Amethyst: A Collection Of Short Stories

vertdaile

Genre: [fantasy/ dystopian]//unedited.

____________________________

The morning was cold  and the sun was still relatively below the horizon. The streets light flickered on and off trying their best  to keep the streets illuminated, the dark blue sky and fog not doing anything to help. The scent of rain  hung through the air as droplets of water fell from the sky. It was almost calming and relaxing but feelings like these barely lasted in Vertdaile.

The gravel beneath Sequoia’s feet scrunched as she crossed the road.  She accelerated when she began hearing footsteps from behind her.  Sequoia dared to raise her head and turn back locking eyes with a blonde boy who looked bit younger than her.

“Shit.” She cussed as she noticed the tattoo on his neck.

She clutched unto her cleaning bucket and began jogging , her dress being a hindrance as she was constantly almost tripping. Faster. Faster. Faster.

She was suddenly pushed from behind. Her palms scraped the gravel as she tripped and fell on the ground. The content from her bucket flew everywhere, a toilet  brush whacking him in the face.  She swallowed her scream watching  her blood trickle down her arm and splatter on the ground.

“Didn’t see you there. Your ears were in my way." He said, adjusting his white tee shirt.

She stared at him from the ground, her eyes conveying every insult she wanted to yell. She wanted to stand up and fight him but she remained on the ground. Coward.

“Not gonna scratch and scream ?”  He laughed.

She looked him dead in the eye. He had his arms crossed around his torso and  his legs were slightly apart. As she stared in his eyes them noticed a shift in emotion. He looked  at the blood stain on her arms. From there, his eyes roamed her  face and her body. He took an uneasy step back, regret settling on his face.

“I-I’m sorry.” He ran away and Sequoia stared at him in confusion.

She cleaned herself up and began walking to work, tears falling from her eyes. The pain she had to endure because she was different. She missed her mother so much and she just wished she didn’t have to live in fear. She wished she had friends. She wished she was normal. She wished she wasn’t discriminated because of her ears. She just wished she could be happy.


As the days passed, the light at the end of the  tunnel became darker and dimmer. Every passing day without her mother was like pouring milk before cereal: agony. She would lay on her wooden floors, reminiscing in old memories. Some good, some bad. Sometimes, she wished she could turn the hand of time to  when she was being an ungrateful brat. To the times where the memories weren’t perfect because now more than ever, Sequoia needed all the memories of her mother to fuel her along her journey .


Eventually, she reached the house she was meant to clean. Scratch that. She reached the mansion she was meant to clean: high fence, decorated gates, beautiful architecture. For a moment all Sequoia could do was stare in awe, marveling at the beauty. She walked in front of the gate and banged on it.

A peephole slid open and the gate man asked, “who are you and what are you doing at Mr. Bommens?”

Her face paled. “Mr. B-Bommens?” .

“Yes. Please leave if you have no business here.”

Her breaths became labored  and her palms began to sweat.

“Give me a minute.” She shakily responded, swallowing a huge gulp of saliva.

Bending over, she placed her sweaty palms on her knees and tried to clear her mind. This house was the last house her mother cleaned. Rumors flew on the street that Mr. Bommens, the most powerful man in Vertdaile, stored Jirils under his house. To enter this house would be a very stupid move but not entering would mean never having  a chance to find  her mother or get closure. Sequoia’s eyes clouded with tears and her throat contracted. She had to make a decision:

Go in and risk the chance of living under a house or save yourself?

“Uh…Ma’am…? Are you okay?” The gate man asked.

“Oh! Uh…Yes! I’m good…”

“Look, you’re wasting my time. I have pressing issues to attend to.”

She nodded at stared at the sky.

“MA'AM YOU’RE —”

“ ALRIGHT!” She exclaimed. “ I’m Sequoia. Hired from Cleaners For Hire?”

“You got dementia or something?.” He opened up the gate and she slipped in. She marveled at the huge house, blown away  The driveway was circular, a water fountain in the middle. Flowers lined the fences and the gardeners were already doing their jobs and right in front of her was a perfect building.

“Wow,” she breathed.

The architectural aspect of the house was simple. The walls were white and looked freshly painted. Right in front of her, the main house door, two intricately designed pillars stood by both sides giving it a sort of uniqueness. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Yet, people swam in poverty. Just like her and her Ma. Her one bedroom wooden house was barely holding together yet, they still embezzled taxes from the poor.
She sighed.

