The Fallen Queen (Winner of the Write Way Award 2013) #Wattys2015 #MyWattysChoice #Featured

Chapter 21: Angie

Let me know if you can read this chapter. There seems to be a problem with Wattpad and people can't see the chapters after Chapter 10.

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After my death, I became a ghost. I had to watch over my family. I had to understand things. I had to understand my mother. Is she really the monster I always thought she was? Why did she behave the way she did? As a haunted my house, I was able to see another side of the story. My mother's story.

            My mother also was a queen. As a toddler, she was sitting on the floor when she awoke to the world around her. Like me, this was when she became self-aware. This is her first memory.

            Few things aroused her attention then. she noticed neither the sun nor the sky on the other side of the window. The window was only an insignificant detail. Instead, she focused on what was factual: her family members. They were many living on the familial farmland, and the smell of the barn was constantly present in the small house. It was on the people's skin, on their clothes, their hair, in their beds.

            She recognized with pleasure that she was in the kitchen. It was her favorite room because of the three rocking chairs.

            The little red chair to the right is mine, the big one in the middle is Mom's, and the little brown one to the left is Emma's, she thought while analyzing her surroundings.

            The rocking chairs were lined up in front of the big rectangular freezer, which was full of meat and pies Jeanne had prepared in advance.

            Although the house—formerly a barn—was small and housed a family of ten children, the farmland still provided enough food on the table to raise the swarm of little devils. She was the youngest.

            Her observations ended when her attention fell suddenly on her mother, Jeanne.

            Her mother was sitting on the furnace, trying to warm herself. Her big, blue suitcase was beside her. She had just returned from the hospital after undergoing the grande opération. She had a hysterectomy. 

            "They took things out from Maman's tummy. Things she doesn't want anymore," Jeanne explained.

            It was an operation the poor housewife had wanted for many years. Especially since the doctor had explicitly informed her that an additional pregnancy would put her life at risk.

            Unconcerned about this minor detail, Charles refused to allow his wife to undergo the surgery. He wanted to continue having children, preferably boys, so he could have help on the farm. Luckily, he finally gave in.

            She was unaware of these details at the time. She did not understand until many years later when she spoke to Jeanne about this event which had marked her memory as a toddler.

           "I have a surprise for you in my suitcase," said her mother, hence why she remembered that the suitcase was a pretty blue.

            She was sure her mother, Jeanne, had brought her a brother or sister and was hiding it in the suitcase. After all, someone had told her that this was what she should expect. Someone had told her that Jeanne was going to come back from the hospital with a baby. Who told her this? She had no recollection. What is certain is that a two-year-old child could not come to a conclusion like that on her own.

            How fun would it be to have a little brother or sister to cuddle? I could finally be the big sister instead of the baby. I am tired of being the baby. Everyone needs to show me everything. I also want to show things to a baby, she thought.

            She waited eagerly for Jeanne to take her surprise out of the suitcase. Like a magician takes a rabbit out of his hat. What a disappointment it was when her mother presented her with a simple box of chocolates.

            How unfair! complained Angie internally. Someone tricked me by making me believe that Mother was going to bring me a little brother or sister.

            She was angry. She was disappointed and she felt betrayed. Since she was a queen, she wished the people, even if they were her elders, could take her seriously. She refused the chocolates at once because even if she had accepted them, their taste would have been bitter instead of sweet. She would not feel the delightful experience she usually felt when chocolate melted away on her tongue.

            She wanted a little brother or sister. She was told she would have one. She hated this feeling of always having to live in the shadow of the more experienced ones. She also wanted to know things. She did not want to be the subject of ridicule. Her royal ego was affected by such treatment.

            Therefore, in her first memory, she felt she was being laughed at. They made fun of her naïveté. She felt hurt.