Title: Fur Elise
Author: ILH, aka Melissa
Series: 2/? in the "Harper's sister" series, beginning with Harper's Tradition.
Rating: PG
Summary: While he's a boy on Earth, Harper has a decision to make...
Fandom: Andromeda
Disclaimer: Andromeda is property of Tribune.
Author's Note: This is the first of a few glimpses into Harper's and his sister's life on Earth. The stories will be done chronologically, starting with Harper at age fourteen and ending shortly before Harper leaves Earth. This is slightly AU, since Earth was probably in a condition much worse than people having shops and buildings they could call a home.
Fourteen-year-old Seamus Harper pushed his way through the crowd of unsavory figures. He glanced at the cracked pocket watch that he hid in the interior of his loose dark jacket. Its numerous layers of fabric had made it simple to sew in an additional pocket that wouldn't be noticed. Working machines or parts of any type were high-priority for thieves, so Seamus carefully concealed the pocket watch he had returned to working order himself.
"Four minutes," Seamus mumbled to himself and increased his pace.
Seamus' destination, a dilapidated gray brick building, came into view. Its single display window was covered with black metal bars, as was the door. Upon arriving, the winded boy pressed his face against the bars of the window. He attempted in vain to peer through the grime-laden glass into the building's interior.
"Oh, Seamus! You know that you can't see a thing through that window," a familiar voice with a thick German accent commented. "Come inside."
Seamus turned from the window toward the tall and lank middle-aged shopkeeper with graying hair. He beckoned Seamus inside the shop and patted the boy on the back as he walked through the door. Once both were safely inside, the shopkeeper locked the door.
Seamus glanced around the shop at tables containing a hodgepodge of items, from mechanical components to dusty books to used toys. "What've you got this week, Mr. Kessler?"
"Let's see...I have those transistors you wanted in the back." Kessler exited into another room through a creaky door.
Seamus hid his excitement at the thought of completing his projects. He only needed the transistors and a bit of spare time to make the final adjustments. A simple computer, a communications radio and a couple of small machines to sell to make money for new parts would be the result of over a year of difficult work.
Seamus' hyperactive nature began to show as he paced quickly around the shop. "Well...since I'm here, I might as well look around." He stopped moving for a moment and took the opportunity to scan the various items scattered on the shop's tables. Nothing caught his eye until he saw an engraved wooden box with colorful painted glass flowers embedded in its lid. He carefully picked up the box and lifted its lid.
The box began to play a dulcet melody. Seamus examined its interior while the music played. Fading vermilion velvet lined several small compartments. A small oval mirror on the inside of the lid reflected the dirt smudges on Seamus' face and his unruly dishwater blond hair.
"She'd go crazy over this thing. I wonder how much it is..." He turned the box upside down and found its price was slightly less than the transistors he had come to buy. "Stuff like this is hard to come by. It's not gonna be here if I come back in a few months. And her birthday's tomorrow..."
The distracted boy didn't notice Kessler's return until Kessler said, "I have the transistors, Seamus."
Seamus scrambled to return the music box to its former state on the table and pretend he had been looking at a couple of machine parts next to it.
Kessler flashed the small metallic transistors at Seamus. "Nice, aren't they?"
"Well, yeah, of course. But actually I've gotta go. Don't wanna get mugged with hot commodities on me, y'know," Seamus babbled. "But hold 'em in the back for me until tomorrow?"
"Certainly." Kessler chuckled.
Seamus unlocked the door and sprinted out of the shop, quickly submerged in the crowd again.
"I'd say I have a lovesick little boy on my hands." Kessler smiled at fond memories of his own childhood as he locked the door behind Seamus.
***
Seamus' sprint had slowed down to a quick walk. He tried in vain to clear his mind as he walked in circles around the block. The debate between transistors and the music box raged in his mind. "I've been wanting those transistors for months, and I've done everything short of selling myself as a Niet slave or Magog chow to make that cash," he said aloud to himself, "but birthdays only come once a year. And I promised myself I was gonna make this one really special for her."
He sighed as he neared his home again, not wanting to stop. "Well, I'll pick up something to eat around the corner, and then I'll head home."
He approached the endless line in which humans like him waited for a scrap of stale bread or cup of cold soup, if they could even get that. Waiting didn't suit Seamus so he snuck through the line, one of the advantages of his small size. Within an hour, he was at its front.
A hunk of bread half the size of his small fist was thrust at him.
