Fool Me Once

Alfred felt like every way the family turned it was one thing after another, and there was little he himself could do to help, beyond being an ear or a shoulder. When the news hit that Frankie was no more, it took everything that Alfred had to keep his own shit together so that he could be there for the family. It was usually fairly easy for Alfred to stuff his own feelings down and be there for theirs, but Frankie was like a son to Alfred and that made it all much harder.

Initially when Alfred went to speak to Adaria, she wasn’t where he’d expected her to be, though he’d looked after Frankie enough in his lifetime that finding Adaria was no real challenge. When he finally spotted her in a tavern. Suddenly it hit him hard what he was about to do. He took some deep breaths to steady himself. Fuck it was hard. She looked so, he wasn’t sure the word he wanted, only that she’d yet to hear the news, and her life would change forever once she did.

He moved through the crowd, not really paying attention to who he might be bumping into as he made his way to Adaria, once there, he heard the words that escaped her lips and sighed. He tried to be funny but it was hard living under the weight of the news he was about to give, but he didn’t know how else to break the silence between them.

And what about the other villagers that live there. He tried to smile, but it just wouldn’t come, the omen of bad news etched on his face, in the way he carried himself. It would take a fool not to notice something was wrong.