The Wrong Daughter

by Dandy Smith

she will let Caitlin stay up half an hour later and, as she takes her sister’s hand and walks out into the summer sunshine, her parents’ warnings to stay inside are blown from her mind like dandelion clocks.

Wouldn't it just be dandelions? why dandelion clocks? what are dandelion CLOCKS?

They turn right out of the gate, then left onto the road that leads to the farm shop. They use the pizza money to buy sandwiches; thick, crusty bread, smoked ham and strong cheese. Next door, at the bakery, they buy rich, dark chocolate brownies and icy bottles of lemonade. They leave with their haul and race to the wildflower meadow. Here, among baby-blue forget-me-nots and bright bursts of yellow buttercups, they while away hours on sun-warmed grass. The summer stretches out before them, a blank canvas, waiting to be painted with possibility and adventure.

this is really a gorgeous setting description. it's so happy and peaceful. cue the murder.

The girls sit and make daisy-chain jewellery.

awww i used to do that!!!

The girls lie on the grass and gaze up at the milk-white clouds in the endless blue sky – they point out shapes they see: a leaping hare, a witch’s hat, a ballet slipper. If they knew of the horrors of tonight, or the savage reality of tomorrow, they would want to pause time, to burrow down into this warm, July afternoon. In this moment, they are young and carefree, their futures as organic and as wild as the meadow around them. And though they don’t yet know it, this is the very last perfect afternoon the sisters will share.

ughhh this makes me kinda sad.... the last delightful, carefree moment before hell on earth sets in. :(