𝐹𝑙𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠

Chapter 31

The morning sun illuminated the beige paper in front of me. Black ink stained my left hand as it moved fluently, writing small letters that all combined to be a poem.

I had been awake since the early morning. I was terribly tired, but had been thinking so much that I wasn't able to go back to the warm comfort of dreams and fantasy. My eyes stung horribly from tiredness.

The only thing I was able to do to keep me from a breakdown was writing. I had always been fond of writing.

The black ink letters on the page read:

Within a forest of pines.
Was a cottage that lived within it's confines.
In the cottage lived a only a shadow,
But sometimes visited a black crow.
The shadow and crow seemed like family,
Though the two looked always on the edge of calamity.

My hand stopped writing at that point. I wasn't sure what to write next, or if I even wanted to write more.

The poem was obviously a reflection of my story. It reigned true to real life. The shadow symbolized myself, with the black crow being Miranda.

My tired head fell into my stained hands. That day was going to be long and tire me more than I already was.

Collecting my sorry self, I stood from my desk and went to my washroom to ready myself.

   When I was ready, my maids were all downstairs chatting. Buzzing all about like bees.

Trying to get their attention, I cleared my throat. But, when they still didn't notice I was in the same room as them, I called out in a sort of yell.

"Good morning, ladies," my voice echoed off the gray walls of the estate. All their eyes snapped to me. After a quick moment, they curtsied, "Good morning, Lady Stone."

The way they said their greeting made me want to laugh. It was as if I were a teacher in front of a bored class. It was amusing to me. But, I didn't let my cold demeanor break since I had much fear of conjuring up a storm in accident because of my emotions.

I finished my descent down the stairs. I had to pick up my black silk skirt so I didn't fall down and roll around like a tumbleweed on a windy day.

Clearing my throat once again, I felt a little uncomfortable. I had no idea how the "seasons" worked. I felt younger than I actually was. It distressed me even more since most of my maids, if not all, were under the age of twenty.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I went over to my chair and sat. The ladies before me sat after me. My fingers moved slightly to motion one of them to speak.

Bernadette, a blonde haired eighteen year old, started to speak with a sweet smile on her face, "My lady, we are all aware that you haven't been amongst the village long enough for you to know all of the functions of it. So, we have decided to explain all to you."

Many maids looked at her, signaling to say something more. Finally, she caught on.

"O-Oh! Only, of course, if my lady would like us to," her high pitched voice toned down on excitement, lowering slightly. I felt bad for the girl.

I was aware that I was hard on them most of the time. Most of them either feared or hated me. Only some actually liked me, and those were often the girls who were around twenty (the middle of the age range).

My voice came out quieter than I thought it would, "Alright. Go ahead." All the ladies' eyes lit up like a dying flame feed a surplus of fuel.

"Thank you, my lady," Bernadette said with that same sweet smile as before. Her happiness was almost sickening.

For a moment, they all talked amongst themselves.

I suppose now is a good time to say that they all had a very different way of speaking than I did. It's what Mother Miranda called "Village Dialect." Basically, the village is less modern than all the other towns that surround it. The people who lived there had a slight English accent as well as a very fancy way of speaking. It confused me at times, but I caught on fast enough to know the basics of what was happening.

Anyways, after yet another quick moment they all settled back down to their respective places and explained the whole situation to me.

"So, in the year there are three social seasons. The first one, lasting from January to March, is the one in which big parties happen all the time. Then, April to August is the second one where picnics and tea parties and things such as those are the norm. Then, September to December is the time to relax from all the get-togethers. At the beginning of each season, merchants from nearby lands come to sell their goods."

The information flooded my brain quicker than I would have liked. But I got most of it down.

Looking up from my lap to the over excited ladies in front of me, I sighed.

"Alright then. Let's go out to town."