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Janet
Everyman was too proud to go running to her family after her divorce.
She found a tiny basement flat for herself and her daughter Jane Rose,
and took a minimum wage job at a fast-food restaurant. Jane Rose grew
into a kid, but was mostly left to her own devices, as her mother went
to work shortly after she got home from school.
And despite Janet trying whatever she could to make ends meet, it didn't
work, and they were often left without power or heat in their substandard
flat.
One day, Janet ran into Beth Rose at a community lot, and finally broke
down and told Beth Rose of her troubles. Beth Rose didn't hesitate -
she immediately insisted that Janet was to move back in with them.
Their lives improved quite a bit, although Jane Rose didn't really get
along with the two other kids. Josepha was very introverted and quite
a bit stuck up over the fact that she was in private school and Jane
Rose was not. John III was generally friendly, but usually off playing
on his own, taking no notice of either his sister or his cousin.
Beth Rose and Joseph were still happily married. Beth Rose took care
of the household, and Joseph, while being stuck as a desk sergeant forever
(because he was too fat to pass the physical exam needed to advance
in the ranks) had proven to be quite a genius at chess, and often spent
long hours analysing games.
Janet's state of mind remained somewhat fragile: she did well for quite
some time, but then problems at work caused her too much stress, and
she ended up fired from her job, which lead to a new breakdown.
Everyone took care to be nice to her, and she settled into a fragile
happiness.
Jane, meanwhile, had not quite gotten over John's death, but seemed
to reach a level of acceptance. She did insist that he still came to
visit her, but since she otherwise seemed normal and stable, the family
didn't worry too much over her.
The kids started to grow into teens, first John III, then Josepha and
Jane Rose:
Jane's claims that John was still with her, just waiting for her to
come to him, grew somewhat more insistent. But she did take up painting
as her new hobby, and the family hoped that this meant she was finally
moving on - even though the paintings themselves were rather strange...
And maybe she was right about John coming for her - because soon after
she finished the painting pictured above, while the kids were at school
and the adults at work or shopping, Death came for Jane. Janet was the
one to find her remains in the upstairs bathroom. Jane's grave joined
John's in the garden, under one of the massive trees.
And while the whole family was saddened by her death, it was Janet who
took it worst. She kept having visions of her mother dying all alone,
while no one could hear her, because everyone was gone from the house.
She spent hours wailing in front of Jane's grave, and many others sitting
in her room, wondering what to do.
The solution she found for herself was to become a nun, in an order
that tended the old, the infirm, the sick and the dying. Her decision
was met with much head-shaking by those that knew her, but she did find
her happiness in dedicating her life to religion.
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