“You missed a spot Alice!” Rosy shrieked.
“I am sorry,” I murmured, keeping my head down. It is disrespectful to look anyone who is at a higher status than you, in the eye.
I’ve learned the hard way to never do that.
“Jeez! How do you expect guests to come over when the house looks like this?!” She fumed, flicking open her paper fan and wafting herself with it. The fan had an intricate floral design on it, filled with the bright colors of spring.
Something that someone like me could never have.
Servants are not allowed to have anything with color. The only colors we could ever have are drabby shades of brown. It is a truly devastating thing, especially when sophisticated people like Rosy are allowed to have any color of the rainbow.
Just like now, she had a gorgeous dress colored with all the shades of pink. Every layer of her dress skirt were different shades of pink, making her look like a beautiful flower that she was named after. Her blond hair complemented everything she wore, and if all that did not indicate her being of higher status, then her face would tell you.
Her eyes shone a beautiful, clear blue, like the waters of Wondering Reservoir. The lake was known for the gorgeous, clear blue water that flows from the water falls into the reservoir.
The lake is known for its ties to the goddess of beauty. The tale is of how Aphrodite fell in love with a mortal man, after he came upon her while she was bathing. He was instantly ensnared in her beauty, that he proclaimed his love for her in that instant. He was, of course, denied by the goddess but he did not back down, and in the end she fell in love with him too. Tale has it that he tried to reach her in those depths but he did not make it. She was so devastated that she begged Hades to resurrect her lover. Hades agreed but with one condition, that he was not to leave the lake. It has been told that she made him a home in the caves beyond the waterfalls and blessed the waters with eternal youth so that he would never die. No one has made it beyond the falls because of how deep the waters were but legend has it that Aphrodite made it that way so that he could not fall in love with anyone else but the goddess herself.
It was a truly tragic story, but a beautiful one.
“Hello?” Rosy snapped her fingers in front of my bowed face.
My attention snapped back to her. “I am sorry.” I said again, bowing my head lower.
“Is that all you're good for? Apologizing?” She scoffed. “God, you’re pathetic. I can’t believe we’re even half related.”
My hands clenched but I kept my mouth shut so that another apology could not fall from my lips. But it is my fault. It’s always my fault.
“Well? Go on! Clean it again.” She motioned towards the floor I was currently scrubbing. Rosy turned on those pretty, well manicured feet of hers and walked away from her pathetic older sister.
Tears burned my eyes. Not because of what she said, but because I was so tired of being a disappointment. I could never do anything correctly. No matter how hard I work to be better, it's never good enough.
I’m never enough.
No. I told myself. Stop being selfish and get back to work! You’ll never get anywhere if you keep thinking about yourself.
It’s funny because I don’t even think that the voice in my head is even me. Not when it sounds exactly like Rosy.
I took a deep breath, held it, then let it out slowly and got back to work. I dipped my rag into the soapy water that wasn’t clean anymore, and started scrubbing again.
Other families are not like mine, usually the eldest inherits the family or at least was respected. My mother was the first wife to my father but was divorced when I was born. She was shunned because I looked nothing like father, but had features of another, so my father thought that she was disloyal to him and divorced her. Not wanting anything to do with me, he disowned me.
Afterwards he found solace in his concubine, remarrying to her. The Madam was pregnant with Rosy not long after they wed. My mother and I forgotten. She begged him to at least take me as a servant, for she was tired of having to take care of a burden like me. The Madam convinced him that it was best for someone like me to learn discipline from the servants.
I thought it was out of kindness but I was wrong, she just wanted to flaunt her family in front of me.
That’s how I am here now.
I haven’t seen my mother since then, nor do I really want to. Because I am lucky, the Madam is gracious towards me. She even gave me my own room, though it is in between two walls and has no lights, it’s more than anything I could have ever asked for.
Hopefully if I get my chores done and do them correctly, I can get bread that hasn’t been left out for a week, for dinner.
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