Chapter 11
I woke up when the door creaked open. I reached out, but the other side of the bed was empty causing disappointment to flood through me.
“Oh, sorry.” I heard Alana’s squeal. I opened my eyes to her backpedaling, but I put my hand up to stop her and waved her in.
“I didn’t realize you were still sleeping since the Alpha King left so early this morning.” She explained.
I gave her an it’s okay sign and moved to sit up, wrapping the blanket around me as I did. She came further into the room, a breakfast tray in hand. This time though, it had only a
couple of new things that I had never eaten, and more of the things I ate the most of
yesterday.
I gave her a small smile and took the tray. I couldn’t believe someone would have noticed
what I liked and didn’t like. It was so weird to be noticed like that.
“So, the Alpha King said he would be gone all day, and we were free to spend the day however you like. Is there anything special you’d like to do?” She asked with excitement
in her voice.
I shrugged. Was there anything I would like to do? I thought about it as my eyes fell on
the chalkboard, the Alpha King kept insisting I use. My picture of the bird was still on it.
What could I do to at least give myself the illusion of freedom. I would feel more
confident if I knew my way around the house better. I grabbed my chalkboard between
bites and drew a picture of a flower, hoping she’d understand.
She squinted at it before smiling in understanding.
“The garden?” She asked to make sure she was right. “You want to explore the garden?”
I nodded eagerly. I didn’t realize how much I wanted to until right now. Especially because I loved flowers. I always had. I grabbed the chalkboard back and started to draw again. I added a + and a picture of a house.
“And the house?”
I nodded a little less enthusiastically, but still ready for a day that was completely my
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Chapter 11
own.
Alana was also enthusiastic. I didn’t know if it was true, but she looked to be a little younger than I was, but I also knew my experience around others wasn’t very good, so my perception of everything seemed to be off.
Alana helped me pick a sundress that she said would, “bring out my eyes.” And she combed my hair for me, which was really nice, so I didn’t have to pull at my still very open wounds. I appreciated her and her kindness. I knew I was her job, but it was still
kind.
I enjoyed the garden for a lot of the afternoon. There were lots of spots that I thought were pretty magical. I could imagine coming out here to draw and paint, and just exist
happily.
We spent almost the whole day outside in the sun. It was the longest I could ever remember being out in the sunshine. It was getting dark by the time I finally allowed us to go inside to explore the house. Alana chatted away, not caring that I didn’t talk back, and sometimes she’d ask me questions, and I’d draw it out or write in simple words to answer her questions.
The house was beautiful. She showed me the kitchen where there were about 5 servants cooking dinner. I hadn’t really noticed that I missed lunch until Alana said, “It smells so good, I’m starving!”
She grabbed a snack, one for her and one for me, and we continued on our way. I saw the dining area, the family area, and the game room. She also stated that there was an indoor pool on this floor as well, but it was closed right now, so we couldn’t go see it. There were only like 6 bathrooms on the first floor alone. Then we walked up to the second floor. This was where a lot of the people who worked here lived. Alana showed me her room. She had a hot pink accent wall, and posters of all different bands hanging everywhere. I couldn’t help but find a little bit of joy in it.
