For Enna by Allison Fritz '22

For Enna

ALLISON FRITZ '22

“About Enna, my lovely daughter.” The woman’s mouth curved into a smile. “Our Enna is number one in her class, she can play five instruments, and is a prodigy in chess and she can dance on the ice. Enna memorized almost all the vocabulary from our dictionary, and she can solve math problems quicker than any of you. She has been able to do all of this since she was ten years old. Shall I continue?” “How impressive!” The man smiled. “And may I ask how many languages she speaks?” The woman paused. “What?” “Languages? Surely a child so talented must be well-versed in language as well.” “Oh,” She shifted in her seat. “Well, it doesn't matter. May I take a look at her photograph again?” “Oh, yes, of course!” He peered down at the small polaroid, and there, looking back at the girl with long, silky locks, a sweet smile and shining eyes, a girl who looked awake. “How charming.” Just then, a girl came running towards the table. “Mother.” She was beautiful, even more so than the image. The man looked up. “Enna?” The woman chuckled. “Oh, this isn’t her. This is my younger one, Ruby.” “Ah, Ruby. Like…the stone?” “Um, I suppose so. It was just a sound we liked.” “And what can Ruby do?” He smiled. “Oh…she is also very talented.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Just… not as obedient you know?” She sighed. “Enna, however, I could talk about her for hours.” She quickly laughed in the silence, and glanced at Ruby. “Sorry, dear.” He cleared his throat. “Yes, so let us discuss the details for Enna’s studies.” He whipped out a thick folder with papers sticking out. “We take education very seriously. She would be getting up at five every morning, and following that classes, extra-curriculars, seminars and various physical and spiritual training would take place until ten. We do give them a very flexible downtime, they’ll have two hours before they must be in bed, you see.” “So you’re saying that they may potentially only receive five hours of sleep per night? Enna is still growing.” “She is already fifteen. You must understand, when such fine learning is happening, rest is not a priority.” “...of course.”

“That sounds inhumane.” Ruby later pointed out to her mother. “You don’t understand how rare of an opportunity this is for your sister.” She paused. “Did you ask her if she wanted to go?” Her mother laughed. “I know your sister. Of course she wants to go, who wouldn’t? Even I want to go!” “I don’t think I would go.” “Oh, Little Red, don’t be jealous.” She patted Ruby’s hair lightly. “You’ll get some opportunity some day…you might have gotten it already if you were more focused.” Enna was set to leave on a Wednesday. She chose a fine chiffon dress to wear, the color of spring grass. Enna stayed at the institution for several months. One day, her mother received a message that she was ill. “Well, what’s wrong with her?” Enna’s father gruffly asked his wife. “She has a fever. Oh, hurry, we must go get her!” She replied frantically. They left quickly and told Ruby to watch over the house. Ruby wandered around after a meal of smoked salmon on toast, somewhat bored, until finally, the veridian car pulled into the driveway. She ran out onto the steps to greet Enna, but stopped in her tracks when the girl stepped out of the car.

Color was gone from her face, causing her to look translucent. Dark circles rimmed her eyes, and she had shrunk, skinny, so that her collarbone was sharp, and her ankles looked unstable. Her nose had remains of dried blood crusted on the edges of her nostril. “She looks terrible.” Ruby said. “What happened?” “Stop,” Her mother said, through gritted teeth, and dug a fingernail into her skin. Ruby flinched and was quickly released. “Enna is fine. Enna has been doing an exceptional job in her studies, Mr. Magister has told me.” “Nice, so you got top scores again?” Ruby asked Enna. Enna shook her head.

“Well, dear, you should go rest now.” Her mother said. As soon as Enna retreated to her room, their father turned on their mother. “Look at the state she’s in! I can’t believe you would go so far as to send her there. What will the neighbors say? They’ll say we put our daughter in prison.” “No—no, I’m sure she’s just sick. I was told the students love it there.” “How do you know?” “I know her. She would like it. And she never said no.” Their mother retorted back. “I mean, if she had resisted, I would have listened. But did I hear her say anything?” “Hah!” Their father barked. “You didn’t hear her say anything because she can’t say anything! Their mother paused, shaking angrily. She jabbed a finger at their father. “And you. You were always doing whatever you wanted, you were never there for them. Now you want to step in? This is all. Your. Fault!”

Ruby watched the exchange go on for hours, outside the house on the lawn, then into the kitchen, over a pot of pasta, to the living room, back to the kitchen, where juice boxes went flying through the air, and mops were angrily brushed across the floor. Ruby tried to stop them a few times, but it didn’t work, so she worked around it. She read at the kitchen island, dodging whatever was soaring her way. She didn’t even know what they were fighting about anymore. Enna came down after a while, seemingly more refreshed, and Ruby glanced over at her. Enna had her hands over her ears, and stood there with her mouth open. No sound came out. Ruby could see her inhaling, exhaling, trying to force a sound out. Their parents continued shouting at each other. Ruby blinked a few times, then slowly let out a yell. For Enna.