Eponine held her doll, Nina, close to her. She still holds it like it was the most beautiful and precious thing for her. The winters pass and the little girl called Cosette stayed, or lived rather, in the cramped storage room together with the brooms and mops.
Cosette had stayed with the Thenardiers for a long time now. During the first few months, her mother, is still able to keep up sending ten francs a month to Mme. Thenardier, who critically accounted the money from time to time. As evil it seemed the money Fantine sent never went to her daughter. Poor Cosette would usually starve herself curled up under thin blankets inside her "room". Cosette never dared to stay by the kitchen...
There was once a story wherein she attempted to keep warm by the kitchen's cinders. Her mother once told her that if she ever felt cold, she must keep warm by the kitchen. However, when Mme. Thenardier saw her, she shooed the poor girl away, saying that 'she'll spoil the food rotten.' The next day, a red mark was seen on Cosette's little arm, people just assumed that Mme. Thenardier maltreated the poor girl again, but then no one made a sound of it. Poor Cosette! Nobody stood up for her.
The months progressed; life in France got worse day by day. People who lived an honest way, soon felt the change... The Thenardiers, however, felt a change when their patron's pockets emptied faster than the first glass of wine.
M. and Mme. Thenardier never knew what it meant to be thrifty. They spent extravagantly on their vices every night. Even spoiling Eponine had become their guilty pleasure!
Sometimes, Cosette would look longingly at the beautiful dresses Eponine wore. The blonde girl dreams in her head when she could wear ribbons, frills and flowers just like the girl with red-brown hair... Oh! Sometimes she wished that she could touch her (Eponine's) doll's smooth skin... How good it must feel to her little rough and chill bin fingertips.
"Oh? Look at who is dreaming here... The little mademoiselle...?" Mme. Thenardier suddenly appeared from nowhere. Cosette felt terrified of the woman with "big hair" and whose hands kept on staying at her hips. The little girl clutched tighter to the broom she held... Whenever Mme. Thenardier saw her 'slacking', little Cosette would always be in trouble.
"Never let me catch you slacking!" Mme. Thenardier roared "Sweep the room as fast as you can! You still have the upstairs to sweep!"
"Yes Madame..." the little girl said weakly.
"When you reach upstairs Cosette, don't you dare lay your dirty hands on our things." Mme. Thenardier added then raised an eyebrow "Especially not Eponine's things! Are we clear?"
XXX
There are two kinds of people in this world, Eponine was taught: masters and servants. Masters never associate with people with lower stature than them. As Eponine observed her surroundings, she came to the conclusion that her family belonged to the "masters" class in society. Although, initially, she felt pity for the blonde girl Cosette, she and the girl's mother are classified as "servants" in France's social hierarchy. Her mother, in the other hand calls them differently from time to time depending on her mood. Once, she'll call them "urchins", "scums" or "rats".
Later on, Eponine didn't pity her. People like her should do housework, people like her are supposed to eat after her "masters" have eaten, people like her aren't supposed to own things or enjoy things. This pattern of thought is instilled into little Eponine's innocent mind.
At first, Eponine ignored Cosette, still unsure of how to treat her, but when she watched her mother mistreat the little girl around, Eponine Thenardier also did the same thing, much to Mme. Thenardier's delight.
YOU ARE READING
Eponine
FanfictionMostly this fiction is inspired more by the musical than the book. So, I decided to put it under the "plays" section of Les Mis. I hope I could reach a good number of audience interested to read a story such as this. How I write the characters in he...
