Spirits of the past (fem!LietXPolandXRussia)

[FreakyJingles]

Spirits of the past

… The last rays of sun had long left the Earth, and the trees were already clad in white dresses. The sky was dark and the moon was shining brightly, and the soft wind was forcing the snowflakes to dance that night. Yet another Chirstmas Eve was to be spent alone by Rūta, in misery and grief. You see, her parents had died when she was little, and her grandmother, whom she had lived with, had passed away a few years ago. Having no other family left, and being thoroughly disappointed in others, Rūta had already gotten used to spending the holidays alone.

The living room was decorated lightly, just enough for one person to feel the Christmas spirit. There were 12 meals on the table, just as the tradition dictated; everyone’s favourite poppyseed milk was in a heavy glass jar, kūčiukai laid nicely in a woven basket alongside many fish dishes. You may think it was too much for one person, and it truly was, but, you see, Rūta was not the one to disobey traditions. Next day, she would hand out the food to poor and homeless, and none of it would go to waste…

… As the clock hit midnight, Rūta was sleeping peacefully in her humble bed, when the unlit candles in the living room lit up on their own. Of course, it was not enough to wake up the young lady, but she just so happened to be partially awake. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the weak glimmering of light coming from the other room, and, captivated by curiosity and the thoughts about Christmas miracles running through her head, Rūta carefully made her way to the living room. There, not that surprisingly, she saw the spirits of her deceased grandmother and grandfather, whom she didn’t know when he was alive, sitting casually around the table and enjoying the food.

The grandmother noticed her grandchild standing in the doorway, and calmly gestured her to come closer. When she was seated at the table, grandmother pointed to a small package near the Christmas tree, wrapped up in brown paper, no bigger than a notebook. Rūta carefully unwrapped it, and a small book fell out. It was old, the pages were already yellow, but the smile on her grandmothers face told her all about it: it was her diary, the only possession of her grandmother’s she hadn’t been able to find. Young lady quickly opened it and fell into the fascinating world of the past…

“When she was 18, Lina, that was the name of Rūta’s grandmother, met a handsome young man Felix from Gaujauchizno village during one of the holidays held at her neighbor’s, and on the riverbank of Limšius, near the old birch, during the sunset they swore each other eternal love. Secretly like this they dated for a few years, meeting each other in parties and church.

Felix danced only with her, and had even bought her a headscarf, so white and printed with fine heads of forget-me-nots, all the village girls envied her. Lina cared for it a lot and wore it only on holidays.

One day Lina decided to tell her stepmother about Felix, because she didn’t have her mother anymore. She left Lina just after her birth, according to father, she didn’t recover from her hard labour. There used to be her three brothers, but they quickly left this world and went to their mother.

So, from the moment Lina told her stepmother about her joy, began her life full of tears and misery. Stepmother didn’t want to listen to her and told her about an old rich bachelor living in Kairiškiai village, who can’t find himself a wife, for all of the girls aren’t worthy of him. But Lina just might be. He then would not only support Lina financially, but also stepmother’s five sons would be supported and he would even give the stepmother a first-calf heifer. No matter how much Lina begged her stepmother not to marry her off to the person she didn’t love, it all fell on deaf ears. Young lady asked her father for help, but he only smiled sadly and scolded her that she would end up homeless if she married a poor man, and told her to listen to the stepmother.

A week later, matchmakers came and took Lina away to the man whom her stepmother had found. Young lady didn’t have time to tell her dear Felix about her misery, and when he found out, he came to her parents, but it was already too late.

Living with a man, thirty years older than her, grandmother wasn’t happy. Every day and night she kept thinking about Felix, and no matter how hard she tried to get rid of those sinful thought, her poor soul could not. She stopped talking with her stepmother, and got rid of her anger at the father only when he apologized after seeing his daughter’s pain.

They didn’t live long, and had no kids. Nine years later, during a very cold winter, a few days before Christmas Eve Ivan went to the city to do some business, and had to come home late at night, but horses came back without the driver. Ivan was laying down in his sledge. People said, that he maybe froze to death on the way home, or maybe his heart stopped.

After burying her husband, Lina was left alone. She cared for her home and property, when one day at church she met her beloved. Felix hadn’t gotten married, because he loved Lina very much, and now they could live together. Without any wait, they registered with witnesses, and lived happily ever after. Living together, they had a daughter, Rūta’s mother, to whom grandmother never told about her life.”

After closing the book, Rūta looked up and saw nothing – the spirits of her grandparents weren’t there. Not sure if it was just a dream or a reality, young lady felt grateful. She understood that maybe her life wasn’t going so bad. She stood up abruptly, went out to her balcony and, smiling broadly, greeted the Christmas Morning, all the while thinking about the Spirits of the past and their miracles…


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXPLANATIONS

* Poppyseed milk: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy_milk
* Kūčiukai: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%AB%C4%8Diukai
* 12 dishes (meals): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-dishes_ ... Eve_Supper
* This fanfic is written based heavily on the Lithuanian history and culture. If you have any questions about Lithuanian things you don't understand, feel free to ask.