69 Short Stories

11th Story: The prestigious and glamorous shawl 899 words

"Who does she think she is!" My roommate yelled and slammed the door shut behind her. I lifted my eyebrows. 

"Would you ever find a customer who doesn't make you mad?" I joked, resulting in a roll of fabric flying through the air. My sister giggled and caught the textile. 

"What does the customer want?" I asked, opening my notebook. My sister Celeste, my roommate Vella and I are enterprising a fashion studio. Focusing on making high-quality clothing for noble families. 

"A shawl made out of peacock feathers! And a matching cape for her fiance!" Vella scowled. "Don't she know how precious peacock feathers are? Here at Cielandum, it's illegal to use them unauthorized!!"

Celeste and I glanced at each other. There's something the outside world don't know about the three of us. We were not born as humans, Vella is a falcon while Celeste and I were born as peacocks. But we never told Vella or the outside world about this. Because an accidental leak of this information can cause some serious predators to come after us. 

"What do you say, Eurothia?" Vella turned to ask me. I lifted my head to face her. "Are you going to take the offer and design it?"

I bit my lip and pondered. Our feathers are indeed very precious, but our business is in a downhill sensation, so if we don't take this request, no one knows when the next one is going to come. 

At last, I nodded. I can feel Celeste giving me a look as my neck chilled. She excused herself to the kitchen, with Vella following closely behind her. 

I looked out the window at the night stars. Is this really a good idea? I closed the light and designed the pattern on my moonlit sketch paper. 

"How am I going to get the material?" Vella frowned as I handed her the design next morning. I nudged my lips to one side. I forgot Vella still don't know that Celeste and I are peacocks. 

"I"ll do it this time." Celeste came in from the garden. Usually, one of us greet the customer, then I design the pattern, Vella prepares the material and assists Celeste in producing it. In the end, we would usually go through some final touching together. 

I stared wide-eyed at Celeste. What is she planning to do? She's not going to go and illegally hunt a peacock, is she?

She shot my eyes a cold look before leaving. I swallowed. Speaking of which, she hasn't talked since last night. 

That afternoon, as I helped Vella to polish the sign, Celeste returned with a small package of feathers. Vella exclaimed as I shot her a worrying expression. Celeste ignored me and went on talking about the quality of the feathers. 

The green, blue feathers are soft, having one of the most beautiful motifs. I touched it, the tender texture went straight to my heart through my shaky fingertips. 

The time seems to freeze as Vella and Celeste's discussion failed to reach my ears. Someone, a peacock, was injured for producing such beautiful material. I could not control my face to lose its temperature as guilt ran over me. 

The objects in front of me blurred, I can see nothing but Vella rushing to catch me as I fell. 

When I woke up again, it's already late night. I looked out my bedroom window. Vella has probably carried me up here to rest after I fainted. A small figure appeared in the garden below. I rubbed my eyes and had a closer look. 

Celeste!

I jumped up from my bed and threw on my coat. What is Celeste doing out there? Is she getting more feathers from another innocent peacock? I need to see!

I followed her with a distance down the rocky road into the forest. I've never been here before, it's actually quite spooky. Knowing Celeste, I don't think she's someone who will attempt this just for fun. 

As I caught sight of her again, I saw her kneeling beside the lake, changing into her peacock form as mist arose. I covered my mouth as tears rolled down my cheek. 

Don't tell me she is picking her own feathers. 

But the reality was more cruel and bloody than I'd expected. Some part of Celeste's tail is bleeding. Some wounds are fresh, probably from this afternoon, but some of the wounds have already started to scab. She started this since the night before! 

I left out a cry uncontrollably and collapsed to the ground. A silly decision I've made. 

My sister turned around cautiously. After she realised it was me, she turned to try to cover her wounds. 

The next day, Vella smiled as we handed her another pack of peacock feathers. The shawl and cape were successful. 

My back and hip ached as I sat down to help finalize the work. Celeste and I exchanged a look at the same time, we both broke into a smile. The wounds would take a while to heal, but I know it'll be fine because Celeste wasn't the only one.  

Our customer was very satisfied with our work. She paid us a good price and promised to return again some other time. 

Vella rolled her eyes as a snobby butler came to get the lady. I smiled and gave my two best friends a big, big highfive.