Friday, September 21, 2012

Prologue

A/N
  Hey, everybody!
Nope, this isn't a new FF..., I'm still working on that.. [or, that is, I really NEED to work on that ~cough cough~]
[First, lem'me say sorry that the story is kinda... all on one side? For some reason, my email makes it like that... You see, I've been saving it on my email as a draft since I lost my flashdrive. xD]
But anyway, this is a story I've been working for the last several days. Well, obviously, the prologue to a story. It's completely different than the style I usually write in, so prepare for some... well, unusual-ness.
I've just recently read Pride and Prejudice [twice, actually, once to myself, and once out loud to my mom, both reading, in which, about the space of two weeks xD], and I absolutely loved the strange style Jane Austen wrote it in. At first, I didn't; I thought it was weird because I was used to something entirely different. Once I got over that, however, I enjoyed it highly! And I got the urge to attempt something similar. Hence, this story.
It's different, like I said, than usually, but hopefully y'all'll like it anyway :3
Please tell me what you think, and don't at all be afraid to critique!

And that's that!
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Have fun! 8]




  Hazel Chandler and her family were to arrive within the course of
the morning, an impossibly trepidatious thought for Mrs. Williams.
"Luke! My dear, never leave your books lying about so! You're going to cause
the death of me, falling over and splitting my head open! Do you so desire my end?"

"No, mother, of course not." Luke replied warmly.

"Well, I certainly hope not! Get them up, my dear, and prepare
yourself! The Chandlers aren't to be taken so evidently lightly! You
know how important they are; don't dawdle so!" Mr. Williams remained
quiet, reading his newspaper, as the youngest two Williamses, Mia and
Saffron, just a year apart, and neither of which older than seventeen,
dashed past in a frenzy to make something special of their appearances,
this being one of the few occasions they might actually meet with new
acquaintances. "Saffron! Mia! Watch where you're going, children! My
word, what is to become of me!"

"Yes, mother!" Saffron called out, "I'm so terribly sorry, but you see
I'm trying to look pretty... And I'm doing just for you! I know how 
important this is for you. I thought it would help if the Chandlers liked me."
Mia could hardly contain her giggle at her sister’s sly reply and disappeared
into another room before her mother caught sight of her mischievous grin.

"Aww, alright then, sweeties, just make sure you're on your best
behavior when the Chandlers do so arrive!"  She called after them.

    Thus, in this manner, so spent the early morning- Mrs. Williams
fretting, Mr. Williams avoiding, and two Miss Williamses fixing their
hair. Luke Williams was quite used to it after nineteen years of
experience. Hence, he remained quiet and attended to what needed
attending to as he thought about nothing more interesting than the
arrival of the guests they were to be keeping for a fortnight. The
Chandlers had written Mr. Williams a month before, requesting the
trouble of keeping them for thus time, for the city house in which they
generally resided was being updated with the newest... well,
everything. The Chandlers, consisting of a man, wife, single daughter,
Hazel, and son, Collin, were decided upon experiencing the country life;
and they, being none other than the richest guests the Williamses had
hence encountered, were imposing themselves with the knowledge of the
deepest wishes of Mrs. Williams to have such a renowned title for her
humble bed and breakfast, they would be taken care of with the utmost
civility... At least as well can be managed from a country home.

Day One

    The Chandlers were late. Fortunately, this suited Mrs. Williams
perfectly well, for she was able to finish last minute tidying to near
satisfaction; and the breakfast they were to serve, having turned into
lunch, had the addition of a third course. “They’re coming!” Mia,
giddy and frolicking about the house, shouted from the front-facing
parlor. “Yes, my dear, of course they are, just inform me when you see
them.” Mr. Williams muttered from behind his newspaper.

“Mr. Williams! Stand up! Stand up!” Mrs. Williams fretted, “They’re
just coming ‘round the bend! I can see their chaise. I do declare, it’s
as elegant as I ever would have imagined!” Mr. Williams sighed, and
reluctantly stood, not quite as agitated with excitement as the women
rapturously were. Luke Williams was of a like mind, although he was
rather more curious than his father.

     Mr. Williams considered the whole charade completely unnecessary,
as he personally saw the arrivals simply what they were- people, who
happened to have a lot of money. Mia and Saffron, on the other hand,
had similar expectations, both of which delighting in new company, and
therefore, new gossip. However, Mia was more interested in this than
her sister, for Saffron, unbeknownst to her relations, had other
schemes that were developing steadily. Mrs. Williams had the sole
thought of glory, praise, and lots and lots of money if the Chandlers
were good enough to talk to others of their society about her humble
bed and breakfast. Luke looked forward to new company and hoped to find
among them a similar mind, spirit, and, of course, one who must admire
books.

