Post by kahlanselwyn on Apr 21, 2010 11:49:24 GMT -6
SHE LIVES IN A FAIRYTALE
SOMEWHERE TOO FAR FOR US TO FIND[/color][/font]
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STATUS:[/b] finished // WORD COUNT: 1300+ words[/color]
TAG:[/b] open // WEARING: hurr // CREDITS: icons from lj[/color]
NOTES:[/b] anyone can reply! 8D i need to get some kahlan muse out // THIS TEMPLATE is by A CUPCAKE LOVER ![/color]
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leaning her elbows onto the metal table in the midst of the slightly busy cafe, kahlan held her book open with one hand, propping her fingers against its pages as they fought to close themselves, and used her other hand to stir her frozen coffee with a blue straw. her brow furrowed slightly as her mind drifted through the land within the novel, so far away from where her body currently sat. she was whisked away with some knight and his princess in a world that was so different, and so much purer, than her own. she'd been in valkyrie for a while now, and she was enrolled in the university where she was currently sitting, but she didn't care much to get into the 'life' of the school. kahlan was perfectly content to sit by herself reading in the cafe. not that she wasn't an antisocial creature, because she wasn't, but she had no desire to fraternize with the young men and women coming and going currently. there were too many things on her mind, and only reading could erase her worries and replace them with a completely different world, however temporarily. as she flipped a page, placing the book flat on the table so she could hold it down as she turned, she took a long sip from her drink and glanced up momentarily to examine the view past the window where she was seated. if someone had asked her, she would have to admit that california was beautiful. it was hustle and bustle and riches just like new york had been, but it was a different type of the same thing. here, it was all beaches and sunshine while new york was skyscrapers and taxi horns bellowing around every turn. she had adored new york from the moment she'd set eyes on it when she was just a preteen.
the selwyns had a complicated life, and they had moved, literally, all over the world. after leaving - basically fleeing really - dublin, ireland, they had landed in new york for the briefest amount of time. that was when kahlan's love for the town had sprouted. when her father had forcibly moved their family to california soon after, kahlan had been furious with him. she could still remember that night, and an amused smile crept onto her face as she sipped her coffee and turned back to her book. "you're going to have to deal with it, kay. we're moving to california, and you're too young to live in new york on your own, so i don't want to hear anymore arguing." well, kyson selwyn had been wrong about a few things. yes, he took his family to california, but she was not going with them. she'd allowed him to package her up and take her to the sunny coastal state, but she had no intentions of staying. when she was only fourteen years old, she'd skipped out and run away, fleeing to the only city she'd ever loved: new york. he had been wrong about her being able to take care of herself. she'd bunked with her aunt who lived in the big apple, and kyson had been so furious he'd threatened to come and retrieve her "with a gun to her head if that's what it takes". in the end, his threats had been empty. he had always been more devoted to his mafia life and revenge to worry about his children. not that the man didn't love them, because he did, but his priorities were often in the wrong order. kahlan could see that, but others could not.
the sunlight flickered over her as the wind blew the green-leafed trees outside of the window which ran the length of the cafe's eastern facing wall. sighing quietly to herself and realizing that her thoughts had managed to seep in and interrupt her one escape after all, she closed the book gently and reached into her bag to withdraw the notebook she kept on her at all times. to her very heart and core she was a journalist, and she had been for as long as she could remember. always having a love for knowing the truth in a world so full of lies, she'd begun writing at a very young age. now she was in college for journalism, and she had yet to grow out of it. writing and reporting were not just hobbies to her: they were her way of escaping from the darker parts of life that threaten to cloud your vision with untruth. since childhood, kahlan had despised dishonesty, and her entire family knew it. even the members of her family who would willingly lie to one another were blatantly honest with kahlan. she just demanded honesty. even her older brother, and her rock, connor was honest with her when he couldn't even admit the truth to himself most of the time. part of her worries revolved around his personal issue happening right now, a huge deal involving the giovannis and some very sticky subject matter. connor had raped one of the gio girls and she'd gotten pregnant (kahlan had found this all out on her own after some research into the little black-haired boy she'd seen with violetta giovanni upon arriving in town). the timing just seemed too significant. her brother was doing research of his own, but kahlan worried silently for him. she knew the stress he would go through upon learning the truth, although he would never let anyone see it. the thought of being a father frightened him badly, or so she thought since she knew his mind better than anyone else, and when connor got frightened, he got violent. vivid memories of the night he'd told their father about the gun fight that had ended with violetta giovanni going free still stung at her senses and she had to look out of the window to resist crying. that had happened not long before she'd run away from home and connor had been succintly shipped away to ireland. she'd hated her father for that too. when she thought about it, she supposed she had daddy issues, but she didn't think about it often. out of all of the children in her branch of the family, she figured she was the one with the most issues with their father. asher probably ranked right up there with her, but she doubted even he hated their father as much as she did at times. her entire life had been a stream of patronizing and criticizing. she knew, somewhere deep down, that her father only reacted to her that way because she was his little girl - his only girl - and he wanted her to be a lady and not just another irish mob soldier like he wanted her brothers to be. but kahlan had wanted in on the crime life from a young age, and it had been kept from her. so she had a sore spot, and her attentions had been turned elsewhere. when her mother believed she was going to cotillion, kahlan had been sneaking out and researching about some local gang warfare or some neighbor who was rumored to have beat his wife. she could never be some prim and proper lady with nothing better to do than invite other women over for tea while her mobster husband plotted who he was going to bump off next in the adjoining room.
a smile crossed kahlan's pretty face as she watched the other students meandering around on the acres of land below her. she was her own person now. she was old enough to live on her own without having to run away from home, and she was finally comfortable enough to be close to her father again without threatening his life, and trust me, she could do it. turning back to her coffee, she sipped it quietly and ran her fingers down the spiral of her notebook. life was only just beginning here in california for kahlan selwyn, and she planned to make the most of it.
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