Hyrie clutched the letter to her chest as she hurriedly slipped on the crimson pumps her mother had handed her as a form of encouragement. Her eyes had dried and a stoic look of pure happiness and freeness bloomed on her face, her way of showing glee among others.
Hyrie took off the moment the heels were secured on her feet, going too fast for someone in that kind of shoe-wear. She ran down the street before slowing down to a fast walk as the previous adrenaline washed out of her system. Just a moment ago, her mother had sat her down and helped her fill out the form in her hands, answering some of the questions when she didn't know some answers about her own self.
Thirteen years of raising a daughter had made one knowledgeable about every little thing, her mother had said. As Hyrie walked to her destination, she pulled out the form again to reread the contents, not wanting there to be any mistakes in the writing.
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Name: Hyrie Jaeun Sung
Caste: 5
Age: 17
Date of Birth: September 5th
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 47 kg
Description (detailed): Long black hair, dark eyes, pale skin, small frame, small hands and feet
Hobby: Music (listening to or engaging in), Art, Dance
Special Talent: None
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Hyrie sighed at the last category. It was true, there was nothing special that she was good at. All fives do music as that is the only thing they could do, Hyrie is no different than the others. And truth be told, the matter was so far down her priority list that it was almost laughable.
Just as she turned the corner on Sakura street, what greeted her was the many many vibrant colored dresses. Ranging from citrine yellow to cerulean blue to dashing pinks. The line of young women stretched farther than she could see as if the Post Office sprouted a tail in the time since she saw it just this morning on her way back home.
"This is insane..." Hyrie whispered into the air. "Complete and utterly insane." She quickly joined a group of girls wearing matching verdurous green short skirts at the end of the line, tucking stray pieces of hair behind her ear where they had escaped from her bun. One girl in creamy chocolate pig-tails turned and her eyes widened at the sight of Hyrie's traditional Chinese dress.
"I love your dress!" She exclaimed, mouth wide in awe as her friends turned at her shout, simultaneously catching sight of her dress as well and gasping in unison. Hyrie gave a small smile and tilted her head slightly to nod a thank you, subconsciously drawing herself closer to hide from the attention.
Hyrie tapped her foot to an imaginary song in her head as she watched the line gradually get shorter, occasionally catching other girls eyeing her dress from ahead of her. Sighing in exasperation, Hyrie productively passed the time by fingering her violin notes on her forearm in accordance to a new piece she was in the works of creating, storing away ideas in the back of her mind to be written down later. She broke out of her musical reverie just as the click of the camera shutter could be heard from ahead, close enough now that she could see the set up of cameras, lights, and a large white sheet of paper hanging behind a wooden stool.
The brown-haired girl that had complimented Hyrie's dress finished her picture and got off the stool, skipping away from the makeshift platform happily. The woman behind the obviously high-quality camera gestured for Hyrie to take a seat at the stool. One look at the worn woman told Hyrie that she'd had been there for a while. Pitying her, Hyrie quickly handed over her form and ascended the three steps onto the platform and took a seat.
"Smile." The woman said with a heavy undertone to compensate her weariness as if the eyebags wasn't enough to show it.
Just at that particular moment, as if the saints above were having fun, Hyrie looked past the woman and saw her own father crossing the street, hurrying to some unknown place to work for the night shift that was supposed to be her responsibility. A guilty sentence settled on her shoulders as her eyes dropped to the dirt ground, her hands clenching at the fabric of her dress in her lap.
Miranda's words echoed in her head once again, Hyrie, I want you to do whatever it is you want to do and this opportunity is a chance for you to get every luxury you've ever deserved and that we could never provide. Please, you deserve a better future than this.
She heard the distinct click of the camera before the camerawoman quickly ushered her away from the platform, too impatient to even bother checking the photo and approving it with her. Hyrie, speechless, finally got her feet under her and walked away from the Office, feeling no regret whatsoever.
-
Miranda was ready to ambush her daughter the moment she arrived home. As the door creaked open and Hyrie's silhouette appeared in the opening, Miranda pounced and enveloped her daughter in a warm embrace.
"Oh, my Hyrie!" She exclaimed, pulling Hyrie till she was at arm's length from her, "How was it? Was it fun?" In turn, her daughter laughed.
"Oh mother, it could have gone better."
"Why? Did you not take a good picture?"
Hyrie shook her head, "I forgot to smile, mother." Miranda gasped.
"Why how could that be? Now the prince would never be able to witness that beautiful smile of yours, my daughter." Hyrie laughed again.
"I don't have any regrets, however," Hyrie assured, "It'll turn out the way fate wants it to turn out, mother." Miranda chuckled at hearing her daughter's ever-present wisdom.
Hyrie went to bed that night content at the day's events, knowing that somehow, whether she gets selected or not, her life is bound to change, either for the better or dreadfully for the worst.
YOU ARE READING
Lonely - The Selection
Fiksi PenggemarHyrie Sung, a name known by only a few, belongs to a broken girl. A girl in which has once lost everything. Left on the streets of the Province of Zuni to fend for herself. But when all hope seems most forever, Lady Luck had then shone down brightl...
