Once They Lived In Peace - FIRST DRAFT

Chapter XV

It's the next left, then another left, then it's the small cottage with dead ivy on it and a brown door.' said Love.

'Got it.' said Malice impatiently. 'Left, left, dead ivy house.' She tapped her foot. 'Goodbye then. See you hopefully never again.' She turned to walk away.

'Wait!' shouted Love. Malice continued walking. 'Come back!' She turned innocently, her dress flying around her, and strolled back to the gates.

'Missing me already, Love?' Malice said. An infuriating smile was plastered onto her face. She knew it was annoying Love.

'What's your address?' Love pleasingly voiced the question. Malice put on a fake smile.

'Oh it's the two-floor house with green roof tiles.' Malice said.

Love rolled her eyes. 'Sorry, but how would I know what colour the roof is? Look - can you, can you just, like, give me more detail. I was the perfect model of explanatory. You could at least try!'

'Okay, sheesh!' snarled Malice. 'White door, tidy front garden with elderberry and saffron growing in neat little rows. There's a blue mailbox. Happy?'

'Where is it? Like where in Baltia. I don't have time to go through the whole city.'

'7 rooves west of the Tolita and 10 north.'

'Where's that?'

Malice casually ignored her. She turned on her heels and walked away. She was so glad to be rid of that frustrating girl. Boy, could she whine. 

She turned onto a winding lane. Gosh, it was cold in Barrenville. She clutched her flimsy jacket. Love had forbidden her to put fur or multiple layers in the jacket, because 'you wouldn't do that in the wild.' Instead it was plain, thin cotton for a jacket and bamboo roots knitted together to make a 'dress'. Whether it could be counted as an item of clothing was debatable, much more a wearable one.

Wait. Had Love said two lefts, or three? And how many rights? Was she to take any rights? The houses were all the same! There was so many people around her, she needed space. She ducked into a side alley and tried to control her thoughts. 

She was looking for a dead ivy house. She couldn't see any dead ivy houses at the moment. Ergo, she needed to look for one. Directions didn't matter anyways. She could climb a house and that would give her a better viewpoint. 

Reaching for a pipe, she swung herself up to the roof of a Barrener house. Gosh, did they not know how to clean their rooves? It's only respectful to those who use it. Sheesh. So impolite, here in Barrenville. She leaped to the next one. Then she noticed a dead ivy leaf, on the roof of a house nearby. That must be Desdemona's house!

Full of excitement and less full of caution, she bounded over. Then, she made the last jump to her house and... 

Her vision was suddenly full of broken tiles and wood planks. She felt herself falling, then landing with a thud on some sort of cheap bed. She looked around. There was broken glass and wood planks everywhere. She saw a few smashed vases. Oops.

Great first impression. She had wrecked Desdemona's roof and demolished her bedroom. What a great way to set off the next however-long. 

Her heart sped up. She heard footsteps from the downstairs. She tried to quickly make the mess better, but it didn't work. The door opened, and Desdemona came in.

Her long, grey hair was tied up in a messy bun. Her eyes were a deep black hole, her mouth was opened in a little O shape. Her hands were really dusty, as well as her simple black (but more grey from all the dust)  dress and brown apron. She had a small fur coat. 'I hate you, Love.' she muttered under her breath. So they did wear fur. 

It wouldn't matter once Desdemona kicked her out anyway.