Willow

 

“Fool, wake up!”

            Sharden starts shaking my shoulders.

“Wake up now!”

            No, I won’t listen.  I want to sleep.

“Argh” He growls.

            He punches me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me.  I gasp for air, open my eyes, and give him my best ‘I wish you would die’ glare.  He laughs at the pain portrayed in my face.  In an act of defiance I roll over and pull the blanket over my head, creating a sort of cocoon around me.

“Get up right now!” He wails.

            I roll back over to face him.

“Or what exactly?” I say smugly.

            This pushes him over the edge.  He rolls me off my small mattress.  I fall to the floor with a loud thump.  Pain.  He picks me up by my shirt.  All I can do is writhe around as I am held suspended in the air. 

Why am I here?  Ah, yes, my parents are dead and orphans are servants to the rich in Peorial.  How can such a small village be so corrupt?  Sharden puts me down.

“I have something special for you to do today Aiden!” Sharden says happily.

            Great.  What will it be this time?  Maybe tie me to a pole like he did last week, or make me carry him around like he did a couple of days ago, or maybe even make me jog a couple of laps around the outside of the house in the scorching heat like he did yesterday?

“You can fetch the water for today from the next village that way.” He says way too happily as he points out the window to my right.  All I can see is dry, cracked dirt on the ground and a tree very far in the distance.     

“Make sure it’s from a river too.” He says.

“Fine, let me get dressed.” I breathe harshly at him.

“Good boy.” He says

            He pats me on the head and exits the room, his shoulder-length hair swooshing after him.  I’m fuming.  I’d like to boss him around for once, but I don’t think that will ever happen, sadly. The typical morning routine.  My life really sucks…  I should probably kill myself before Sharden can do it for me.  I dress in a crisp, clean white shirt.  My hair matches the shirt.  In fact, most people around here have white hair, including Sharden.  I guess it’s something in the genes.  I let a sigh escape my lips as I pull on my pants.  They’re black and dressy.  I’d much rather wear jeans, but I have a uniform.

            Why do I even submit to the fool who runs my life?   For starters he could severely injure me, seeing as he’s about a head taller than me, a year older than me, and a naturally violent person.  He could probably even kill me because here in the unfairness that is Peorial, servants are a disposable item.  Kinda like a toothbrush.  Wear it out; throw it out; get a new one.  I’m also somewhat of a play thing.  I got to this hell-hole when I was 7, Sharden was 8.  Sharden’s father requested a servant around Sharden’s age probably so he could have a friend.  I see why he couldn’t make one of his own now.  He’s extremely self-centered, self-loving, hostile, stubborn, sadistic, unintelligent, and not particularly giving of himself.  Just to name a few traits.

Today is Friday so Sharden and I don’t have our tutor today, but he makes me wear my uniform on weekdays.  I pull a black vest over my shirt and button it.  I hate the uniform.  Sharden likes to make me suffer, so I have to wear it.  I run my fingers through my hair and remove several knots.  I leave my “room” which is just a bed and a small dresser at the end of a hallway.  Sharden is holding 2 water jugs out for me.  I grab them, avoiding eye contact with him.

“Get filling.” He says much less cruelly than before

He has to be extra terrible to wake me up in the morning. I head down the stairs and go into the welcoming hall, go out the front door to get outside and pass the small stream near the house that I usually fill the jugs with every morning. I don’t see why I have to go get water if we have running water in the house.  Probably just to make my life worse.  Or perhaps Sharden just likes river water.  I pick up the pace of my walking, judging that I’ve only covered a half a mile at best.  Sharden will want my return before noon so I can prepare lunch.  If only his parents could do it, but they don’t live with Sharden and I, so no hope in that. Besides, they’re rich, so they let me take care of their kid.  The ground is dry with drought.  There are not many plants, except the occasional tuft of grass.  I slow down as I near the tree I saw out the window earlier.  It’s a willow.  Very rare around here, I suppose we don’t have many trees anyway.  I sit under the tree letting cool shade envelope me.  The trees shadow delivers an instant relief to my skin.  I hate the sun; it makes everything so hot and dry.  I wish I lived somewhere cooler.  I stay under the tree because, frankly, I don’t want to keep walking.  To go out of my way for someone whom I resent with every fiber of my being.  No thank you.

 I hear a branch crack above me.  I look up to see a quickly descending figure.  My eyes quickly fall shut in fear. The figure lands on my lap, leaning against my chest.  A person, a girl sprawled out on me; her face nuzzled into my chest.  What  fool goes walking around in trees?  I never would at least.  She leans back and frees herself of the asphyxiating fabric of my shirt.  I get a look at her face.  She’s beautiful.  Not from around here obviously because she has jet black hair that reaches down just to the small of her back.  She has very light skin, like a porcelain doll.  Over all, her most striking feature is her eyes. The left one is bright blue.  The right an unsettling neon green.  Hmm… cat eyes.  She looks up at me.  Her face is very remorseful.

“Oh my gosh!  I’m so sorry!  Are you okay?!”  She rambles on and on as she pets my hair, still on my lap.

“Umm... Yeah… I’m fine.”  I say. This isn’t awkward at all. “Can you get off me now?”

            She disregards my request, fully engrossed in petting my hair, like it was her life’s mission. This is really awkward. I shake her shoulders.

“Hey!  Can you hear me?” I demand

            She looks up at me again.

“Sorry” She says.  “I just really like your hair.  I wish mine was that color.”

            I don’t respond.

“My name is Willow.”  She says, breaking the silence. “What’s yours?”

Author's Note

ignore grammar problems... tell me what you think

Reviews

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Only thing I could think of in the beginning was:"the gene pool!! It's too small!!" lol. I Like dis. Ish good, phool chan, very good. Metamorphic rock.

[Lyfelucke]

Great beginning for a great story. Is the present tense purposeful?