Lucy - A Selection Story

Lucy: The Ring

Everyone is quiet. Even Astra, sweet thing, is silent. May picks at her food, and Gerad hums a little tune. America is staring daggers at Kota, who looks straight at the wall behind her. Magda is absent, and in the corner of my eye, I see her at Shalom's memorial, praying. James just looks awkward. 

I eat my food whole-heartedly, and excuse myself. Aspen nods at me,  but I look away, still saddened by the whole Aspen and America fling. 

I wipe away another tear, as I back into the hallway. 

I lay down on the prepared floor-mattress, and fall asleep again, ignoring the sounds of screeching forks and knives. 

"And you have to follow all of our commands."  Chance says. 

My father and I nod, while Chance winks at me. 

I blush and look away. I exit outside, and the fresh air is horrifying. There was a fire today. Shouldn't there be smoke? I shake my head, as my father follows me outside. 

"Lucy, you didn't have to accept this job."  he says finally, as we start shoveling poop out of the stables. 

A butler comes out before  I can answer, and I am whisked away. Chance's place is a mess. There are candy wrappers everywhere. Bags of chips lie on the floor as another maid, pregnant, sweeps the floor. I shudder. 

Chance waits for me in the kitchen, and he laughs at my disgusted expression. I curtsy before him, but he smiles and pulls me up. 

"Lucy, you don't have to do that." I shake my head and bow again, before starting to cook dinner. I heat up the stove, and start chopping veggies. I pour them into the mixture, and start mincing garlic. before I can put it into the pot, he grabs some chives and puts it in, one by one. 

I smile at him, and he winks at me, before leaving again. I start to pour in some spices, but Chance comes up behind me again, and kisses my hand. I blush furiously, and shy away. 

He blushes himself, and quickly pulls back before settling down in the living room.  

.     .     .

The world is quiet when it is dusk, and my father is already sleeping, exhausted from the day he had. I smile, and turn over, opening a drawer. There, inside, is a tiny thing. 

There is a box.

An engagement ring. One stone is blue, and the other is green, and they both alternate along the path of the ring. I smile, and put it on my finger. I try to pull it off. It isn't coming off, and I start to panic. 

Get it off! I think in my head. I even sit up and move to the other bed, so as not to disturb Father. He groans from the weigh impact, and turns over, only to see me struggling. 

"Lucy?" my father asks, momentarily confused. 

"Nothing. Some bleach just got on my hand." I whisper. He nods his head, smiling and turns back to the wall. 

The next day, I try everything to get it off. Oil, water, even laundry detergent. But it wraps around my finger little by little, and I can feel it getting tighter. 

I am so focused on trying to get it off, that Chance comes around and scares me. 

"Ah!" I yell, then cover my mouth. His mother, leans back in her chair, and glares daggers at me. Chance laughs, and I giggle when he turns her back on me. 

"So, Lucy, what are you planning to do today?" he asks me, curious. I giggle. 

"I think that I'm going to do some laundry, and mop the floor," I answer. 

He frowns. "Wouldn't you rather spend time with me?" he pouts. I smile. 

"Chance, we can't talk, or even spend time together." I protest. 

"I'll protect you!" he says determinedly. I laugh again, but I start to walk away., He blocks the entrance to the laundry room. 

"Hey!"  I say accusingly, as he holds up his hands and walks away. I giggle as he leaves, letting out a huge sigh. He wasn't like other upper-class boys that I had seen, or noticed. He seemed, sensitive, familiar, and even kind. There weren't many people in the upper castes who were kind. His mother, on the other hand, I drew in a breath. 

I bumped into the pregnant maid I had seen earlier. She was breathing hard, and her stomach was bulging. 

"Are you okay?" I ask, concerned. She nods her head weakly. 

"I think he's coming!" she shouts, as two more maids and  butler come rushing in. One already has a boiling pot of water, and the others have towels. The butler stands by, consoling her as she breathed hard. I stand by. I had seen my mother give birth, but it was deemed a miscarriage, and sadly threw him away. 

This wasn't how you did it. One maid was shaking he was about to faint. I sat timidly, curling up into a ball, hoping no one would ask me to help. I wasn't in for it, anyway. I heard screams and crying, as I covered my ears. A baby boy was there, in one maid's arms. The butler helped the pregnant mother sit up, as she held the baby. She cooed to it, and it grabbed her finger. The maids crowding her laughed. 

The mother came in. The maids became rigid, and the pregnant mother stiffened. The butler stood, his back straight. 

"What is the meaning of this?" she asked. 

The pregnant lady stood up, her knees wobbly.  

"My Lady, I was just, um," she stammered, making it hard to understand. 

"Out!" she screamed. 

The maid nodded, and walked out the door, handing the baby off to me. I protested, saying I didn't want it, and held the baby at arms length. It cooed, and made a sound that was almost a laugh. 

I grabbed my finger. I pulled it away. I looked close into his eyes. They were a chestnut brown, and his hair, well, he was bald, so I couldn't really tell. 

"Lucy!" Chance entered the laundry room, and I heard screams and screeching. He winced as he heard the deafening sounds of shrieks. He watched the baby in my hands squirm as it reached for Chance. He laughed. 

"I wish I could be a father," he lamented. 

"You can!" I said encouragingly. 

"No. I am deemed unable to have children."  he sobbed. I consoled him, the baby in his arms. The baby didn't seem so monstrous now. He cooed again to the baby, and my heart softened watching them play. 

I could see Chance and me playing with a kid, and another of me pregnant. I shook myself out of it. 

"Lucy!" a voice called, but it wasn't Chance's. 

"Lucy!" another voice called, but it still wasn't Chance's. 

I snapped back to the present.