Behind the Lace Curtains

Chapter 2- New Faces

Over Kyoko's first few days working as a geriatric care nurse she quickly discovered that it was no walk in the park.

The most immediately noticeable thing about Mrs. Berger was that she was missing one leg. This, it was explained, was because she had been a missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo in her younger years. She had later relinquished her status as a woman of God and returned to France after losing one leg to a starved leopard.

Whilst no one had explained it to Kyoko, it soon became apparent that she now spent her every waking moment endeavouring to make herself completely legless through the means of cheap liquor. This created an almost never-ending supply of work for Kyoko, who was constantly collecting empty bottles from all manner of nooks and crannies around the house. Kyoko didn't yet know where the nearest recycling point was, and so was forced to stockpile this hoard of glass in a corner of her attic room until she knew what to do with it.

When she was not screaming drunkenly at her husband, Mrs. Berger was nursing a hangover and scheming. Quite what she was scheming was never made clear, but it seemed to involve brambles, a pitchfork and a rather unfortunate feline.

By contrast, her husband was a man of few words. Whenever Mr. Berger could avoid talking, he would. He took great relish in making swooping hand gestures and sign language with his great decrepit arms, usually knocking over a nearby object or his wife in the process. During the day he could usually be found mumbling to himself whilst reading classic literature or wandering the house and avoiding his medication. This medication was a source of great insult to his pride, and he would spend great lengths of time widely opening his brown, weepy eyes and frantically gesticulating to make it clear that 'he didn't need any' and that 'he was strong'.

Between the two of them, the Bergers certainly kept Kyoko busy.

On The 22nd of August 2016 at 5:00am, the sun had not yet risen. Thus, when Kyoko was awoken by her alarm clock she was forced to scramble madly in the darkness for a minute to find it and switch it off. During this time, she hit her head no less than 4 times on the low-hanging rafters of the place, and tripped over her own suitcase twice. This light morning exercise having been completed, she groped her way to the light switch and illuminated the tiny space.

Kyoko had been promised minimum wage and room and board in return for her work, but found that her current living environment fell significantly short of this description. Though the attic was spacious, it was completely bare apart from a small wrought iron framed bed. The 16 year-old had no doubt that the bed was at least twice her age, and that it had not been disturbed until her arrival. The distinct lack of furniture posed little problem to her, though. Her suitcase was now serving as a wardrobe, nightstand and chair in intervals throughout the day, a stroke of genius that she was extremely proud of.

'I suppose I've been pretty spoiled until now'

She buttoned her shirt and walked over to the absurdly large window at the end of the room.

Still, I'll have a nice view of the fields in the summer'

Once her hair had been appropriately tamed and her apron donned, Kyoko made her way downstairs. She first crept round the living room and library silently picking up empty bottles of assorted alcohols and sweeping away lint and crumbs, and then headed to the kitchen. She set the table for three, and went about frying eggs and making toast with timing so perfect that when her elderly charges sat down to eat everything was still piping hot.

Kyoko was contractually obliged eat every meal with her employers, and was just as awkward during these events as she had been when she'd first met them. To her surprise, though, Mrs. Berger suddenly began to speak: