The Tale Of A Century

Chapter 1

1913 - Mary

Another drop of sweat dripped down Mary's forehead as she walked in the dreaded heat. Mary could imagine a million things she would rather be doing. Playing with her siblings, Sleeping, anything but finding food but she knew that she had to find something for her family to eat.

It was hard work but seeing her siblings faces light up when she served something for a meal made the whole trip worthwhile. Mary's family couldn't afford food because they needed a place to live.

Sometimes Mary wished they could just live on the streets and buy food instead of having all the hard work that it took to get some food. She knew her parents meant well but it was just so hard to find anything that wasn't spoiled from the heat.

Mary decided to take a walk through the town and see if the rich people or stores had anything they had just wasted. She knew the bakery normally had something. She rumaged through their bin and found a loaf of bread with the edges burnt.

Afterwards she went to Mrs.Cranily's house. She always had wasted something. She started searching through her bin but she accidently knocked it over.

'Hey! Who is out there? Come here you little rascal!' Mary raced as fast as she could. She shouldn't of worried though as Mrs.Cranily is old and can't run. With her walking stick she set after Mary but in a couple seconds Mary was out of her sight.

Mary didn't take long to get home since they live near Mrs.Cranily. As Mary opened the door she was greeted buy her four younger siblings, her aunt, her mother and her father. She looked at everyone. They all looked so thin. If she looked at herself she knew she would see a short skinny brown haired girl with a dirty dress and filthy skin. All Mary wanted was a decent meal and a bath but her family couldn't afford either of those things.

She told them about her day - the bread and Mrs.Cranily - and everyone told her about theirs. Her two sisters said they played together and her two brothers said they died from the heat and now they are ghosts. Her mum worked for the local grocery store and her dad tried to catch some fish in the river but he only caught two small fish. Her auntie found scraps of materials to make some new clothes. Mary's auntie always made amazing clothes.

They had their dinner which was 1/4 of a fish and 1/8 of the bread loaf but they were happy with that because it was the first meal they had all day. That night before she went to bed, all Mary could think about was how her life will always be the same.

2013 - Karen

It was Friday afternoon at school. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Yes! Karen yelled in her head. Lunch break was always a great time. She loved to see her friends as much as possible and thats why school ruined her life.

Karen went to a posh girls only school which she didn't mind but school always got in the way of her social life. Not only school but homework from school too. Karen thought that if you go to school for 30 hours a week that its enough.

She walked to the place that her and her friends always hang out. Sadly she walked past Britany and her group of friends. Britany is the most popular girl in school. She's a cheerleader, says she has a high school boyfriend and she is mean. To everyone.

'Hi Carrot! OMG! I have that exact same t-shirt. For my dog from the 2 dollar cheap store.' Karen always ignored Britany's rude comments. She's over it.

'Actually my name's Karen and this shirt is from Supré. Nice chatting with you.' And with that she walked off with a smirk on her face. Karen didn't dare look back but she knew Britany would be giving her dirty looks.

By the time Karen reached her friend group's hanging out spoy, her friends, Claudia, Kaitlyn and Maddy were waiting for her. Karen told them about Britany and her friends. They all told eachother what they were doing on the weekend. It had only felt like 5 minutes when the lunch break bell rang, signalling for all the students to get back to class.

Karen impatiently sat through maths and science before she got to go home. Karen walked down Sullavin Avenue to reach her house at the end of the street.

She thought her house was amazing. It survived WW1 and WW2. When Karen and her mum bought the house it was only 200,000 dollars because of the condition it was in. They rebuilt the broken walls and floor and repainted everything. They bought furniture that matched the house perfectly and built a verandah. This all cost alot of money but Karen and her mum are basicly rich. When Karen got inside she found a note by the kitchen bench.

Dear Karen,

Unfortunately I can not come home until nine tonight. There was a big emergancy meeting at work.

Love, Mum xoxo

Karen was used to these sort of notes. She got one about 3 times a week. Her mum was a scientist and was often being late home because of a breakthrough, emergancy or a lesson. Her mum decided to have science lessons to make sure she does everything right.

At that moment Karen's schnauzer puppy, Rebel came bounding into the room carrying one of Karen's bras in his mouth.

'You know what Rebel? I would of loved it if you didn't live up to your name. She laughed and snatched her bra from Rebel then put it in the bin.

Next she looked through the cupboard for something she could cook for dinner. She found some pasta and started boiling the water for it in a pot. She put the pasta in the pot and played with Rebel for half an hour.

Karen got Rebel because Karen is an only child. Karen sometimes wishes she had a sibling but she's ok without one.

Half an hour later she had dinner. She sat at their 6 seater table by herself and ate half of the pasta. She put the leftovers into the fridge. She wrote a note to her mum.

Dear Mum,

I really hate you missing out on dinner all the time. I left some pasta in the fridge for you.

Miss you, Karen

That night all Karen could think about was how her life will always be the same.

** Is this ok? This is my 1st story i've started posted so ya. Plz comment tips! thx, really appreciate it!**