CHAPTER TWO
1050 Words
Ana sat on the floor dozing slightly while she leaned on the pillar that led straight to the sitting room where her stepmother and her spawns were relaxing for the evening. She was tired and hungry and all in all feeling quite miserable, but was she given a break.
No! Oh no!!
God forbid if Ana, the all-round chamber maid, laundress and a dozen other chores she was tasked with taking care of, got a good night's sleep. Meanwhile, her hog-faced stepsister had cried oh-so- theatrical that she was exhausted with her job.
Like come on!
All the girl only had to do was stand in front of a camera all day and post pictures for her podcast show-seriously was anyone supposed to be 'exhausted' doing just that, but as always, she did not have a say, so she was stuck doing internal monologs.
Most times Ana blamed her father. For all he was a loving man, he had zero sense of worldly issues, he had not made a will to take care of this eventuality and really, he had the worst choices for names because who named their daughter Ana Cinderella Jamieson, life was not a fairy tale for Pete's sake which was why she was quite certain that she was cursed but alas there were no books detailing what kind of curse it could be.
So far she had given up on waiting for a prince charming to arrive. She was quite willing to brave the beast's temper and all.
"Cinder Cinderrr ", heaving a sigh, she picked herself off the ground and hurried to the sitting room before Eleanor –now that was a real name –came up with more derivatives for her already suffering name. She didn't even like being called by her middle name, and she was certain they did it to get on her nerves.
The sitting room was scattered-again, which did not surprise her any longer. The two sisters liked to see who could leave more dirt on the floor, and it resulted in huge messes. Her stepmother, the old, crooning Elizabeth, was seated on the sofa. Her spot tidied up. Her eyes were glued to her laptop. Although she was quite wealthy -being a widow of four rich husbands could do that for you-Elizabeth liked to work or pretend she did anyway. Elaine was positioned near the TV. Her perch was less messy, and she focused on the show with all her might. Sometimes Ana was almost certain that the girl was a klutz-sometimes and then there was Eleanor, her arch nemesis. She was glaring at her and managed to look like a bull terrier while doing it, although she may have claimed she looked cute.
"Yes, Eleanor" she muttered, and the glare increased, which did not do her much favor. Eleanor was a passable looking girl, with muddy brown hair and the same shade of eyes, lips that looked too bee-stung to be real, a broad nose and other unappealing features.
"I want a bottle of coke, a sandwich with ham mayo and mustard" she ordered, and Ana had to resist the urge to gag,
"I want my laptop, phone, and I need you to replace Muffin's water". Muffin is her cat and a fat, lazy little terror that somehow liked Eleanor.
"Okay" she replied, and the little miss scowled, and Ana could only grin.
Most times, she was certain that Eleanor would like to be called your highness. She turned to the others, and they all started their own list.
"I want a soda, some of the pizza in the fridge and my phone", Elaine murmured.
"Get me my glasses. The light is bothering my eyes. Oh, and make me some lasagna my dear", Elizabeth cooed. She stifled a snort.
"I am on my way" she said, and hurried away before they could add more chores to the list. She checked the clock, and it read ten o'clock. She had only four hours to finish multiple chores. But she could do it. After all, no hard work equaled no reward.
She took the ham and pizza from the fridge, put a slice in the microwave, she sliced the bread, grated the cheese and then smeared the mustard and mayo, slapped on the ham and voilà, the disgusting sandwich was done.
She pulled out the lasagna and left it to thaw while she gathered drinks, then pulled out the pizza half-time and stuck the lasagna into the microwave.
She jogged upstairs and went into Elaine's room. It was a pale blue color with pictures of musical instruments decorating it. She picked up the phone and slid into Eleanor's room, which was a nauseating pink with pictures of cats on the wall. She picked up the laptop phone.
She quickly dodged into Elizabeth's room with its mature cream and brown. She got the glasses and literally flew down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she shoved all the food onto a tray and proceeded to juggle all the items into the sitting room. She set down everyone's items without breaking a sweat, feeling quite pleased. She waited to be dismissed before rushing off to do her work.
Four hours later, Ana had succeeded in cleaning every inch of the kitchen, as well as catering to the wimps of her family, so by one am she trod sleepily out of the back door, to her room. Elizabeth found it distasteful to have help living in her home, so she was assigned a room at the back of the property which suited her just fine. She would have to be back at the house by four-thirty, so she hastened her steps.
Her room had minimal space, but there was a bathroom that ran with hot water. Although she never told her stepmother, the woman assumed that the bills being on the high side was her daughter's fault and Ana wasn't in a hurry to correct her. She shrugged off her clothes, slid into the bathroom and turned the knob, letting the water run hot. She then proceeded to scrub inch by inch. Once she was done, she tossed on new clothes and sneaked out the door. Shut it quickly, she turned towards the direction
of the forest and began her daily hike.
- Writer