"This is all I get?" Seamus muttered, his aggravation evident.
A strong intimidating man grunted and pushed him away from the line. "You'll be damn lucky to get that much tomorrow, ungrateful little bastard!"
Seamus sighed as he stuffed the bread into one of his jacket pockets and scurried away. "I hope Elise isn't too hungry today..."
He walked to the plain brick building that he called home and looked around for anyone watching him. When he was satisfied that he was alone, he unlocked and opened the door. He quickly slipped in and locked the door behind him. He turned to face the dark, cement-walled, musty room. A small controlled fire burned in a bowl acting as a candle in the room's center. A tiny form was curled into a fetal position next to it.
"Shay?" the quiet voice of a young girl asked. She shifted into a sitting position.
"Yeah, Lisey, I'm home." He sat down on the floor next to her.
"Is it time to eat yet?" Elise asked. "I'm hungry."
"Yeah. I got something for us." Seamus pulled the hunk of bread from his jacket pocket and ripped it into a large piece and a small piece. He gave the large piece to Elise.
She began to devour the bread. "Shay, can I go out with you today?"
"I've told you before - it's too dangerous."
She swallowed a bite of food. "Pleeeeeease..."
He rolled his eyes. If nothing else, she was persistent. "No."
She paused. "How come *you* get to go out then?"
"We've been over that before, too. I'm the big brother, and you're the little sister."
"No fair! Why can't I get to be the big brother sometimes?"
Seamus laughed. "How about you tell Moppity a story?" He lifted a tattered rag doll from the floor and handed it to Elise.
"I'm going to sing him a song instead! What song do you want to hear, Moppity?" she asked the rag doll. "Oh, you want to hear the spider song?" She began singing and moving Moppity around to her song.
Seamus frowned and pushed himself to his feet. He felt an uncontrollable urge to have some time to himself to think. "I'll be back in a while. Be good, okay?"
Elise simply nodded with a smile as she continued playing with Moppity and singing.
Seamus abandoned his usual cautious manner and hurried outside. The sudden blast of icy air caused him to shiver. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting shadows and a golden violet glow over the area. Winter nights in Boston weren't safe for humans. Even if one managed to avoid the Nietzscheans and Magog, frostbite and hypothermia were inevitable.
"I'll just walk around the block once," Seamus assured himself as he walked down the eerie, vacant street. He stuffed his hands into his jacket, fingering the money he had. "Maybe I can have both. Make some extra stuff with the transistors and sell it...but that takes time, and I've only got until tomorrow."
He circled the area slowly twice. The setting sun had fallen completely beyond view, and the air had grown much colder. "Since I'm already halfway there anyway, I've gotta go and do this now before I change my mind," he decided.
Fear and the temperature were beginning to affect Seamus' mind. His eyes darted back and forth in paranoia, watching for Nietzscheans and Magog in the alleyways waiting to emerge and kill him. His walk evolved into a life-or-death sprint through the streets.
"Remember to breathe," he muttered to himself, deeply inhaling the freezing air. "Keep moving and breathing, and you'll be just fine and dandy."
When the shop came into view, Seamus leaped at the door and began pounding on it. A small light and face peered from behind the curtain covering the inside of the door. The door was immediately unlocked, and Kessler pulled Seamus into the shop.
"What are you doing outside at this hour?!?" Kessler asked, a fatherly anger in his voice.
Through chattering teeth, Seamus replied, "I had to come back."
Kessler shined his candle over Seamus. The boy's face had taken a blue-gray tint, and he had melting frost in his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.
"You're turning blue!" Kessler muttered various curses in German as he grabbed a blanket from behind the counter and wrapped Seamus in it before locking the door again. "Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."
Seamus waited without moving or saying a word, only staring at the shop's tables.
Kessler returned with a mug of steaming liquid. "Drink this."
Seamus lifted a trembling hand to take the mug.
Kessler glanced at the hand and back at the mug before placing the mug at Seamus' lips himself. "Be careful. It's very hot."
Seamus sipped the broth slowly until none remained in the mug. It left an unfamiliar warm and full feeling within him. He remained silent as his skin grew pink with the flush of blood returning to it. When he stopped trembling, he asked softly, "Did you sell it?"
"The transistors are still in the back," Kessler said, "but you didn't have to come in the middle of the night to get them!"
"No, not those..." Seamus walked slowly, examining the contents of the tables. "I don't see it..."
