It is now 3:00 PM. Astrid walks slowly up the stairs towards her apartment. Despite the fact that it’s her home, it brings her little comfort. With dread in her mind, she climbs up step by step until she finally reaches the door. She takes out her keys, which jingle quietly, inserts one into the keyhole, and slowly opens the door, bracing herself for the worst.
'I’m home…' Astrid says, her voice tinged with fear and worry as she peeks through the door, hesitant to fully step inside. But no one answers. She breathes a sigh of relief, then steps in and closes the door behind her.
Astrid takes off her shoes, puts them in an old dust filled shoebox and starts heading down the hallway of her home. Despite her efforts to wipe, clean, and take care of this place it always gets trashed with random garbage bags, alcoholic beverages, or cigarette butts. ‘The trash bin is right there and yet the most convenient place for her is the damn floor…’ She thinks to herself, with a tired depressing look in her eyes.
She was talking about her one and only mother. A once loving and nurturing figure to her had become someone who’s either indifferent or abusive, all because of her child’s mere existence. The change in her behaviour was, in some ways, understandable, but what followed after was not. The man who was supposed to be a husband to her and a father to their child grew bored of stability and decided to cheat on his wife with his secretary.
Her father was a wealthy man, the CEO of a giant software company, while her mother had been a stay-at-home wife. Normally, in such situations, the wife would’ve received alimony, child support, and a significant portion of his wealth and assets. But things didn’t go as they should have. The father sent “gifts” to the judges and rigged the entire legal process And so the only thing she was granted was custody of her child–not as a token of fairness, but as a way to placate her despair and anger.
At first she was happy to have been granted custody of Astrid. But over time she began seeing more of him in her daughter–her features, and even some of her mannerisms, resembled him, despite being too young to fully develop her own habits.
Astrid never understood why her father abandoned her so easily. She didn’t care for the money or the wealth; she just wanted a father figure. A meeting once a month, a phone call, or even a simple text would’ve really sufficed. But in the end she received nothing and was left in the dark.
Her eyes welled up with tears as she quietly sobbed, starting to clean up the place. Picking up cigarette butts and alcohol bottles isn’t something a child should be doing, yet here she was, doing it for the millionth time. Despite this, she never got used to it. Every single time, she hated it. The bottles reeked of stale alcohol, and the cigarette butts stunk of smoke that clung to everything. It felt like some things just exist solely to make others suffer.
The only silver lining in all of this was that in two years, it would finally be over. She could leave without the cops returning her to her mother, she can be her own person and live out her life. And she isn’t alone in all of this; she has her teachers, friends, and of course, Esme.
After finishing cleaning up, she walked to her room–the only tidy and clean place in the house–and closed the door. She changed into her old pyjamas and collapsed onto her bed, her body aching from the day’s tasks. Her heavy eyelids began to close, and as she imagined a better future for herself–a life filled with freedom and peace–she drifted off to sleep.
It was 11 PM when Astrid slept soundly, too soundly perhaps. But she awoke to the sound of a door opening and closing. Her heartbeat spiked, and she started sweating profusely. The sound was all too familiar, a harsh reminder of her reality. Her mother was back... Astrid squeezed her eyes shut, hoping her mother would just head to her own dirty, unlovable room and go to bed. But luck wasn’t on Astrid’s side; she heard footsteps growing louder and louder until they stopped at her door. Her pulse raced, and she held her breath, bracing for whatever would come next.
The door knob twisted, and the door swung open. Her mother stood there, dressed in a tight, bright red dress, her blonde hair styled impeccably. Despite her minimal makeup, she was strikingly beautiful, and men would fall head over heels for her. And men sure did. Looking at her you’d think she was a model or your natural bias would make you think she was a kind, caring, and considerate individual. But she was none of those.
Astrid’s eyes fluttered open just to find her mother glaring right at her. Her heartbeat quickened, amplifying her rising anxiety. “Get up.” her mother demanded, her voice sharp and acidic. Astrid only lifted her head off her pillow, now with a small noticeable mark of sweat on it, her body unable to move much let alone fulfil her mother’s request. “W-what…?”, the confused, weak Astrid laid there, despite being abusive and too harsh, her request seemed too out of character, what could possibly be the reason? “I said get up!” her once beautiful face contorted into an ugly fury mess, as she violently stormed towards her own daughter. Astrid, paralyzed by fear and shock, reacted too slowly with sluggish movements.
Her mother proceeded to grab her by her arm and dragged her roughly out of her bed. “Ow , stop! What’re you doing?! You’re hurting me!” Astrid cried out, wincing from the pain her mother tightened her grip on her arm. Her mother, unmoved by Astrid’s cries, dragged her out of her room down the hallway towards the apartment’s exit. Astrid, now desperate and alarmed, tried to resist, “what are you doing??!!” she cried out once more. “Something I should have done a long time ago! I am throwing you out you freeloading bitch!” Astrid finally received a response, but it wasn’t one that she would’ve ever wanted to hear.
Astrid’s heart sank as they reached the front door, already ajar. With a final, forceful shove, her mother kicked her outside. “B-but where am I supposed to go?!” Astrid, shocked by the sudden events, yelled out. “It doesn’t matter to me where you go! Whether you sell your body, end up under a bridge or dead, I do not care! Better yet, go beg for your boyfriend’s help, you filthy reminder!” and with that, her mother slammed the door shut, leaving the distressed Astrid outside alone sitting on the cold stairway of the apartment complex.
