i let it fall, my heart
and as it fell... you rose to claim it

England is quite well known for its horrible weather. The skies, during all months other than August, are dreary, grey, unappetizing to look at. During the winter, there was up to an entire meter of snow covering the grounds of the country.

Liverpool was perhaps the city that took the brunt of it all. Winter was always harshest there, at least it had been for the past few years. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing! Most of the children enjoyed the snow, for it meant they would get to sled and build snowmen!

Rhea Bishop was one of those children. On a bright morning in December, she hopped into her parents’ room with a great big smile on her face. Jumping onto their beds, she began to laugh and poke them, aiming to wake them up so they could go play with her! This was still the time when her parents actually cared about the young girl; before they became so closed off and cold.

Reducio

Morgan, yawning, cracked an eye open, a smile stretching across her face when she saw that it was her daughter jumping up and down on the bed. Incoherent words were sputtering out of the young blonde’s mouth, words that only a mother could understand.

“Calm down, love,” Morgan chuckled, sitting up in bed and taking a hold of Rhea’s waist. As the toddler shrieked in surprise, Morgan pulled her daughter towards herself and scooped her up into a hug. Rhea playfully writhed around in her grasp, but she was laughing, harder than she was before. Miraculously, Aaron was still fast asleep - or at least, he was pretending to sleep, mostly because he did not want to deal with his energetic daughter. It was too early!

“Mommy, I wanna go play in the snow!” Rhea wiggled out of Morgan’s tight grasp, so her face was just a few centimeters away from her mother’s. Morgan nodded, smiling widely.

“Whatever you want, darling. Give me a moment to get ready and out of bed, alright?” Rhea nodded and jumped off of her mother, landing on the ground. She was already prepared for the harsh weather outside - one of the house elves had helped her into her snowpants and large fur coats, and had pulled her hair into two pigtails! Tapping her foot against the ground impatiently, Rhea watched her mother pick out her clothes for the day.

“Mommy, why are you taking so long?” the little girl whined, crossing her arms and pouting. Morgan only chuckled.

“It’s only been 2 minutes!”

Rhea huffed in response and sat down on the ground. She wanted to save her energy for building snowmen, and thus, didn’t want to scramble back onto the high bed again. Sighing loudly again, loudly, Rhea cast a look at her mother, who was now heading into the bathroom. Oh, great. When Morgan Bishop walked into the bathroom, it meant that she would be there for the next half hour.

Quickly, the blonde toddler bounced up and ran to the bathroom door, managing to run in before her mother locked it. She grinned up sheepishly at Morgan, and although Morgan wanted to kick her daughter out of the bathroom, she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

“I’m almost done, Rhe-Rhe,” Morgan stated as she washed the fatigue out of her face. Drying her face off, she figured out a way to stall for some time without Rhea berating her. “Oh! Baby, what if you go invite your grandmother to play with us too? I’m sure she’d love to!”

Eyes widening, Rhea couldn’t believe she’d almost forgotten about her grandmother! Granny Stella was staying with the Bishops for the holidays, and Rhea was ecstatic! Stella was her favourite grandmother - mostly because her father’s mother scared her, and Rhea had only ever met the woman once. It wasn’t a fun experience.

“I almost forgot about Granny!” Rhea ran out of the bathroom, not saying another word, and made her way to the kitchen, where she hoped her grandmother would be. And sure enough, Stella was sitting on the green couch, knitting… a sweater, it seemed? With Rhea’s name on it!

“Granny Stella!” Rhea jumped onto the old woman’s lap, drawing a sharp exhale and a wheeze. “Oops, sorry.”

Stella shook her head, laughing. “Oh I don’t mind at all, sweetheart. Is there a reason you decided to jump on me and ruined your Christmas present?”

Rhea shrugged. “Do you wanna go play in the snow with me and Mommy? We’re gonna sled, and built snowmans, and make snow angels!"

“It’s snowmen, dear,” Stella corrected the toddler, and nodded. “I would love to! Is your mum ready yet?” Of course, Stella knew the answer to that - but she decided to ask anyway. Rhea huffed and shook her head, looking up at Stella with a pout.

“She takes foreveeer to get ready! I’ve been waiting for almost my entire life for her to be ready!” And the second she finished talking, a clearing of the throat caused Rhea to swivel around… and see her mum!

“Mommy, you’re done!” Rhea jumped off of Stella’s lap and ran to her mother, wrapping herself around her legs. “Okay, let’s go let’s go let’s go! The snow’s gonna melt soon!”

Reducio

Then she detached from her mother’s foot and ran to the front door, attempting to throw it open. She kind of succeeded - and then ran to the lawn, jumping straight into the snow! There was a meter of snow already there, and Rhea revelled in it.

Morgan watched Rhea run around the lawn, her feet making a loud crunch with ever step she took. A soft smile present on her face, Morgan turned to look at her own mother. “Look at how happy she looks.”

Stella nodded, pulling on her own winter coat. “Where’s Aaron?”

Morgan’s smile slipped off her face, and she wrapped her arms around her waist. “He came in late last night,” the young woman whispered, not meeting her mother’s eyes. “Said it was work, but…”

Stella grumbled and grabbed her daughter’s shoulders, spinning her around so they could make eye contact. “Morgan, you know he’s not good for you. Why do you stay with him?” Stella truly did not what to say to her daughter. She could see how much Morgan suffered everyday, knowing that Aaron was out and about every night.

Morgan shook her head, indicating that she did not want to talk about it. Rather, she changed the subject, turning back to look at Rhea, who was now rolling snow in a big ball to make a snowman. Looking up, the toddler waved at the two women, as if telling them to ‘get a move on!’ “Let’s go,” she whispered to her mother, the smile growing on her face once more when she looked upon her daughter.

Dropping the subject, Stella cast a last look at her daughter and shook her head. Maybe one day Morgan would see the light and dump Aaron’s ugly ass for someone who actually deserved her. As she walked towards her granddaughter, Stella turned around and looked in the general direction of Aaron’s bedroom. She saw moving around, but what he was doing, the old woman wasn’t sure. Deciding that he wasn’t worth her time, Stella picked up her pace and picked up a wad of snow, packing it into a ball and throwing it… at Morgan! A shriek sounded from her and she swiveled around, picking up her own snowball and throwing it at Stella. Soon, a full scale snowball fight started.

Shrieks, laughs, and screams rang out throughout the entire courtyard. Three girls could be seen running around, screaming and pelting each other with snowballs. It was a sight to be seen.

Neither of them could have guessed that Stella would die within the next three months. Why? The cause of death was pinned on old age, but perhaps it was something more. No matter, though. Though everything would soon begin to go wrong, it made no sense to dwell on the future. Better to focus on the present, always.

“I’m gonna get you!” the scream could most likely be heard all around the neighborhood, and the following splat was almost as loud as well. Laughs erupted all around, and soon, the three collapsed onto the snow, exhausted.

It was a good way to spend the morning. Rhea almost didn’t care that her father wasn’t there, playing with her. She had her mother and aunt, and that was more than enough.