Happening Once Upon a Secret Confession

July 17, 1899

My eyes were found wandering today past the raspberries I was picking and into the dark woods where shadows danced. Mother told me never to go off the path, but the raspberries had all been picked and devoured by black birds so frustration and curiosity led me beyond the word down road. Eventually, I ended up in front of an abundant supply of fresh berries. Mother would be so happy with the amount and quality of them for her pie. What did it matter if I went off the path? No one would ever know. That was the least of my worries though. I knew what the darkness beyond those trees contained: suffocating sin that could drown a whole family in its wickedness and shame. When Emilie Norington, a vibrant and beautiful woman married to the Captain, emerged from the shadows with a man in her arms, who was not her husband, a shiver ran down my spine. I slouched low to the ground - still peeking from behind the branches. The man turned and I finally saw his face. My stomach flipped and turned. It took all of my strength to prohibit myself from vomitting. This couldn't be happening. That face was the face of the man who cooed at me as he held my fragile body in his arms seventeen years ago, the man who bandaged my sprained ankle, the man who taught me how to put a worm on a hook and cast. The man who threw all of that away for momentary pleasure with a woman who was not my mother. Father doesn't seem like the appropriate name to call him at this point and all of a sudden raspberries seemed to be insignificant. I am now forced to keep a secret that isn't my own.

Looking for answers, Annie.

 

September 30, 1899

Ever since that hot, sticky day in July, I have returned to that same patch of raspberries depite how it sickens me. No matter how sweet the berry, I can still taste bitterness. I couldn't even indulge in the pie Mother made that evening. "It's your favorite, dear. Why won't you have a piece?" she questioned. I could barely manage a shrug before I jolted out of the house into the pasture where I could release the tears with no judgement. When he came home I couldn't bear to look at him knowing what he did and knowing what I'd seen. Weeks passed with no change to my avoidance of him. Finally, today, he asked what was going on and before I could respond he began to understand. The raspberries revealed it all. He begged me not to tell. He pleaded for my loyalty which  was ironic since he threw all of his away. I wouldn't tell Mother ... at least not yet. As much as she deserved to know, she deserved a family as well as I. I couldn't throw that away. Unfortunately, I take after my father. Who knows what the future holds?

The truth has been confirmed, Annie.

 

December 7, 1899

The Captain is an intelligent man. Everyone knows that except for his wife apparently. Late nights, constantly gone, absent and wandering eyes - he knew something was going on. He assumed she was having an affair, but had yet to figure out with whom and when he did ... the captain is an intelligent man. He would find out and my father knew that. He left today. He never even said goodbye. When my Mother and siblings wonder, how could I not tell them? They deserved to know. I haven't decided if telling them was the right decision. Like my father I helped tear our family apart, but unlike him I told. Honesty came from my Mother's side. I even told her about leaving the path.

Moving Forward...

Annie