Sure As a Star

Chapter One

TW: Mention of death and illness, being underweight, and mention of sucky work conditions.

She wanted to scream. Theodosia, the usual calm and collected girl, wanted to scream. She wanted to scream at whatever greater power was out there until she was too exhausted to continue. A million whys flooded her mind. Why this, why that? Why did this happen to the ones she loved most? She recalled the doctor's words that made her heart drop.

"Their illness....it's incurable, I'm sorry."

Her mama and her younger sister, the ones she loved the most. They were eventually going to die and there was nothing she could do to save them. She could only make them comfortable until the illness took them from her.

It took months after the diagnosis for her to accept those circumstances. It took her half of that time to accept that the coward she'd called a father wasn't coming back. He'd fled as soon as the doctor was called. He knew whatever they had was serious and he didn't want to stay long enough to catch it.

He'd taken everything he thought was valuable that he could grab in a hurry. In return, most of what he had left was sold for money. They didn't had time to grieve over the husband and father who'd abandoned them. They needed the money more even if he'd hadn't left much.

She was brought back to reality by a knocking at the door. Sure enough, it was her Aunt Hazel. She'd visit once every few weeks to check on her sister and her nieces.

Not that she truly cared.

The brunette woman scanned her oldest niece in disgusted. "Theodosia, you must eat, you've barely got any meat on you!"

"Yes ma'am." She mumbled and kept her gaze at her feet. It wasn't her fault that food was scarce.

"You must listen to me dearest, no man would ever want a scraggly thing like you. Why do you think I was able to marry your uncle? Looks are very important to a man! It's about time for you to find a husband so it's time for you to start caring about your appearance!" With that, she tromped over to where her sister was resting and whispered things in her ear. This was a normal occurrence. Theodosia left to make supper. She was used to her aunt's comments, it was just part of her lovely personality. She stared at the cupboard with a frown. There was only enough food for a few more meals. She would need to visit the market soon.

After speaking with the three for about twenty minutes, Aunt Hazel bid them farewell and left. Theodosia sighed in relief, another visit survived. For once, the woman hadn't commented on the unkept state of their home or clothes. The girl divided the supper into three portions and handed them out.

After a few bites, the silence was interrupted by her sister. "Thea?"

"Yes Lili?"

"Why is Aunt Hazel so cruel to you?"

Their mother chimed in, her voice raspy. "Because she is jealous of your sister. She couldn't have such a hardworking and independent daughter if she tried. She's also angry that we won't allow her to cut your beautiful hair, Lillian."

"Thank you, mama."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you, mama."

"You're welcome, lily pad. Now finish your food, I want you to be just as tall as your sister."

"I don't think a nine year old should be as tall as me. I'm almost fifteen..."

"Hush, Theodosia," She scolded, "You want her to eat, don't you?"

Later that night, the girl sat out on the fire escape, bathed in the moonlight. She needed to get her thoughts together. There was no doubt about it, she needed a solid job. Sure, she had done plenty of smaller jobs but they weren't going to keep her going forever. She didn't think she would, but she missed her old job, which was working at a textile factory. She had been let go due to the higher-ups not wanting her to possibly infect the other workers.

The pros overweighted the cons. She didn't care about the long and grueling hours, the unsafe work environment, or the miles she had to walk to and from the factory. Not even her cruel boss who wasn't afraid to injure his workers if he thought they needed it. All she cared about was that it was enough to support her family.

She doubted that she'd have any luck at other factories, word spread fast among the bosses.

The best bet was smaller business or business that didn't track their employees every move. She'd start looking in the morning.

A hand was placed on her shoulder. She whirled around to find her mother who had wrapped herself in a few blankets to try her best to keep out the cold from the night.

"Why are you out here? You should be sleeping."

"So should you, what are you worrying about tonight, dove?"

"Nothing mama." She frowned. Her mother didn't need to know about her plan. She sat down and wrapped an arm around her. "I can clearly see that something is bothering you. I can see it on your face, in your eyes."

"Nothing you should be worrying about yourself. I'll take care of it. Your job is to stay....stay alive." Her face stayed neutral, if she could see that her daughter was stressed then who knows what else could be given away just by her expressions.

"Thea," she called out, "What is it? Tell me."

"It's nothing, I promise."

"Please tell me, I don't want you to carry any burden alone."

"I told you, it's nothing. It's nothing, mama." She reassured

"Is it about Lili and I?"

"No, it's not about you two." She spat, starting to get annoyed.

"Okay, okay don't tell me then. Just...whatever it is please promise me that you'll stay safe and you won't let it mess with your life."

"I promise. Now, will you promise go to sleep?"

"I promise, cross my heart and hope to die." With that she let out a few coughs which made her daughter's heart drop. The woman was helped up and brought back to bed. After being tucked in, she grabbed her daughter and pulled her close. "I love you, my sweet dove. Goodnight."

"I love you too, sleep well."

//Hello lovely readers! Thank you for reading. I decided it would be nice to ask a question every chapter so please answer in the comments if you feel inclined. This chapter's question is what is your favorite color)s?