Her Unforeseen Destiny

Your Carriage Awaits

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Emmeline opened her eyes and glared at her alarm clock. She had been in the middle of a weird dream that had felt so real! She figured she must have been reading too much fantasy and supernatural rubbish recently since, in her dream, she had been surrounded by wolves. And not just any wolves either, wolves that she could communicate with. Wolves that understood her and that she understood. One large black wolf had nuzzled her hand and, as she awoke, she was convinced that she could still feel the sensation on her hand.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

She hit the snooze button on her alarm clock and was about to roll over for juuuuust another five minutes when her eyes flew open. It was today! It was finally here! 

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, suddenly feeling wide awake. It was the 19th of August and, for her, that meant it was the day that she turned 18. It was the day she would finally be able to move into her own flat and she would be free of annoying Alice at last.

Happy Birthday me, she thought to herself. Not that it was her actual birthday, though. She had been found in front of a small community hospital in nearby Draycott, a tiny village on the edge of the Mendip Hills. The hospital staff estimated that she was about five months old, and backdated her date of birth from the day that she was found. Apparently, they had found her in a bloodstained swaddling blanket, but totally free of injuries. 'EMMALEEN' had been scrawled on a bit of the blanket that was free from blood, and the hospital staff had named her Emmeline. The writing looked like a child had written it, so they had taken some liberty with the possibly wrong spelling. When she turned 16, she had decided she wanted to know as much information as she could. Alice had simply told her that she was abandoned, a 'foundling', and was fond of reminding Emmeline how someone had just abandoned her without a care in the world.

Emmeline shook herself out of her reverie. She sat up and swung her legs off the bed, slipping her feet into her well-worn slippers. She had bought them with her first paycheck from Mr Isaacs. Her first-ever luxury, she had thought at the time. She had seen some slippers and a dressing gown in the window of Marks and Spencers while on her lunch break last week and she had decided then and there that they would be her housewarming gift to herself. The slippers and the dressing gown both had ears, a pair on the hood of the dressing gown and a pair on each slipper, above an adorable face of an animal. Maybe a cute bear, she had thought, or maybe a big dog. Either way, she thought it was super cute and they would be ideal for getting cosy in her new home. 

MY new home, she thought proudly to herself. It was just a tiny one-bedroom apartment in one of the city's suburbs. Not one of the good suburbs, mind you, but also not one of the ones that you walk through with your hand firmly over your bag. The flat was in the basement of an old red brick townhouse. It didn't have the best natural lighting, but Emmeline figured that it just meant that she would have to make it extra cosy and also buy some cute lamps. It could have been a box or a tent with no roof, she thought to herself, and it would still be more of a home than in Alice's house. And, better still, it was hers. Well, hers as long as she paid her rent, at least. Mostly mine, she grinned to herself.

THREE HOURS LATER

It was 10am and Alice was still in bed. Emmeline turned off the stove and washed up the final bits of kitchenware that she had used to make pancakes. One of Alice's demands was that Emmeline made breakfast each day, and Saturdays were pancake day. Even though it was a Thursday, Emmeline figured that she might as well leave on a high note. Oh, and also remind Alice of what she would now have to get off her arse and do herself. 

Just as she was drying off the last pan and putting it away in its proper place, her phone buzzed on the countertop. She glanced over and saw that it was from her personal advisor, Laura. Laura had been a godsend for the past few months. She was from the local council and was part of their 'Post-18' team, who helped facilitate kids who were ageing out of the system. Each almost 18-year-old was assigned a personal advisor, which Emmeline always thought of as just a fancy word for a caseworker. Their advisor was there to help them transition to 'adult life' unless they had agreed with their foster family to stay for longer.

When Laura had mentioned about that option, and whether Emmeline had discussed staying with Alice until she was older, Emmeline had almost laughed in her face. She had controlled herself, though, and just said that she would prefer the freedom and the responsibility of independence. Laura had smiled understandingly and had then helped her find somewhere to live. Her rent was lower than most other places that weren't supported by the council, since there was an agreement in place with the landlord. It meant that, as long as she had a job, she would be able to cover her living costs without too much of a struggle. 

YOUR CARRIAGE AWAITS! Emmeline chuckled to herself as she read Laura's enthusiastic text message. She was lucky to have a good advisor since she knew that not all advisors were quite so jovial. Oh well, she thought to herself, I guess it's karma for dealing with arsey Alice.

Pulling on her faded denim jacket - faded from time, not from a style choice - Emmeline walked out of the kitchen and glanced up the stairs. There were still no sounds coming from awful Alice's room, but Emmeline wasn't about to go and wake her up to announce her imminent departure. Instead, she opened the front door, picked up her two bags, and left. She shut the door firmly behind her and posted her key through the letterbox. There was no going back now, and she was more than happy about that.