PROLOGUE
724 Words
"Grandma?" Called twelve-year old Olivia.
"Yes, my dear?" Magnolia answered, continuously brushing Olivia's long, dark hair.
"When is my papa coming back?" Olivia asked, as she played with the ivory doll her father has sent her as a Christmas present.
"As soon as he is ready." Her grandmother replied.
Twelve years ago, due to an unexpected incident, Charlotte, Olivia's mother, passed away from excessive bleeding during her birth. In deep shock of his wife's sudden passing, her father flees from Chester, leaving her in the care of Magnolia. And since then, he's never returned.
Olivia has lived all her life in the quaint town of Chester, a city in Cheshire, only with a dream in her mind: her father's return. Now, she's twelve years of age, but never had she once seen her father, nor had he seen her. Not even on portraits had she seen him, but her grandmother tells her that they look nothing alike for she inherited her mother's beautiful face. Although sometimes, Magnolia would see her father in her manner of speaking or her little gestures such as fidgeting and eating.
And as said before, Olivia possessed her mother's beautiful face, maybe that's one of the reason that her father never went near her, he was afraid of seeing his wife in his little daughter. She had this dark, long hair that flows from the roots of her head down to her waist. Her eyes were in the lightest shade of blue, Magnolia even quoted 'Bluer than the skies.' once. Her lips were in the color of a red rose, it was as if God plucked a petal from a beautiful red rose and placed it as her lips. Her skin was as white and smooth as a milk, it was delicately sensitive to touch.
But there were downfalls to her beautiful appearance, and that was her father's stubborn and mischievous attitude. For countless times, as Magnolia counted, how her granddaughter differed from the little girls of her own age in town. She inherited her father's free-spiritedness, his outgoingness and his aptitude to pursue anything that he's put in mind.
"Grandma!" Olivia called outback.
"Coming, dear." Magnolia replied, she knew that she'd be calling from the garden. Like her father, Olivia loved to spend her hours with a good book beneath the shade of a tree. "Oh my," She gasped. "it's very unladylike to climb trees, Olivia."
"The view is amazing here, grandma!" Her granddaughter replied. "Join me." She said, patting the empty space beside her.
"No, thank you, dear." Magnolia said. "But still, climb down from there, you might end up hurting yourself."
"No, I would not." She disagreed. "The tree is perfectly safe."
"Suit yourself," Magnolia turned around and opened the back door. "I guess I'll have to open the package that came from London just now." And she turned her head to Olivia.
"A package from London?" She asked excitedly. "Is it from my papa?"
"Yes." Magnolia replied. "And it is a very big package."
Olivia jumped down from the branches, which made Magnolia gasp loudly. "Oh!" She said. "I think this is the end of me."
"I'm alright, grandma." Olivia countered. "Calm yourself."
Then, she ran inside, faster than a blink of an eye. "Is it in the sitting room, grandma?"
"You know well where it is, Olivia." Magnolia answered.
When Magnolia finally reached the sitting room, Olivia was already clinging onto a beautiful red dress with gold ribbons and embroidery. "It's beautiful!" Olivia exclaimed. "Can I have this grandma?"
"Oh, I think the dress is meant for you, dear. And only for you." Magnolia said. "Now, why don't you try it on?"
"Alright."
A few minutes later and Olivia came running down the stairs. "Grandma, how do I look?"
Magnolia's eyes watered. "My baby's growing up." She stood up and approached Olivia. "And to think that only yesterday your mother was wearing a dress similar to your's. You look absolutely exquisite, darling, just like your mother."
"Really?" She gave her grandmother a tight hug.
"Yes, really." Said Magnolia who wrapped her arms around her granddaughter as well.
"I love you, grandma." Olivia whispered.
"I love you too, my darling." Then, Magnolia lets go of her. "Now, why don't we view the rest of the package?"
With a bright and warm smile, Olivia said. "Yes, grandma."
- Writer