◇○○○○○○○○○◇○○○○○○○○○○◇

2 Hours in, she was done sweeping and dusting their luxurious sitting room. Now, she was washing the guest toilet. For rich people with etiquette, this was the worst toilet she had washed. Stains of urine were everywhere including floors. Maybe they weren’tas perfect as they seemed. Oh well, the more hours she spent the more money she collected therefore, the more food she ate. She got on all fours and began to scrub the toilet floors, wincing when she applied pressure to her injured palms.

When she was done, she grabbed her cleaning kit and began cleaning the rooms, taking things —and hiding them in her dress— that would be useful to her. She was cleaning a girls room (most likely Bommens daughter) when she found something very familiar to her under the girl’s bed: a silver earring with a green leaf. She grabbed it and sat on the water bed.

“Ma…” Her eyed glossed over and she smiled .”She was actually here!” She stood up and slipped the earring in her pockets assuming that her mother had the second one. “Maybe coming into Bommens house wasn’t the  dumbest thing to do, after all. I can find clues and.”

She flicked her forehead. “You’re no detective, broom stick.”

While she searched through the girl’s closet for things to steal and ‘clues', she heard female voices and footsteps  approaching.

“Fxck!” She panicked and  grabbed her bucket, shutting herself in the bathroom

“Babes. Hold on. I’m just gonna grab my earring. Emily’s party is gon' be lit!”

After a few minutes of shuffling and groans, the frustrated girl screamed. “I swear that thing fell under my bed, yesterday!”

Sequoia brought out her Ma's earring and stared at it.

“Daddy’s gonna be so pissed.”

“It’s just  a stupid earring, Hannah. Tell him to get over it.”

“No, you don’t  understand. Daddy bought it from Greece.”

Sequoia frowned at the earring in her hand. No, she was positive this was her Ma's. She clenched it and sighed dropping it in between the girls beauty products.
The bathroom door handle jingled.
“Shoot!” Sequoia exclaimed, quickly unlocking the door, a toilet wipe in hand.

“What the fuvk?”

“Oh uh, I’m a cleaner.”

Hannah brushed past her searching through her cabinets and screaming when she couldn’t find it. Sequoia gulped and shakily reached through the beauty products and brought it out.

“Here ma’am.”

She snatched it from Sequoia and glared at her. “How did you find it you wretched dixotic?”

“It glinted,” she said, pointing at the sun. we love a talented liar, she thought.

Hannah rolled her eyes and walked out, making sure to slam her bathroom door.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” She grabbed her hair and walked in front the mirror with a groan.
She looked at herself in distaste, awful thoughts  running through her mind.

“Nope not today, Sequoia. Get to work.” She told herself.

She continued cleaning the huge mansion, humming songs her Ma would sing to her. Finally she reached the kitchen. The one place she had been hoping to clean. The kitchen was perfect. It had white tiled floors, a matching counter, white cabinets and white utensils. Just for a second, she imagined her self as an American white woman dressed in a pencil skirt and a powerful blazer bossing people around. Alas, that dream was far from her harsh reality.

She shut the kitchen doors and quickly went through the cabinets looking for where dry foods were kept. She grabbed a pack of nuts and dried berries. They were carefully hidden in her clothes. Next, she raided the fridge, eating as fast as she could and pocketing what she could take home. Sighing in relief, she grabbed the bottle of water on the counter and downed it, listening to the radio.

“…A new source of energy has just been discovered in Vertdaile! It’s eco-friendly and powerful enough to be used across the whole planet…”
A loud burp erupted from her mouth and just then, two men  walked in.

Their laughter echoed through her ears and heat filled her cheeks.

She hung her head low and fiddled with her fingers, waiting for them to leave. If she had looked at them or noticed their black gloves, their boots or even the tattoo on their necks maybe she would’ve seen what was coming next.

◇○○○○○○○○○○◇○○○○○○○○○○◇

A/N

Yes!! There you have it.

What do you think happened to her? This "energy source" on the radio, where did it come from?

Vertdaile was the name of the book. Thinking about it now, it wasn't too bad. Huh. I might make it into a story of 10 chapters. Who knows?

Thank you for reading (silent readers included! )

Don't forget to vote/comment/share!

~Nelly.