I awake a blinding light enveloping all of my senses. In this dinghy room that I had been in most of my adult life. The walls yellowed from age and water spotting in this humid climate. I wonder how the other half lives. I slowly climb out of bed and face the floor length mirror. I fix my messy hair into a bun and walk out of my room into the kitchen. Seeing the dishes always piled up as if they were a never ending mountain. No matter how many I cleaned there were always more. 

I walked past them ignoring the pile today. I opened the blinds to see the gray cloudy sky. Every day was cloudy like this. It was a shame. I wish for once the sun would shine on this dreary place again. But it seems like the sun would never return to this beautifully distorted world. While the world may look bleak now it was once an immaculate pristine land bathed in the warmth and glow of the sunlight. Its tender tendrils softly caressing the surfaces of our now sad home. 

Now the depressing land is cloaked in a sea of gray clouds and shadows descend ensuring all light be covered in darkness. The clouds may look inviting but looks can be deceiving. There is a sinisterness that seeps from those clouds as if they were sentient. But of course they are nothing more than big balls of gaseous water vapor. But there was something that always felt off about them. Like why were they here? Where did they come from? Why would the sun never come back to us?

All of these questions flood out of me as I look forlornly at this scene. I’ve become numb to the sadness that fills me each time I see the clouds. As if they sap all of my energy away. I wish I could go back to before the clouds. When times were simpler. The sun used to shine above us and I was happy. How I longed to return to those days. This was so hard for me to bear. But nonetheless here I am still stuck in this dark dinghy world. I walked upstairs and each step creaked more the further I went. This mansion may seem grand from the outside but inside it is definitely worse for wear. Honestly it kind of creeped me out even staying here. 

I could never get used to the smell of the wood fixtures that were absolutely everywhere. Nor could I handle the sight of the taxidermied animals that lined some of the rooms as trophies. It had made me sad to think that someone hunted these animals and then stuck them up here as if they were toys to be admired. When my family moved here I thought that we’d fix it up. But my parents revealed my grandparents too much to mess with their home that they had left to us in their will. Honestly I wished we had just stayed where we were. This enormous building was intimidating to say the least. It was scary to live in and it made so many unsavory noises.

I wished and wished I could just go home to our small town house where things made sense. There were hallways here that lead to nowhere and doors that wouldn’t open no matter how hard you tried. They weren’t even locked because the handles would turn freely. It was as if someone were on the other side holding the door shut. This place was the worst. I wish I could just run away forever. But there was nowhere for me to go. I was utterly stuck and alone. Aside from my cat mittens. She was the only other thing I had. My family was always so distant but mittens would always be by my side. She had soft gray fur with black fur at the bottom of her legs as if she were wearing black socks. She had these beautiful blue eyes and would talk to me whenever I talked to her. She never failed to respond. I would often feel sad and exhausted from the weather and mittens knew it so she would curl up on me while I watched shows or read books.

The only place I liked in this mansion was the library. It was the only place that made sense to me. It wasn’t scary and it didn’t have an ominous aura. It was oddly warm and inviting. I could stay there for hours. I think a large reason I liked it was because it didn’t have a window so it was a place for me to hide away from the world.  

“Cynthia! Come here!” I heard a shout from downstairs. I’m sure it was my father; he was never one for subtlety. 

“Cynthia! Cynthia! You must come here at once!” He continued as I slunk down stairs. He immediately caught my eyeline and stared at me while continuing to shout

“Cynthia! Where were you? Could you not hear my shouting?” 

“Of course I could hear your booming voice anywhere in this house. With how bad the echo is it would be impossible to not hear you.” I replied knowing that this was not the response he was looking for.

“Then why on earth did it take you so long to return my call. You should acknowledge me when I am looking for you. That is the polite thing to do. Must I send you to more etiquette classes? That can be arranged. Let me fetch Lucious to schedule these lessons.” He continued to say in his loudest inside voice. Funny how I need etiquette classes when he talks as if he were yelling across a football field anytime he opens his mouth. I think to myself.

“No sir. I’m sorry sir. I will reply when called. My throat was just parched and it is not polite for a lady to yell.” I responded while doing a faux curtsy as I was not wearing a dress or skirt. 

“Harumph… Yes, that is indeed true it is impolite for a lady to yell. My mistake. But do respond when I call for you. Also next time I call please come faster. I do not like to wait. You know this.” He says. His mustache slightly out of order from yelling. He notices me staring and slowly starts to comb it and his goatee straightening the hairs out again. So that not one was out of place.

“Yes sir. I will make an effort to appear faster. But you know I should not run as that would also be impolite. I will make my way to you as fast as possible without running.” I reply again while doing another faux curtsy. 

“Yes, yes, very good. Now as for the reason I called you. Your mother and I are going out for some errands. Please do mind the house and do not use Lucious too much. It is his day off. But of course if you need anything do not hesitate to call for Lucious and he will do whatever you need.” He says in his stuffiest, most posh voice. He walked away from me outside where Lucious had pulled their car around.