Mon amour, ma vie

2

When the sun came up that morning, you felt at peace. The sun always reminded you of hope. No matter what happened, it would always rise again. No matter if it rained for a thousand years, you'd still have hope it'd rise again, for that was how some things worked on this strange little world that we called Earth. You viewed the moon in the same way. For all creatures needed sleep, and it was usually in the dark, but the moon was there to remind people that not everything was dark in life, or at least, you liked to view it that way.

So, for six long, tedious, painstaking days, you walked along the cool hilly countryside of France. Since it was now early winter, the wind blistered your pale hands. Your face slowly grew pale by each passing moment and your cheeks by the sixth day were hollow. Your eyes had dark circles under them, but now your eyes were dry. For they were aware that this would all be worth it, for they knew this was the beginning of a new start, like the sun rising in the East.

You knew, despite being alone, expecting a child, and having little money, that everything was going to get better and that the worst was over. All of your husband's nasty words and abuse were now not able to be heard and he couldn't lay a finger on you or your child. He was now at least one hundred miles away, probably further.

On your third night, as the sun went down beyond the horizon, you reached the little more than halfway point, you finally reached Evereux. For three nights, you'd slept in the bushes with a blanket, but tonight was the coldest night, and you were sure you could find a place that only charged half a shilling or 5 pennies, or at least something cheap that'd keep you warm.

So, as you felt the hole in your boot touch the cold brick ground, you walked under the arch that read "Evreux" and entered the strange new city. As a young girl, your parents didn't get out much. They'd on a couple occasions had taken you to the seaside, but that was rare. But you didn't blame them. Your father was just trying to provide enough money so you could eat and your mother to keep the house clean, so all of this, even though only 150 miles away, was quite foreigner to you.

You kept your head down. For you had heard horror stories of women who went out late and were never heard from again, either then a scream in the dark or so. But you made sure to look around a bit.

Most of the lights were out and there were many sharp edges and turns, with dangerous men and shekty women that lurked behind them. Drawing your shawl closer around you, you saw what appeared to be a boarding house. Getting closer, there was a large sign in the window. It was a boarding house and one night cost five pennies. You said a little prayer, tanking for this blessing. You got out five pennies and quietly knocked.

An old lady came to the front and opened the old wooden door. She becken you in and you followed suit. It was still chilly inside the boarding house, but was much warmer. She started walking and you followed her. She brought you up a long flight of stairs and opened the 2nd door on the right. She held out a hand and you placed five pennies in her hand.

"Thank you." You whispered. She only nodded and was silent, and went off. You sighed, most elder women in France that were poor were like her. Thin, wrinkled, and without much purpose, other than wanting their son who perhaps perished in the revolution.

France had been in a political turbulence for the past twenty years or so, though it was now calming down. You understood nothing of politics, for you were a woman, and you didn't belong anyway, but you remembered your father telling you stories of the revolution. The reign of terror luckily never came to where you lived, but you had fond memories of your mother being terrified of it. Since you had been born in 1785 your parents had always been worried about the revolution, especially because your family were never the biggest supporters of the monarchy.