English 8, Lesson 108 – Chapter Eight: Connor’s Life

Connor woke up to the sound of Fiona getting ready.  Usually he wakes up just in time to say goodbye to Fiona before she went to work.

“Good morning Fifi.” Connor said sleepily.

“Morning.” Fiona responded, clearly distracted by something.

“Are you leaving for work already?” Connor asked.

“Mhm, I’ll see you tonight!” Fiona said, kissing the top of Connor’s head before leaving the room.

Connor sighed.  She always left earlier than she needed to.  He got out of bed and changed out of his night shirt and into his day clothes.  When he went into the dining room he smelled breakfast. 

Pancakes!

Connor greeted Mrs. Moorcock and Finn when they joined him in the dining room.  By now, Connor was used to the routine in Mrs. Moorcock’s house.

After breakfast Connor and Finn would do math all morning, then break for dinner.  After dinner the boys would do some writing, once they finished that they were allowed to read or play until suppertime, when Fiona would come home.

But since it was Saturday, the boys didn’t have school.  During their days off the boys would go outside and play tag or toss a ball to each other.  Sometimes the local school boys would play with them.  They recognized Finn from when he used to be in school and tried to be nice to him, but Finn couldn’t handle their rough nature.

Connor was quite happy with his new life and his new routine, but he missed his old one.  He knew how happy Fiona was, and didn’t want to stop her from being happy, but she never spent time with him anymore.  She didn’t even stay at home unless to eat supper or sleep.

He missed the long talks they would have before bed, and the stories she would read him every night.  He missed their writing lessons and when they would run around in the fields, tracing patterns into the soil.  Father always tried to not plow away the design, saying that he will not destroy his children’s “art work.”  Playing with Finn was fun, they were basically brothers now, but it wasn’t the same as playing with Fiona.

Mrs. Moorcock said that Fiona was becoming a young lady, and that she didn’t have as much time to play with Connor.  He understood that, but he didn’t understand why she couldn’t put some time aside for him.  She did have some time, but she used that time to hang out with her new friends.

She was always with her new friends.

Fiona came back home late that night.  Once again, her friends had held her up.  Fiona had met Sarah’s older brother Sean.  She said he funny and energetic.  It sounded like Fiona liked Sean a lot.  Fiona invited Finn and Connor to go to a picnic with her friends the next day.  Mrs. Moorcock said that the boys could go if they wanted.  Finn said yes, so Connor did as well.  Connor wanted a picnic with just him and Fiona, but this was good enough.

The next day Fiona brought the boys to a small park overlooking town square.  Everyone brought biscuits, fruits, and tea sandwiches.  Apparently Sean had stolen them, which made Sarah scold him.  Connor didn’t like Fiona’s friends.  Sean was too loud, Sarah was too motherly, and he just didn’t like Bridget.

When the sun started to set the group dispersed and went back home.  Sean, Sarah, and Bridget went back to town, while Fiona, Finn, and Connor headed to edge of town, back to the apartment.

While Fiona bathed Connor read his book.  He was reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.  The book was quite hard for him, so Mrs. Moorcock always read to him.  But he wanted to try it by himself that night.  It was hard for him, but he managed to get through three pages.  That was an accomplishment.  Last time he could only read one page before getting tired.

“Fiona look I read three pages!” Connor said excitedly when she came out of the bathroom.  He was waving the book for her see, but she didn’t even bother to look at him.

“That’s great Connor, time for bed.” Fiona said distractedly.  Connor sighed.  Why would she care anyways?  It’s not liked she paid attention to him now days.

Connor said goodnight and went to bed.  He stretched out his toes to meet the warm stones at the foot of the bed.  He found the warm stones as a luxury.  Back in Ireland the only cure for the cold was extra blankets.

As he was falling asleep Connor heard the scratching sound of a pen.  When he looked up, he saw Fiona writing a letter.  Without him.  Connor’s eyes welled up with tears.  Writing letters to their parents was always something they did together.

Fiona didn’t seem to need him anymore. 

The next morning Connor woke up to no one next to him.  Fiona must have left early for work.  He was used to this by now, but it still hurt.  Brushing it off, he decided to show Mrs. Moorcock and Finn his book.  He knew that they would be proud of him.

“Mrs. Moorcock! Look! I read three pages by myself!” Connor exclaimed, showing her the book as he ran into the dining room.

