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Who Are You Fooling?
Peg looked at the ice rink, watching unnoticed from a distance, a figure in a cloak. She watched parents with their children, friends, and lovers skate by, the joy evident on their faces. The holidays had a certain magic for people who were close to people. Peg missed her brother desperately. She saw people she knew, friends maybe. Nel, Mira (both Miranda and Mirabella, she noted fondly), Cardinal. She knew they would welcome her to join, but she could not shake the voice, more ever-present now than it had been before that she was playing a dangerous game. These were good, kind people with hearts full of light and love. And she was just pretending.
She turned, heading back toward her dorm. She half hoped that Vera would be there in some mood that kept her from socializing just so they could hide from the world together. But the other half wished for her friend to experience the joy she deserved and hoped instead she was reveling in the event she would host in honor of Akmon.
She was both sad and relieved to find Vera out when she returned. Peg slipped into her room. She had a case laid out for traveling back to the estate for the holidays. Her parents were expecting her. She frowned, pushing closed the empty case. Without Deiter there, it hardly felt like home for the holidays. She also had a substantial pile of packages set out, waiting to be delivered. Gifts for friends at the holidays. Peg laughs hollowly. Who was she fooling? This was not the life meant for people like her.
She sat on her bed, looking across the room to Dolly on her shelf. That's who she had so that she was not alone. So that she couldn't hurt anyone. The room seemed oppressive to her now, the walls tight. Her gift this year would be to go. To find someplace for the destruction inside her.
Peg put on a traveling dress and packed a bag of essential gear. She looked at the case meant to go with her to her family. "I'm sorry, Father." She murmurs softly. Then she looked at the pile of presents.
She frowned softly as she realized she would miss Vera's party and the hunt she was to put on with Schatzi. She sat at her desk to pen a note. The memory of a dance and a gently squeezed hand flits across her mind and she tears the note. Instead grabbing her bag and leaving empty case and full packages sitting in her room. She pauses momentarily at the doorway before taking Dolly from her shelf and putting her in the bag.
Continue reading...
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Who Doesn't Like a Good Soiree?
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Peg's Playlist
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Memories in Rain
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Consequences
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Mother Knows Best
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Always Too Much
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The Early Days
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The Akmon Appreciation Society
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Who Are You Fooling?
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Pretending
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Grim Things
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Childish Make-Believe
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Failure
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Afraid to Die
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Loved Until
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To Trust Yourself
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A Normal Life
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Roses and Thorns
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Through a Glass Darkly, Part One
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A Little Better?
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The Younger Orlov Daughter
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Choices and Actions
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Through a Glass Darkly, Part Two
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Roses and Thorns Revisited
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Adventures in Avalon
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Home
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Eyes
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Of Bravery and Cowardice
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Heroes and Villians
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Scars and Gaping Wounds
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