52 WFIBC - 02 - At Crossroads We Part

52 WFIBC - week 02
Prompt: desert like environment with sign saying 'danger' and a smaller one with a black painted skull to warn whoever saw it.
Title: At Crossroads We Part
Word count: 818

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Before them are three paths, all more or less unpleasant to follow. Rough, dark terrain marks the first path, a lighter, but more narrow, dry and deserted landscape marks the second while the third has a sign advising travellers not to pursuit this trail. Danger, it says with the addition of another sign carrying a black painted skelleton. They know their only choice is to move forward. To go back is to admit defeat and they promised one another they would not cower and return with their tail between their legs. So, despite their anxiety, the sisters breathe in deeply.

"Left." - "Right." - "That one."

The three sisters' blue eyes meet simultaneously as their pointing fingers hover in mid air, all pointing in a different direction. They pause and frown, then place their hands on their hips as if the movement was rehearsed. The Milton triplets have never faced this kind of predicament before and so they are currently at a loss for words.

From a young age the siblngs shared what many call 'twin telepathy'. While Emma is a firm believer in this psychologic bond she has with the other two, Diana and Sarah were never truly convinced. "Of course we understand each other without speaking a word, we have been together since birth", Diana said after rationally thinking it through. Sarah nodded along. "Would we have been born in different years, we might not have been this close," she added and the two sisters shared a look of mutual understanding. Emma has always been the most stubborn however.

"How can you even suggest taking that path? Do you not see the sign?" Diana asks with a wild gesture at the warning. "What makes you think the other two paths are less dangerous to take?" Emma asks in return. "Simply because no one has been kind enough to warn others, doesn't mean this is the most lethal path. Also, it might even be a trick to keep strangers out of whatever lays ahead." Sarah's lips purse in thought at her sister's speculations. "Sounds like an awful lot of work to keep people away," she adds to the discussion before turning to Diana, thinking her to be more reasonable than their youngest sibling. "Let's take the lightest path. Soon the sun will set and we need light to guide us as we don't know where it will take us exactly." The oldest sibling tilts her head in thought, but is easily convinced and falls from her first suggestion of taking the darker path. By the look on Sarah's face it is clear she is immensely relieved to have come to this decision.

"That's settled then," she says with a little sigh and smile forming on her face. She turns to Emma and motions with her head for the youngest to follow. "This way it is." But Emma doesn't follow. "Is it?" she asks as she watches her sisters approach the path in the middle. Always the most impatient of the three, Diana twirls around with irritation in her eyes. "It is, now come and don't dawdle, for we have to reach the house before nightfall." The youngest is balls her fists and turns her head towards the path she had originally chosen. "You won't reach it in time if you venture that way," she says with a sideway glance at the frustrated sound that follows. Sarah has stepped forward with a hand on Diana's shoulder and an open hand asking for Emma to take. Carefully, as always, she tries to diffuse the situation. "Now is not the time to disagree." "That I do agree upon," Emma retorts stubborn and wipes her hands on her green dress, but does not take her sister's hand.

"Emma?" "It seems the time has come for us to part," she mumbles somewhat sadly. However as her eyes take one last look at her puzzled sisters, they shine brightly blue and are confident of her decision. Her feet crunch on the loose pebbles of the path, her hand resting momentarilly on the wooden sign as she passes it by. "Don't be ridiculous!" Diana hoots behind her, but she is hushed and their footsteps are nearly silent as they venture to the narrow path where their feet continuously slip to the side by the vast amount of dry sand that covers it. Emma releases a breath she didn't know she was holding in and feels a sudden acceleration in the beating of her heart. "Be careful!" Her sister's voice, Sarah's voice, calls out in the distance and Emma nods, smiles gratefully and will remember her soothing words and petting. Diana she won't miss that awfully much, Emma thinks with a quick glance over her shoulder. No sight of either of them.

The silence surrounding her wraps around her like a thick blanket, but it's not one of fear. The solitude brings her peace. "Finally."