“Very good Connor!” Mrs. Moorcock exclaimed happily. “Soon you’ll be able to read it all by yourself!”

“Good job Connor.” Finn praised him in his quiet manner. “Did you show Fiona?”

“She didn’t care.” Connor said grumpily.  Finn frowned, but didn’t say anything.

“I’m sure she cared dear.  She was probably thinking of something else.” Mrs. Moorcock said sympathetically.

“She’s always thinking of something else.” Connor muttered under his breath.

That day Connor finished school early, and had some free time before Finn got out of school.  So he decided to write a letter to his parents, by himself.

Dear Mother and Father,

How have you been? I am sorry for not writing in a while.  I miss you so much.

I am learning arithmetic in school and reading Pride and Prejudice!  Mrs. Moorcock says that the book is very advanced, and that it is surprising I can read it at my age. I think that means I’m a genius.

I hope you can join me soon.

Love,

          Connor

Connor slipped the paper into the envelope and stuck on the stamp.  He wrote both addresses and put the letter on the vanity.  That afternoon, when Finn finished school, Connor would ask him to go to the post office with him.

Finn had finished school an hour later, and Mrs. Moorcock let the boys go out.  Connor had no idea where the post office was, so he let Finn lead the way. 

The boys had a splendid time that afternoon.  Mrs. Moorcock had given them some money, and they used it to buy hot potatoes, perfect for a cold winter’s day.  When they reached the post office Finn showed Connor which slot to put his letter in.  Finn also showed Connor the telegram office.  The boys found it fun to watch the people work.  Connor noticed how Finn’s eyes glazed over, and how his fingers started twitching slightly. 

When the boys got home Fiona was already there.  That was strange.  Fiona never came home this early.  It seemed like she was in the middle of a conversation with Mrs. Moorcock.  The boys decided to leave them alone and went to the study to make paper airplanes.

After a little while Mrs. Moorcock called the boys to dinner.  Which they responded by yelling okay and racing down the hall.  That night they were having tomato soup, Finn’s favorite.  Connor thought tomato soup was okay, but he preferred butternut squash soup.

“What are you doing home so early?” Finn asked Fiona when he sat down at the table.

“Mr. Johnson let everyone leave early because of the storm coming.” Fiona said.

“What did you two do today?” Mrs. Moorcock asked.  Finn and Connor went into an excited explanation of what they did.  Connor gave Fiona and Mrs. Moorcock a very detailed description of the potatoes they had gotten in hopes of making Fiona jealous.  It seemed like she was thinking of something else, as usual.

That night after dinner the temperature had dropped quite drastically, making the apartment extremely cold.  Mrs. Moorcock offered to share her room with the children since it had a fireplace.  She had also invited the servants, but they insisted they were fine in the left wing.

The children accepted Mrs. Moorcock’s offer and piled into her room, bringing their blankets and pillows.  Fiona and Connor brought their old blankets from Ireland, which looked so drab compared to the gold, pink, and blue blankets from the other rooms.  Mrs. Moorcock’s room had a light pink theme.

“Mrs. Moorcock told me you don’t think I care about you.” Fiona said quietly, while setting up a bed made of blankets on the floor.  Connor pouted slightly, he didn’t think that Mrs. Moorcock would’ve told her about their conversations.  After a moment of silence Fiona spoke again. “Please remember I’m your older sister. I will always care about you.”

“You seem to care about your friends more.” Connor pouted.

“I don’t care about them more. You are always my first priority.” Fiona said.  Connor smiled a little, priority was his vocabulary word that day.

“We never spend time together anymore, and you always seem to be thinking about something else.” Connor said.

“I’m sorry, I will try to be more present and spend more time with you.” Fiona said apologetically.  Connor nodded and the two hugged.

“Also, don’t think I don’t see how you look at Sean.” Connor said slyly.

“Shut up!” Fiona laughed, punching Connor lightly.

Connor liked sleeping in Mrs. Moorcock’s room.  Fiona said it was like a sleepover.  Finn and Connor had never had a sleepover before and found the whole ordeal quite exciting.

That night, despite having a fireplace in the room, everyone needed five blankets and heated stones to get nice and warm.  It may have been cold outside, but inside Mrs. Moorcock’s luxury apartment, everyone was warm and happy, especially Connor.