Selena rolled over on the ground under her moth-eaten blanket. She couldn’t sleep. Again. Selena sat up and looked around. There were about twenty other girls sleeping on the ground around her, all under moth-eaten blankets. Well, Selena wasn’t sure if they even were asleep. It was cold and uncomfortable, and no one was looking forward to the next day.

Madam Keres had invented a ‘holiday’ in the orphanage. No one would eat tomorrow at all, because it was Savior’s Day. Madam Keres invented this day, where no one would eat except her. She would get big, delicious meals and all the girls in the orphanage would starve for the whole day. Hurray. Madam Keres insisted it was a day to eat less food to save money and resources and give their savior’s a chance to like re-something. 

Selena laid back down and tried to relax. Yeah, right. Relax in Madam Keres’s Home for Girls. The most horrible looking place in Galvania. Galvania was once beautiful, and peaceful. Until the new king was crowned. Not new as in young, new as in the new ruler who must’ve been in his seventies. Then. That was ten years ago. He must be like eighty now.

When Selena was three, he was crowned. When her parents left a year later. Madam Keres had told all the girls that their parents had left because they didn’t want a girl for a child. And that’s what all the girls believed. Except Selena. She remembered one thing about her parents. They were sitting around her as she showed them her toys. Her mom had curly dark brown hair and big brown eyes. Her dad had short brown hair and hazel eyes. They lived happily in their kingdom of Galvania, until a knock on the door.

Selena believed the king was evil and took her parents. All the girls just thought their parents were evil for not wanting a girl. A sudden voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Selena!” A dark figure whispered. “Are you awake?” 

“I am now.” Selena sat up. “Ariel?”

“Yeah.” The figure came closer to Selena’s bed, or blanket on the ground. It was Ariel, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Selena raised her eyebrows. “Did you need something, or . . .”

“Oh, so you know how Savior’s Day is tomorrow?” Ariel didn’t wait for an answer. “And you know how we have to starve? Well, what if we snuck out and found some food, so instead of starving, we could be eating. Secretly.”

“Yeah, um, what about the part that, a, we’ve tried to sneak out, b, we are in an attic, and c, what food? And where would we find it? We’ve been here for like nine years!” Selena pointed out.

“It can’t be that hard. This place is famous for its food!” Ariel insisted.

“It was. Until King Stupid Head was crowned.” Selena snorted.

“But you don’t want to starve, correct?” Ariel said. “Remember the last Savior’s Day?” Selena did remember. It was horrible. She was starving and crying, and she wasn’t the only one. All the other girls, even the older ones, were upset.

“And the one before that? And the one before that? And-”

“Okay! I get it!” Selena exclaimed. “We can go look for food, but only if we bring enough back for the other girls.”
“Even Deirdre?” Ariel complained. Deidre was the girl who made life extra horrible by telling Madam Keres Ariel and Selena had done all these things they didn’t. 

“We’ll bring her some too. Maybe she’ll be nicer to us.” Selena said.
“Yeah, when Madam Keres gives us dessert.” Ariel snickered. “Fine, I just don’t want to starve. Let’s go.” Ariel wrapped her blanket around her.
“So how are we going to get out?” Selena wondered. “Looks like our options are climbing out of the attic and somehow making it to the ground or breaking the lock on the attic trap door then quietly going downstairs and getting the key to unlock the front door.” Ariel thought about this.

“We might as well try downstairs.” Ariel shrugged. “Madam Keres will probably be asleep.” Selena grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around herself. They walked towards the trapdoor that would lead them downstairs.
“It’s pretty old, we can probably break it. Wonder why we didn’t try to break it before.” Selena said, inspecting the lock. She hit it with a stick (yes, there were sticks in the attic, along with an assortment of bats, rats, and probably some demon in the corner). The lock broke off pretty easily and quietly. 

They walked down the narrow staircase to the second floor, where Madam Keres’s room was. They didn’t hear any snoring. Selena began walking down the next staircase to the first floor, with Ariel behind her. The first floor had the kitchen, a table, and across the room, a chair by fireplace. 

There was a large piece of paper on the wall above the fireplace with the daily routine and rules on it.

Daily Routine

Eat breakfast, toast.

Stations: S1 pulling weeds, S2 cooking, S3 cleaning

Dinner, cabbage soup

Rules

Don’t talk to each other, unless told otherwise

Don’t talk back to Madam Keres

When 18, you will be released and have to pay a fee of 10 gold coins

Go to sleep at 7 and wake up at 5.

Selena vowed to burn that paper one day. The large armchair moved. Was the chair snoring? Selena realized the evil woman who took care, well, ‘care’ of the girls was asleep in that chair!

“It’s Madam Keres!” Selena whispered alarmingly to Ariel. Ariel’s eyes widened. They dove behind the counter in the kitchen. They didn’t hear the screeching, raspy voice of their caretaker. They only heard snores.

“I think she’s still asleep.” Ariel whispered. Selena nodded. They got up and peeked at her chair. The large, hunched-over woman was fast asleep, her gray hair flying up every time she exhaled. The stand by her chair had a stack of gold coins and a half eaten cookie.

“Let’s go. We can unlock the door from in here.” Selena said. They walked over to the heavy wood door and unlocked it. They walked outside into the cold night air.