  "Here they are!" Mrs. Williams rushed to the front door and nodded to
Harris, the butler whom they had kept on for as long as she could
remember. He was an old fellow, but did his job well enough, and Mrs.
Williams rather enjoyed talking to him, for he was a good listener,
even if he was deaf.  Harris opened the door, admitting the Chandlers.

   “Oh! How quaint this is!” Mrs. Chandler, the leader and entrepreneur
of this vacation, strode into the room.  She was adorned in pearls from
bracelets to buttons to necklaces, and as elegant as she was, her
clothes were tight-fitting on her large form. Collin Chandler followed
behind her,  enormously physically different, considering his vergiform
appearance and modest vest. He seemed resigned to be there. Behind him
came Mr. Chandler, tall and broad, followed just a moment later by
Hazel Chandler in a simple gown and single loop of pearls around her
slender neck.

   “Welcome! Welcome, to my humble home, Mr. and Mrs. Chandler, Miss
Chandler, Master Chandler!” Mrs. Williams trilled and curtsied much
lower than entirely necessary. “This is my husband, Mr. Williams,” Mr.
Williams bowed his head, “And my daughters, Mia and Saffron.”  Mia
immediately curtsied and greeted them, but Saffron stared at Collin
Chandler until he happened to glance her way; She bowed her head and
curtsied, “Charmed… I’m sure.” She murmured quietly.
“And this is my son, Luke Williams.”

 “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“My,  my!” Mrs. Chandler babbled, looking about the room without the
least bit of forbearance. “Small, to be sure, but such a darling
atmosphere!”

“Of course it’s going to be small, Mother; it’s the country after all.”
Collin mumbled.

    Luke tried not to cringe at the incivility, and ceased
listening to the exchange between the Chandlers and his mother. His eyes
fell, staring into the distance and nothing at all. For a moment, he
stared at the quilt hung on the wall; and then his eyes roamed to
Collin’s face. His eyes were brown, a determined brown, like they
weren’t going to change color for anybody. His personality appeared not
to be as Luke had hoped for, but it was too soon to judge with any
accuracy. He would give him another few days before he really accepted
the dismal character.  Luke diverted his eyes, and, momentarily, 
they fell on Hazel Chandler. He started, realizing she was staring 
back at him. Her eyes were crystal blue, and intense. They 
widened at his look and moved hurriedly to another part of the room.


***

     Lunch was, without doubt, the most unusual Luke had ever had in
his nineteen years. Mostly he remained quiet, and watched, listened to
the visitors. One minute would invite Mrs. Chandler’s remarks on one
thing or another, with the next, his mother’s mutterings of humbleness,
and hoping for the most amiable experience for her guests. Soon after,
Mia would be asking anything and everything of city life, to Luke’s dismay
of such poor civility in new company. Collin mostly grunted, remarked
with displeasure on one topic or another, and obviously couldn’t wait to
 be rid of his current companions. Mr.Williams and Mr. Chandler got
on tolerably well; at least they talked to each other a bit, which was an
improvement, at least, for Luke’s father. The strangest part of it all was,
however, Hazel Chandler’s attitude and behavior.

   Luke, sparing a glance for her once in a while, curiously wondering
what she was thinking, noticed she hardly talked either, choosing,
instead, to focus on the two courses and rather observing the faces
around her. She didn’t appear shy, only interested, quiet, getting ideas of the
individuals just through their faces. He caught her, once or twice, looking
at him, yet again, with those severely intense crystal orbs.

   Trying to identify with her, Luke determined to attempt
light conversation, as she was sitting just across from him, and
whenever there was a lull, “I hope your journey to our town was an
agreeable one, Miss Chandler.” Hazel glanced up, a bit surprised at
being spoken to, and replied casually that it was perfectly adequate.
The silence lasted only a moment before Hazel’s mother gladly took upon
herself the burden of making conversation, “By the by, I’m sure your
town of Hemmingsworth must be absolutely quaint! I can only possibly wonder how
it will compare to our, dear city! Indeed, I shall enjoy a drive through it.”

With this, Luke went back to his lunch and remained silently with his
own thoughts.

