Anna practiced for the twentieth time. “JUST let me in?” No, no, not right at all! “Just let me IN?” Too… forceful? Well, wrong, anyway. It had to be perfect, and that wasn’t it.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjBQNwbj97
Another deep breath, start from the top. At least she’d figured out the words… last time, she’d stumbled, hadn’t even gotten to the end before being rejected. This time was it; it had to be it, right? Sometime, she’d come out, had to. And Anna would be right there for her.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBhv17tS5tl
“You’re my sister, and I love you more than anyone else in the whole world.” Panic set in… what if Elsa took objection to that? Too much? Could be, yeah… Elsa didn’t see people, she didn’t know what the world was like… For that matter, neither did Anna. How to say it?
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUvxRcMCZZ
They really weren’t supposed to let her into that corridor at all. After so many years of pleading, Elsa must have dreaded these days even worse. Last year, she’d asked Anna not to ask. The words were still dripping in Anna’s mind, very, very, clear in the utterly empty hallway. “Please, Anna, don’t ask me…? Please don’t ask me again?” Elsa had said. Just like that.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyO98qxLEw
Anna sat down in the portrait room, staring. They were all happy, all dancing, summer and picnics and dresses and family. Odd how this was the only room she went to when she was sad, and yet its crowded walls could only remind her of the empty hall above. Each of the portraits had a name now. A life story. A history within that painting, with the others too.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaJocUz085
That’s how many times she’d been into the portrait room. Often now, she snuck out from her gigantic silent room, and laid on a couch, looking up at Joan or Franz or Sam. Today, though, was not the day for sad thoughts: they encouraged her, cheered her on. It seemed like each one was more vibrant, more fully of happiness than before. Anna felt a burst of cheer in her heart.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLvxxwJJ2J
It fell again, as she remembered the last time. She was gonna go up again, with Elsa dreading it every moment, and ask the question just like before.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVERjOSjvW
Were the words right? Would she say it right when she got up there? Anna had choked before, lost her words pretty easily, to be honest. That’s why she practiced so much.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqhDg3Gbh4
This was it. The words were right, she’d practiced just how to say it. Every piece of inflection was just right. Today would be the day that door would open, and she would see her sister’s face again.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFQzlG67v4
Anna’s heart squeezed, just at the thought. It hurt, and her hands shook like an icy wind was blowing through the portrait room. Seeing her sister again. Hugging each other… maybe getting to talk about mom and dad. She’d finally have a shoulder to cry on, for the first time in her life. Another wrench in her heart, and Anna knew, just knew, that wouldn’t happen. The door wouldn’t open, and the she wouldn’t see her sister.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSqTTSI0nj
But she had to do it anyway.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapKGU25NhC
Deep breath. start from the top. Five knocks.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3otqk9S36
“Hey Elsa, it’s Anna. I really, really, love you. I’m sorry about talking to you again but I had to say that. Because you’re my sister, and I love you more than anything else in the whole world.” The words sounded right… so right! Anna could feel emotion pushing higher and higher inside of her. Elsa loved her, too… and that meant she’d open the door.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsi0b0ID7B
“I know it’s lonely in there, Elsa. But I don’t want it to be lonely for you anymore… I wanna come in and help you feel happy again. Please? Please? Just let me in.” Another deep sigh. Nothing. Even Anna’s words, every one true and right, hadn’t broken the ice. There was only one thing left. “Elsa… Don’t you love me back? Don’t you wanna build a snowman?”
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6M3aUvouMe
More silence. Anna sucked in a deep breath, tears dead on her face, and turned away. She’d failed again. Had she said it wrong? Maybe there were better words… there had to be. And she’d find them. Once a week, once a day, once an hour if it came to it, she’d go back up there, and she would get to love her sister again… Someday. Someday her sister would love her back.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6XnYyLWjK
*
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVPzpZyVDC
On the other side of the door, Elsa wept, tears crumpling up and freezing around her feet. Her hands jittered with emotion, and she screamed, as another burst of ice shot from each palm, leaving deep gouges in the wood. Elsa stood up with purpose, setting her hand to the doorknob. She’d had enough. It didn’t matter anymore, she couldn’t take hearing her sister hurting like that, in pain outside her door every day.
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG42Zztx5vX
Elsa quaked, sad for her sister. She lost control for just a moment, until a sharp crack brought her back to attention. The doorknob was loose in her hands, an inch-thick shard of ice stabbed deep into the metal. What if… what if she’d been holding Anna then?
751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1mTLFh6dk
Elsa practiced for the four hundredth time. “Conceal, don’t feel.” She had to be perfect, and she wasn’t. 751Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOF9bEOCEZN