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After letting reality sink in, Astrid finally got up and began heading downstairs, out of the complex. She was at a loss for what to do next. Should she go to Esme’s place? Would they even take her in? Or should she find a café to spend the night? Maybe she could ask the neighbours for help, though she didn’t trust them, as they are most likely just the same as her mother.
She searched her pockets for anything–money, her phone–anything. But she had nothing. Everything was left behind in her room, and she feared what her mother might do if she tried to go back and retrieve her belongings.
Considering her options, she decided to head to Esme’s. But his home was a 15-minute walk, and the route wasn’t safe, especially at night. Reluctantly, she began walking down the empty, cold streets. Still in her pyjamas, she cursed her mother for making her so vulnerable. If only it were summer, she wouldn’t have to worry so much about her clothes or safety; people would be out on the streets, and she wouldn’t feel so alone.
However, with no other choice, Astrid started walking down the empty cold roads. She still had her pyjamas on, which made her curse her mother even more. If only it was summer she wouldn’t have had to worry about her clothes or safety that much, people would be walking down the streets and she wouldn’t have felt so alone.
Shivering from cold and fear, Astrid wandered down a narrow alleyway, littered with trash and overflowing bins.
After a few seconds of walking, the alleyway split into three paths, Astrid headed down the middle part. And just as she neared the exit and from a safer area, she heard a man’s voice and an arm grab her lightly on her shoulder, “excuse me, young lady… do you happen to have any spare change?” the man asked in a slur, most likely drunk or high. “No, sir… I apologise, but I currently have nothing on me… I cannot help you…” Astrid said, with a hint of fear in her voice.
Not knowing who that man is or what he wants. Astrid tried to get rid of his grip by moving forward but she couldn’t. “Oh hold on a second, young lady. I’m sure there’s some other way you could help me…~” the man said as he gripped her shoulder harder, he pulled her and shoved her to a wall. His eyes were bloodshot red, his face had thick facial hair and his mouth open widely in a disgusting yellow smile.
“N-!” Astrid tried screaming, but the man did not allow her to by ramming the palm of his hand right onto her mouth. “Now now~ we don’t want anyone interrupting us, do we?~”
‘Nonono, this can’t be happening…’ Astrid tried to fight back, but the man was too big and strong for her, her body was also weak from the cold and fear. As the man slowly slid his hand under her top, a flash of light suddenly appeared from the side of the alleyway’s exit. A patrolling cop was on his way here, Astrid was finally gonna be safe. “Tch… someone is gonna ruin our fun. I'm sorry, young lady. But you have already seen my face so forgive me, will ya? the man took his hand out of her top, took something out of his pocket, and proceeded to slashed at her throat.
Blood immediately gushing out of her open throat, the man let her fall on the ground as he ran in the opposite direction of the light. Due to the shock and fear Astrid was experiencing she didn’t feel much pain. She laid there in a cold alleyway with even more blood flowing out of her body, she tried to stop it but to no avail. Her body started becoming even colder than she was before. In front of her appeared a police man yelled something at her as he took her into his arms and then yelled something into his radio. Astrid’s vision started slowly going dark until there was nothing anymore.
“Asta-” Astrid heard a voice calling out, “-staria..” she heard it again louder this time. ‘Aren’t I… dead..? Just what am I hearing…?’ “Princess Astaria!” vision suddenly came back to Astrid and she immediately gripped her throat coughing loudly. Her breathing became extremely erratic and harsh, her mind still trapped in that alleyway. “Princess! Are you okay?!” Astrid looked around her, she saw a woman standing right in front of her in a neat maid outfit with a concerned and worried look. “What? Who? Who are you? Where am I?!” Astrid looked down to examine herself, there was no blood, in fact there was no pain or any of the sort. Instead she was wearing clean clothes resembling royalty. A long white dress with what seems to be expensive ornaments etched onto them. Her hair was much shorter and instead of her auburn hair, it is now white.
“Princess, please calm down! Did you have a bad dream?” now with an even more concerned look, the woman in the maid outfit asked. Astrid was sitting under a tree with an open book right beside her. She finally faced the woman and with a deep breath she answered, “yes yes… I am fine. Sorry, I just had a very bad dream… But I am fine now!” with a faint smile she looked at the maid who began to calm down and with a sigh of relief she returned to her most likely normal mannerisms. She cleared out her throat, straightened her posture and declared “Princess Astaria, lunch with their majesties is ready. “I’ll be waiting for you at the entrance, so please collect your thoughts and let me escort you to the dining hall.” and with that the maid turned around and headed down the well paved pathway surrounded by beautiful greenery.
Astrid examined herself and her surroundings even more right after the maid left. She pushed her arms forwards, they were… smaller and shorter than usual? She stood up and the ground was also closer to her than usual. ‘Just where the hell did I end up?’ she thought to herself until a thought hit her, ‘Am I dreaming or something?’ Astrid pinched her cheeks really hard, and they hurt just as hard. ‘No, I am certainly not dreaming…’ her mind wandered until she finally ended up on a single thought. Throughout all the books she read, one theme was brought up the most, reincarnation.
“Could it be… have I been ripped away from my world and reincarnated into another…?” Astrid said to herself, in deselief. And after coming to a conclusion, Astrid picked up the book that was right beside her and read the title. “Magic for dummies.” was the title of the book. ‘What??? Magic?? Just where the hell have I been transported to…?’ Through all the confusion Astrid was experiencing, the only way forward for her now was the paved pathway. And so, Astrid left the tree’s shadow embrace and started walking down the pathway, or should we say Astaria?