***

   The day passed more quickly than even Mr. Williams would have hoped.
While they were lunching, Harris, the butler, took the Chandler’s
luggage up to their rooms; and after a bit more of the dreaded polite
conversation in the parlor, Mrs. Chandler proclaimed herself weary with
the traveling and all this meeting of new people. “Oh, my dear Mr.
Chandler, I’m suffering from the most dreadful headache! It must be
 from that trundling drive here. And such strange surroundings I’m not
at all used to! ” Luke’s mother immediately expressed concern, offering
to send for the doctor, but Mrs. Chandler wouldn’t have it, exclaiming
she only needed to rest.  She and her husband went upstairs, leaving
Hazel and Collin with the company of the Williamses.

   Silence ensued. “Master Chandler,” Saffron interrupting it, spoke,
“Perhaps you would like to see the grounds? We have a most lovely
forest nearby, and the pathways are overshadowed from the heat of the
day. I find it quite nice to walk along the paths and get away for a
while.” Collin blinked, but agreed, almost happily, that he would very
much like to be out in the open air. Luke wondered when it was that
Saffron had started liking the outdoors so much, but remained quiet.
Collin bowed and exited with Saffron beside him.

   Mr. Williams soon gave up, retiring to his room, never one for idle
chatter, and Mrs. Williams did her best to make conversation between
Mia and Hazel. The attempt didn’t last long, however, as neither seemed
at all interested in the other. After a bit, Mrs. Williams, sipping her
tea, seemed to stop altogether making any useful conversation.
Realizing the burden had fallen on himself, Luke tried to think of
something to talk about, but Hazle took the trouble herself, “To be
honest, I’ve been longing to ask, do you have a library I might use?”
Luke glanced up, a half-smile on his face.

“Oh!” Mrs. Williams, surprised by this question from the young lady,
“absolutely, Miss Chandler! Would you like me to take you, or…”

“I can show her, Mother, if you would like me too- Miss Chandler?”

She smiled, graciously, “I would very much appreciate it. Mrs.
Williams, I hope you don’t mind my slipping away?”

“No, no! You go right ahead and do what you like, my dear.” Hazel
curtsied, following Luke out of the room.

   Opening the door their small library, Luke and Hazel entered
silently. “Are you fond of books, Master Williams?”

He smiled, “Exceptionally. No one but my father and myself really enjoy
reading, and when it comes to Father, mostly he reads only the
newspaper. Our library was essentially gathered by the past generation
and myself.”

“A kindred spirit.” Hazel smiled at him, and turned, browsing the
shelves.

Luke, clearing his throat, “Well, I’ll let you read in peace, Miss
Chandler,” and exited the room.

***

   The remainder of the day passed in near silence. Mrs. Chandler
remained in her room all that day, with her husband taking her food
when the time came, having informed them that she was abed, still, with
her headache. Collin and Saffron stayed gone until dinner, only coming
back when entirely necessary, both in better spirits than the morning
had afforded. And when Hazel returned from the library, she requested
to take a few books to her own room, and was answered with a most
welcome yes, Mrs. Williams already hoping for a most excellent review
from the youngest Chandler.

   Retiring to bed, Luke pondered his guests, letting all his amiable,
civil, and gallant faces fall way to what he really thought of them. He
wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the lot of them, their family
being drastically different from his own. Except, that is, for Miss
Hazel, who seemed rather more interesting.
   It was a long while before he could let go of his thoughts, and drift off at last.

5 comments:

  1. This is brilliant! I can't wait to see where the plot goes. I love the style of this writing as well, since I adore books that are like this... It's a wonderful story so far, Sky! *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting :D i can't wait to read more :D

    and this IS a different style of writing, but i like it :)

    I will be waiting for the other chapters, so hurry up and write them! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG! THIS IS INCREDIBLE! I. LOVE. IT. Your style of writing is... Incredible, and beautiful!!!

    *shakes madly* I WANT TO SEE MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, It's brilliant, Skyril.
    It's so different from what I'm used to reading, but it's brilliant once you've got into the flow of reading it, and it works really well with your story, so far. :)

    I'd love to read some more, soon, and I'll be waiting for another chapter. :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well I do declare that I enjoyed this fine read rather thoroughly!
    *clears throat*
    Anyway, now that I have my past time speak out of the way...

    ... GIVE ME THE NEXT PART!!
    IT WAS AWESOME AND I WANNA READ MORE!!
    :D

    ReplyDelete