"Breathe in, breathe out." she whispered to herself.
There she stood in front of a cracked-up sink which looked like it would break apart any moment. Even the cyanide-tiled floor had cracks. Even the semi-opaque indigo window had cracks. Everything had cracks!
As she splashed dark water over her face, the water droplets formed a strained river following from her nose, and mouth downwards towards her throat and onto her shirt, which was already drenched in her sweat.
Even though it's been years, she can still feel the fear.
Her hands trembled while she shivered in the freezing breeze that blew through the cracks. Something bushy came in touch with her pinky toe that almost made her trip and fall.
It was her toothbrush.
Realizing how much of a fool she was, she squatted down to pick it up only to fumble up and fall on the toilet seat right on the seat.
The broken mirror reflected a cracked image of her face, which did a good job in horrifying her.
A dark circle lies underneath her right eye, symbolizing that she has been working from dawn to dusk.
But not today
Her right hand went towards her left eye.
"Come on" she mumbled under her breath as she tried to pour a few drops of medicine from the eye drop. Despite having a scarred eye for so many years, she still can't get over the daily dose of medicine that is required to hydrate her left eye and prevent any further infection.
"Freaking hell", at last, she secured the bag which took almost all of her energy.
She gazed at her trembling hands, which were next to her favorite hazel cargo pants — one of the few new clothes she had. She was exhausted for sure. She needs to take a break from her life.
As she sat down on the lid of the latrine, she tried to remember the nightmare she had faced when she was-
"Open the damn door already! You know you are not the only one who needs-"
"Yes, Prince Charming, I know your daily skincare routine needs more than like 15 mins. So would you mind shutting up for just a few minutes? I am kinda busy here", she might have said that in a polite tone but her face said otherwise.
There stood in front of her a 5'10 (1.78 m)feet tall tanned man in preppy style shorts and a pale pastel color gray t-shirt with food stains here and there. From his accent, you could guess that he is an American-Indian. His hair was a messy mess just like his dating life.
"Look, I got a date-" Before he could complete it, he got a with-who-look from his young foster sister.
"But still, who on earth will go on a date with you? You look like an um... What was that word...", her mind then disappeared to its realm.
"You mean handsome? Or hot? Maybe sexy? Oh, I know! ...muscular?", He ended that statement with his arms flexing, making it look like his veins would pop out any second.
"A Jacksy!", She exclaimed with a huge grin on her face.
"A what now?", he gave her a confused look.
"It means all of the above words you just said." she spoke with enthusiasm, knowing that her muddle-headed brother would again fall for this trap.
"So does this apply to you know... both genders?", he inquired her.
"Absolutely!", she was smiling like a kid after they answered correctly. With that, she slammed the bathroom door on his face. It could be well heard that he swore in his mother tongue while he waited in line.
She took a breath in and out.
She took the eye-patch and placed it over her white, eyelid-less, left eye.
She wondered if she was the only person who ever felt uncomfortable covering her disability from others.
Stop it, today is the day. You shouldn't let your mood get ruined.
She tried her best to make a fresh braid, but it looked like a messed up lasagna with the cheese and tomato coming out.
At last, she decided just to let her hair be the way it wanted.
If it wasn't for the trauma, she might have been able to be a normal teenager without a scarred left eye.
That's when the light went off.
She swore on Dan so that he might have an awful date.
After she left the bathroom, She looked around for the culprit but even without her five senses she could feel that obnoxious and caring aura coming from the living room. The second-floor stairs faced the bathroom, while the kitchen was on the left and the living room on the right. The fireplace was still burning with just 1 wood plank.
It was probably high on the fuel.
Even with such limited fuel, it was able to produce enough light to illuminate the living room, showcasing its interior. With semi-concrete and wooden floors that disappeared under the rug with beautiful Inuit embroidery of a family of owls flying around in circles over their chicks. Around it lay three leather couches that were already withering if it wasn't for the elegant embroidery (a part of the set, brought on a discount) that had covered it up from top to bottom, hiding its ugliness in disguise. Near the walls, cabinet's full of souvenirs, cup-plate sets and other typical stuff were stored. With newly painted walls, it made it look half decent then it did when they first found the house whom they call 'home' now.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The house was big enough to fit over 20 people at a party, but sadly housed for 4 people for the past 3 years.
As Ashley turned around to capture the criminal red-handed, she stopped in her tracks as she witnessed the scene in front of her.
Her foster parents, Raju and Reno, were in a quiet, hushed discussion. She couldn't see what was causing their agitation as their backs were turned towards her. Next to them lay the ugly prince checking himself out in a small pocket mirror.
He looked happy.
She hadn't seen that in a long time, until today.
But, how could a simple date make him smile like that?
She wondered.
Date or not, it's good to see him like this, she nodded to herself.
That's when she remembered what he had done to her 5 minutes ago.
She told herself, It would be better if we settled this in private.
Then I wouldn't need to hold back and beat him for his stupidity.
Now, they both had something to look forward to.