"Oh! The music box," Kessler realized. "Let me see...I think I might have sold it to a woman that came in shortly after you left."
Seamus went over the tables three times each, lifting and moving every item. The music box was nowhere to be found. He sighed and tried to mask his disappointment. "You must've sold it."
Kessler found another blanket and cloth sack behind the counter and made a place on the floor. "You should stay here with me tonight. It's far too dangerous for you to go home now."
Seamus yawned and nodded. He agreed he was in no condition, physical or mental, to make the trek home.
"Good night, Seamus."
"Night, Mr. Kessler."
Kessler went into the back room and quietly closed the door behind himself.
Seamus laid in the makeshift bed on the floor. Although his body was exhausted, his mind wouldn't slow down. "I've gotta do something about this before tomorrow...gotta figure out something...can't let it happen again this year...I mean who knows if there'll even be a next year?" he whispered to himself sadly.
Seamus' exhaustion eventually overwhelmed his mind, and he fell into a restless sleep.
***
The creaking of a door roused Seamus from sleep. He groaned and wondered where he was. "The shop? What am I doing here?" he asked himself. A frown crossed his face when consciousness took hold, and he became aware of his situation again.
"Good morning, Seamus," Kessler said.
Seamus rose and folded the blankets. He handed the bundle to Kessler. "Anything you need help with today?"
Kessler thought for a moment before replying, "I do have some boxes to be unpacked."
"Lead the way to the boxes."
Kessler pointed to a pile of boxes in the corner. "I'll get the rest in the back room."
Seamus lifted the top box from the pile and placed it carefully on the floor. He opened the box and placed its contents, mostly ancient books in strange languages, on the table. "Can anyone actually read this stuff?"
"I can read some of it," Kessler said as he returned. "It's old Earth German."
"What about this?" Seamus asked, holding up a book filled with sheet music.
"Ah, a music book." Kessler examined the book from over Seamus' shoulder. "This music is by Ludwig van Beethoven."
Seamus accidentally dropped the book while he was flipping through its pages and leaned down to pick it up. A glimmer under the table caught his eye. "Hey! There it is!" He lifted the music box with a sigh of relief.
"Speaking of Beethoven..." Kessler took the box from Seamus and opened it. The beautiful song began playing. "This is Beethoven's music, one of his best pieces."
"What's it called?" Seamus asked.
"Fur Elise," Kessler replied.
"Fur *Elise*?" Seamus was obviously surprised.
"Yes. It translates to 'For Elise.'"
Seamus pulled the money from his jacket. "I wanna buy this."
"What about the transistors?"
Seamus shrugged. "Transistors aren't gonna cease to exist in the next few months."
Kessler laughed and took the money. "She must be really special for the little repairman and to give up his transistors."
"You could say that." Seamus grinned.
***
Seamus walked toward his home. He pulled out his key to unlock the door, but realized he had forgotten to lock it in the first place. Panic washed over him. He expected to see a bloody corpse with Magog surrounding it, or Nietzscheans laughing over their latest victim inside. He put his hand on the knob and opened the door.
Elise's tiny form was in the corner, unmoving. Nausea overwhelmed Seamus at the mere thought that she was dead. He closed and locked the door behind him. His heart raced as he slowly approached her, still noticing no movement. He slid to the floor next to her and nervously put a hand on her chest. It rose and fell in shallow breaths.
"Good," Seamus whispered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I wouldn't forgive myself if anything would've happened to you."
With a yawn, she rolled over and laid against Seamus.
Seamus was silent until his heart slowed, and he was calm. "Do you know what today is, Lisey?"
"Mhmmmm. I'm this many." She held up seven of her fingers.
"Yep. Guess what I have for you."
"Breakfast?" she asked hopefully.
He laughed. "Guess again."
"Show me!" she demanded excitedly. She sat up, still leaning against him.
He pulled the music box from inside his jacket and handed it to her.
"Pretty..." She shook it. "What's inside?"
"Open it."
When she opened the box, music began playing. A huge smile spread across her face. "It can sing!" She listened, mesmerized, until the song ended. "What's it singing?"
"I hoped you'd ask that question, my curious little Lisey. It's called Fur Elise."
"It's got my name!" She was ecstatic as she closed the box, wound the key and opened the box again. As the music played, she wrapped herself around her brother in a long embrace.
Seamus smiled. He knew that transistors could never come close to what this meant to both of them. "Happy birthday, Elise."