Stepsister

I never understood Ella,

She was an odd one, my sister-

Stepsister that is.

Mother despised her,

But I,

Pity was what swam in my eyes

Every time I looked at her

We never really got along,

Even when our parents married

And we became sisters.

Stepsister that is.

But when our father died,

She took it the hardest.

Her time of grief was long and deeply felt,

She still isn’t over it

Ella has become someone else now

Her body has become hallow

And a now a dark sadness controls her

Ever since fathers passing,

She talks to on one

Keeping mostly to herself

Although, on occasions,

I hear her mumbling and whispering.

To whom, I’m unsure,

But I have found a few dead rats

Strangled in colorful cloth.

Mother has tried to force her to socialize,

To be the daughter of the man she lost,

But Ella refuses.

Mother has given up on Ella,

No longer being a mother to her,

Barley even acknowledging her at all

I wish I could forget her like mother does,

But I just can’t find it in me.

She is my sister after all

Stepsister that is

I worry for her.

She used to sit in a chair

Alone, in a dark room

I would come in and open up the windows,

Show her the sunlight,

Try to talk to her.

But she never heard me.

Always in her own world,

Not caring of those around her.

Lately she does chores,

To busy herself, I think.

It distracts her from her thoughts

I think she is doing better,

Even though it’s been years since she’s been normal,

Just the other day when I passed her,

She smiled at me

Ella may be forever sick, but an old part of her still lives.

And I will always love her

She is my sister,

Stepsister that is.

Ella hardly ever left the house,

It was no different when

The rest of us went to a grand ball

I never really cared for dances,

But I came to please my mother.

But after only arriving I felt ill

And returned back to the house

When I arrived home,

I stepped out of the carriage and

The air felt quite and empty

That is, until I heard a faint sob,

It was Ella, lying on the floor crying

In her hands she clutched a

A beautiful piece of colorful fabric

I tried to ask what was wrong,

But she only stared at me.

“Did you,” I began

“Did you want to go to the ball?”

For a moment, I thought she would speak.

She only nodded and wiped a tear from her face.

I wasn’t sure what I was suppose to do,

But then a beautiful thought came to me.

I had been to many parties in my life,

And honestly I never cared for them.

They were more mothers’ thing,

But she never missed an opportunity to buy me a dress.

I took Ella to my room

And searched through my closet.

I didn’t stop until I found the perfect dress,

I pulled it out and showed it to her

She gave my the biggest smile I had ever seen from her,

I also grabbed a nice pair of shoes to match,

She loved them.

I quickly helped her get ready,

Making her look beautiful and almost normal.

The entire time, she never looked away,

It almost felt like she was meeting me for the fist time.

When I finished, we rushed outside

And I helped her into the carried I rode home in.

As I watched her climb in,

A thought accrued to me.

In this short time,

She had shown me more love than ever before.

I almost felt like a mother,

A Godmother perhaps.

I smiled at her and closed the door

“I’m staying her,” I said

“Will you be all right?”

Again she just looked at me and nodded.

I stood there and watch as she drove of and head to party,

Finally starting to live again.

It was then that I made a promise to myself,

I would forever love and take care of Ella.

No matter what I would always be there for her.

She was my sister,

Stepsister that is.