Cherish (Open/ Casual)

[bri2]

Alice twisted her hands together around the flowers she held. Her normal happy face held nothing but worry and sadness. She tripped lightly over the pebbles that tumbled on the cemetery pathways. She always felt nervous when she came to visit him. He had been her light, her happiness, her hero, so it hurt her deeply when all she could look at was a dark patch of cement and a head stone. She had loved him so much, and it felt like a piece of her was missing.

She kept walking as she counted the head stones till she got to 25. She turned and looked at the plot and read the words inscribed into it.

Alexander Liddell~ A Good Man, A Great Father.

Alice knelled next to her fathers grave and set the flowers down with shaky hands. She brought her knees up to her chest and rocked back and forth slowly.

"Hi Daddy, I know it's been a while, I've been busy with Julliard and Mama and dancing. I...I just couldn't come. Daddy I....I miss you."

Alice tightened her arms around her knees as she started to cry. She had never been good at visiting his grave. Her face pressed against her knees and she let out heart wrenching sobs.

[HOLLY UROR]

A ten year old wandering a graveyard unaccompanied would have ordinarily been a cause for concern. But then Holly Uror was no ordinary ten year old. It just so happened that, every so often, when she had little else to occupy her, she would be allowed to wander outside as far as the cemetery near her father's church (so long as one of her parents followed not too far behind to keep an eye on her).

Holly would occupy herself in the cemetery by tending to the worn and neglected gravestones, or simply reading some of them and wondering what the lives of the people whose headstones they were had been like. It was always quiet, tranquil...despite its generally perceived ideals of gloom, misery and death, Holly found she always felt at peace there... particularly since it was this graveyard where she first met Dahlia.

The young girl had been at work picking fallen leaves off a headstone, stuck to it with water from a recent rainstorm, when the sound of tears shattered her silence. Her childlike curiosity over-ruled her sense of respect and she moved closer the better to see just who was making such a heart-wrenching noise.

The woman was older than Holly and yet she looked so frail and childlike, arms around her knees, frame racked with sobs. Holly should have known not to approach, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.

She approached the sobbing figure and tentatively held out the crisp white handkerchief, embroidered with flowers, that she kept in the pocket of her dress.

"Here," she said, softly.

[bri2]

Alice jumped slightly as she heard someone behind her. She turned as quickly as she could without getting tangled up in her own legs. She looked at the girl standing there silently and the handkerchief that she held in her small hand. Alice looked her up and down with wide eyes that still poured tears down her face. She reached up and took the handkerchief from her gently.

"T...Thank you" she stuttered out past the waterfall of tears that flowed down her face, drowning the plants under her. She didn't want to get snot on the nice girl's handkerchief so she used it to lightly dab at the tears running down her face.

Alice would't admit it but deep down inside she was embarrassed to be caught crying. She was going to be this great adventurer and here she was at her fathers grave who died when she was 7. She should of been stronger then this. She should of been happy to talk to her daddy even if he was in his grave.

"Hi I'm Alice Liddell, who are you ?" she asked rather bluntly

[HOLLY UROR]

"T...Thank you"

"You're very welcome," Holly replied, with a small smile. She felt quite bad about interrupting this young woman's mourning, and felt somewhat abashed that she had responded with such kindness to her doing so.

"Hi I'm Alice Liddell, who are you ?"

Holly hadn't thought to strike up a conversation with the woman, nor had she imagined the woman would want to strike one up with her, considering her current position and Holly's rude intrusion. But the query had been posed, and it would be ruder not to answer.

"My name is Holly, Miss Liddell," the ten year old replied. "Holly Uror. My father preaches at this church," She gestured to the majestic building adjacent to the graveyard, unsure why she'd been compelled to mention this. Maybe it would make her sudden interruption seem more plausible, the work of a Good Samaritan, comforting others in their time of need.

[bri2]

Alice gave Holly a happy smile, "That such a pretty name!"

In fact Alice notice that everything about this girl was pretty, and it made her wonder why a girl like this was wondering around a graveyard. It was understandable that she would visit here, seeing as her father was a preacher. But in Alice's view no child should have to play in a graveyard. She should be out with other children of her age playing in a park or playground. Alice herself often went to parks and playgrounds to play with the children. It was nice for her to get away from her mothers demanding grasp and play with people who had no care in the world. Of course others of her age thought of Alice as a strange girl who needed to get her head examined. Alice knew what others didn't though, she knew that if you let the adult life take over your heart and soul, then you could never have fun. Her Daddy had taught her that she must always do what was in her heart and keep the youthfulness that filled her, for as long as possible.

At 22 Alice was still as much of a child as she was when he died.

"So Holly, why are you here in this graveyard, wouldn't you rather be playing with other children somewhere?"

[HOLLY UROR]

"That such a pretty name!"

Holly smiled and ducked her head, slightly embarrassed at Miss Liddell's great enthusiasm simply for her name. She herself had to admit she liked it and she felt it suited her, but to have someone who had no so long ago been sobbing her heart out complimenting her for it...it just didn't seem right.

"So Holly, why are you here in this graveyard, wouldn't you rather be playing with other children somewhere?"

The ten year old looked over her shoulder but couldn't see her father; he was the one looking after her on this particular journey to the graveyard. Having done this she turned back round to Alice and said, somewhat conspiratorially;

"It would be a nice change, I think. But mother and father always have to keep an eye on me...and they don't let me go to the play park. Not since..."

She stopped herself; she had never told anyone else about the incident that had spurred her visions of the past. She had gone too far.

"They...they just don't like it. They say its dangerous."

[bri2]

"...They say its dangerous."

Alice frowned at the girl in sadness. To be her age and not able to go out and have fun with others of her age...well it was something Alice couldn't imagine. As a child she had never really had many friends. Sure one or two that would be nice and hang out with her, but she had never had anyone that she was really close to...well she did but he moved far away without saying goodbye. And Jacob, well he didn't speak to her as much as they used to.

Alice decided that it was time for a change in the sadness around them. She got on her knees, her whole body vibrating with a bright happiness. She bounced up and down like an excited child and grinned at Holly.

"Well in that case, do you think they would mind if I played with you here?"

[HOLLY UROR]

When Alice frowned at her, Holly simply stared back at her. To the ten year old there was nothing all that unusual in what she had said, even though she was well aware her behaviour and the ways that were imposed upon her by her parents seemed strange to many.

"Well in that case, do you think they would mind if I played with you here?"

Alice's excitement should have been contagious, but Holly's worry remained. She looked over her shoulder again but, being unable to see her father, turned back to Alice with slightly less trepidation.

"I suppose they wouldn't, since we're here."