This
new woman, who I was ordered to call “dear mother” was a mix of atrociousness
and plain horror hidden under a mask of sugariness that she only unveiled for
those she truly loathed. She saw me as a homely child with no ultimate
potential in life and agreed heavily with father’s insights that I should be
shut away to slave for my new perfect family.

And of
course I couldn’t just have her to deal with but also her two unsightly
daughters. Their names were Esther and Claudette, very snobby sounding ones to
me. In a nutshell, snobby was the perfect way to describe them. If only I could
shut them away in one and hurl it in the river.

Just as
my father and “dear mother”, Esther and Claudette thought I was a disgusting
little wretch. Yes I wasn’t very clean 100% of the time but this was something
I could not help. Now that I wasn’t in school anymore, I spent all my time
cleaning and working under everyone’s orders. With three new people in the
house it took much more labour than two had. Esther, being two years younger than
Claudette was still in school as Claudette being close to the same age as me
was not.

With
the amount of ordering I got around the house from my sisters came the worry of
them discovering me. No one but my mother not even my father knew about the
curse. And now that she was gone it felt much heavier upon my shoulders. It was
a secret I guarded with my life, seeing as everything about me was tied up in
it. At first, when they didn’t quite know me yet, they treated me like a
sister. We got along and managed to complete a few slightly forced card games
on boring afternoons. But as the first few weeks passed by they both realized
that I was everything they hated rolled into one breathing human being. I was
sure that fact I was breathing fuelled the depths or their hatred.

I woke
up this morning with the most alarming feeling of dread that I was almost too afraid
to get out of bed. I dressed tentatively, while staring at the wall and
worrying that my life was about to end. Then I went downstairs to have
breakfast and face my family.

“Oh my
gosh you are not going out like that today. Someone go back upstairs and
redress that loser.” I saw Esther’s disgusted face as I entered in the kitchen.

Looking
down I saw that she was right. I was no fashion guru but my outfit was ghastly.
I blushed and kept my head down as I fixed some cereal for myself and made
breakfast for my parents. I was thankful Esther didn’t say anything else as I
quickly slipped back upstairs. As soon as the door closed the strange feeling
of dread from earlier washed over me. Oh. That was the reason for my mortifying
fashion sense this morning. I sat down at my desk with my cereal and ate
cautiously. Thinking about all my common worries that might be the reason for
my uneasiness was odd. Certainly wasn’t something that was the center of my
attention often. I guess my curse overshadowed all other worries and made them
too small to think about regularly. And if it did then it must be the reason
for my morning mishap. If I really felt my curse was to be exposed I would have
to be careful around Esther and Claudette. I’d already had a run in with
Esther. I had no idea where Claudette was. It was probably best if I didn’t
ask, besides, they might think I was looking for jobs to slave away at for her.

“RHEA!”

Darn.
Claudette was here, wherever she had been; she made it clear she was now here.
To avoid being ridiculed I quickly wolfed down my cereal and ran to find her.

Kitchen,
nope. Living room, nope. I recalled Esther bragging about how Claudette was
going to help her get an A on her science quiz. My theory was confirmed when I
found them in the library. I knew in an instant that Esther was not going to
get an A on this test, let alone ever. Both of the girls were surrounded by
their papers and science textbooks. But none of that stuff was getting paid
attention too. Esther and Claudette were both holding magazines and talking on
the phone.

“Um, hi
I’m here did you call?” before I said anything the girls had no indication I
was there.

“Of
course I did! Whatever make a fire will you?” The tone in her voice was cruel.
She knew I never had any luck in starting fires.

I had
to try. Major failures on my part were reported to father. And that never ended
well for me.

The library was the oldest part of the house
so therefore it was the only room with a fireplace. I gathered the necessary
supplies and kneeled down, this was the hard part. Of course as I suspected, my
match fumbling didn’t work.

“I
can’t believe mother married a man with such a simpleton for a daughter.”
Esther said noticing my shameful failure.

“My god
Rhea, you’re worthless you might as well cover yourself in ashes I don’t care. It
won’t make a difference in how people see you.

I
closed my eyes, swallowing, trying not to cry. Her words had been a direct
order, one word altered and I wouldn’t have to do it, but I did. I couldn’t remember a time when I didn’t have
this feeling. Like your body is not owned by your soul. As if this super being
of my imagination was my master and me their slave. Anyone who wished could
rent me with only the price of their words. I felt my hand being drawn towards
the cinders, my thoughts were blanketed and my mind disappeared.