phrase what had happened as well as possible, and honestly she wished he'd just tell her the cold truth.

"She wasn't angry at you - no, she was just... upset. Kept on saying how I was going to get married and leave her too, and with our father six feet under... I had to stay with her. Katie was getting very annoyed at me, she wanted to get an apartment together. Katie casually brought it up once during dinner, and mum got riled. She began cursing, and even threw a kitchen knife at a wall - Katie called her psychotic and told me it was either her or mum..."

Charise stopped fidgeting with the leaf and turned to look at Danny, who was focused on something in the distance.

"You chose mum." she finished his sentence. She was the brick that made the whole tower fall down - She was the reason why Danny wasn't happy.

And she left.. for what? A dream everyone told her was stupid? And yet she was foolish enough to try and pursue it?

"How about we ditch this, let's drive down to the market nearby and buy something, huh? Some blueberry pie maybe?" Danny suggested gleefully, but Charise could hear the sadness buried deep in his tone.

Her light blue eyes met his, and she searched for the sparkle that he always had - but it was nowhere to be found, it had vanished and now he had a clouded sea-blue stare.

"Okay," Charise said softly, "Let's go."

~*~

The market was a measly 5 minutes away by car, and luckily Danny had a not-so-new navy blue car which he wasn't afraid to get dirty parked behind the house.

The drive was short and quiet, both of them had a lot on their minds and neither of them wanted to discuss it. Charise had her elbow perched on the window seal and her head rested in the palm of her hand as she watched the outside world move by. When their father was alive, he always took her and Danny downtown to buy them anything they wanted - as children, their idea of treasure was candy, balloons, stuffed animals and slingshots, so their purchases were always affordable.

Charise remembered when she was ten years old she asked her father for a palette and a set of paintbrushes, and he agreed to buy them for her. She was ecstatic to say the least, she'd spend every second of the day painting - she'd paint in the morning, during lunch, under the oak tree, at school and even in the middle of the night using a flashlight. That was the beginning of her dream - her dream to pursue a career in painting, to become the next famous figure in the history of art.

She was good, very good actually, but she wasn't good enough.

"We're here." Danny's voice jolted her awake, she unbuckled her seat-belt and the two of the got out.

The market wasn't crowded - a few stalls open here and there, but nothing as crazy as it used to be. A large blue banner hung in between two poles that read; BIRKSHORE'S MARKET, signifying the entrance.

"Hey you-" Danny cut off, as he suddenly squinted at one of the market-stand ahead.

Charise took a closed step to her brother, trying to see what he saw, but she there was nothing peculiar that caught her eye.

"What is it?" she asked, continuously trying to figure out what was so captivating.

"See that man in a blazer and red collar shirt?" 

Charise nodded, "Uh-huh."

"That's Jason Sawyer, one of the rich 'neighbours' mum was telling you about."