Despite her best efforts at tip-toeing her way to the kitchen, the planks still created noise, making her jump and land on her toes onto the smooth tiles.
She swiftly entered the kitchen.
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When the bathroom door closed, Ashley could sense a distinct 'finally' in the hallway.
Taking her seat at the dinner table in the kitchen, she started the inspection of the mysterious three packages.
Each of them was encased in vintage newspapers and adorned with ribbons in the following colours — yellow, red and green. All of them were in different forms and were quite easy to guess what they were except for the third one. Beside them was a handwritten note saying — 'to the prettiest girl.'
She wondered if they were for Dan's brand-new girlfriend.
'Quite the effort he is making.' she mumbled while grabbing two thin slices of bread and dropping it into the toaster next to the counter.
After the timer ended, the battery operated toaster toasted out the toasts into the air.
Slipping out of her seat, she quickly grabbed a plate and managed to place both the toast on the ground.
Giving out a big sigh, she picked them and started to spread the jam onto it after blowing it, though, it wouldn't make much of a difference.
Then out of 'nowhere', her foster parents brought out a cake with 15 candles on it. It was quite surprising that she hadn't realized that it was her birthday until they started singing the 'happy birthday' song to her.
"What are you waiting for? Blow the candles away!", her foster dad exclaimed in his thick Indian accent. You could see how much he loved her by just taking a glance from his face and, of course, his smile, which could make the sun blind if it was possible.
"Thank you so much. It's just that I don't have much time, Raju." Just by looking at them, you could see how hard they had worked to make her birthday come true.
" Alright, then I will open the gifts first. " She declared.
"Oh, that's a nice choice.", Reno supported her decision by glaring at her jobless son who had just come out of the bathroom, nicely shaved. He responded with an I-know-mom-look. He had covered his shirt with the hazel cargo jacket he got from work. Fortunately, he was smart enough to change his shorts to jeans. She was relieved to see that he was at least clean to look at.
The first gift was given by Raju. It was a long black leather coat with lots of pockets. Inside, it had three layer of insulating wooden-cotton, which would help maintain the body heat. No wonder, this coat was the limited edition from the newly made teen fashion brand 'Pusslay Inc.'. Since the CEOs were Gen Z, it would make some sense that the name of the fashion brand is so.... disgusting.
Reno gave a hand-knitted scarf. It was made from emerald green coloured wool and had little strips of silver cotton wool along with it. She said that it had to do with her birthday and would bring good luck since her destiny was not easy, and she would face numerous challenges in the future. So it was made based on superstition.
The last one was none other than Danish's. It seemed quite small for an average birthday gift, as his mother was shooting glares all the away from the poles.
" I, Danish Sehkar, swear on god that you will not like this gift but love it.", he bowed towards her in the most cliché manners which you see in the movies.
"Thanks? I guess..." she mumbled while opening the gift.
For the first time in her life, ever since she was taken in by the family, he was right.
She wouldn't like it but love it.
It was none other than an MP3 player with headphones.
"Doesn't it cost like 100 gold, roughly?" Raju questioned his son because it was impossible for an adult like him to get that much money.
"Chill out ma-pa, I got it from the black market. For a favour, the boss gave me a second-used MP for free." He replied before his mom could do anything else other than beat his arse.
"Still, it's in perfect condition...", she reported while finding some shady songs.
" Why don't you wear all this to work?" Reno suggested, cooling her mind. She then took the wrappings off the clothes and started to clean them by wiping her hands over them.
"Sure," she nonchalantly replied. Happily, Reno wrapped her neck with the scarf and helped her get the coat on her.
"Then it settles it. We are going to work now. So bye ma-pa." he took her by the shoulder just after she finished wearing her new clothes. He dragged her in one hand and carried her bag in the other through the front door. In a hurry to get to his date, he almost dropped his bike to the floor while taking it out of the garage.
" Hey! I haven't finished my breakfast yet! " She exclaimed while getting on her brother's broke-arsed bike. Dan then flipped 2 gold coins towards her. Even with one eye, Ashley managed to catch it in one hand.
"There you go, breakfast." he ended with a dazzling smile which made Ashley gag. After setting up the bike, Ashley got on the bike along with her bag stashed over her shoulder. With Dan as the driver, Ashley was a bit concerned, to say the least. With the engine roaring back to life, they drifted from the garage and onto the muddy driveway, As Ashley turned her left she could see the sunrise up beautifully with its orange shades spread across the blue sky.
"BYE DANU, BYE ASHLEY. BOTH OF YOU, TAKE OF EACH OTHER!" Their angry yet kind mother shouted as they zoomed out of the view.
While Dan made faces, Ashley clung to her older brother's shoulders, she shouted back, "YES, MOM, THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!".
With that, she sat back down with a huge grin on her face, with her curly hair flying here and there.
If I were to say, that day might be the last time when she truly happily grinned in her life.
As the future unfolds, the darkness is closing in their way, faster than it should have.