Le fantôme de l'amour

Little Dove

I thought about what mama had said earlier. I am I child, I thought to myself.

I looked at the window again as the chambermaid brushed my hair. She was new to our household. She was about fourteen or fifhteen years old.
There were no clouds.

I sighed

The lake reflected the grey sky...  Strange, how out of nowhere the day turned as gloomy as it did. As I swam in my own thoughts, the chamber maid accidentaly yanked my hair back hardly in an attempt to brush my curls, my head fell back harshly in the back of the chair hitting my neck.

Owwww!

I groaned, as I rubbed the back of my neck.

The chambermaid got scared and dropped the comb filled with ripped out hair in the floor. I could see the fright in her eyes. She threw herself on her knees to pick the comb up.

-"Pardon me, my lady.  Really! I- I didn't mean too! I'm just a little mediocre when it comes to my hands."

She said loudly in startled tone.

I looked at her for a moment, and I just couldn't contain myself.

-"SHUT UP! I didn't tell you to speak, you nasty chamber maid whore!"

I slapped her hard across the face with the back of my hand. I could see the shock in her pale blue eyes. She shockingly placed her hand in her nasty swollen cheek where my hand had hit her.

-"How dare you raise your voice at me you filthy, common peasant! You're nothing."

I spat angrily at her.

I harshly grabbed the wrist of the hand in which she caressed her own cheek and parted it away from her face.

Those pale eyes met mine, and I could see them slowly fill with tears.

-"How DARE YOU look at me in the eyes! Do you think you're above me?
Filthy bitch!"

The chamber whore was still on her knees looking down in my bedroom floor, when I yanked her up by the hair to her feet. When I draged her by the hair, her movements reminded me of those of a girl's ragdoll.

-"You have really nice hair."

I said to her softly with her hair wrapped around my fist.

And she did. The prettiest hair I had ever seen. Matter of fact, her hair was splendid. It flowed like a river of molten gold. Her hair reached all the way down to the back of her scrawny knees. Her thick, soft, blond hair shone when she passed through any light. Women would do anything to obtain a healthy head of hair like the chamber whore's one.

I let go of her hair and pushed her down by the shoulders, and as she knelt looking at the floor her hair gently slipped through the sides of her face, almost like it was comforting her, then I saw her tears dripping on my recently polised wooden floor. I noticed she was trembling, the pathetic chamber whore was scared senseless.

Weak one. I thought to myself.

I knelt and grabbed her chin ferociously moving it upwards in an attempt of making her look at me, but she never parted her eyes from the floor. She would't dare look at me in the eye. I dug my nails deep into her chin and pulled her retched ear close to my lips.

-"So, you're not going to respond me, little whore?"

I whispered sarcastically.

-"T-thanks my lady, I- I really appreciate y- your words of kindness."

She said sobbing.

I let go of her chin and gently stood up, then I looked at my hands to see a small trace of blood at the tips of my nails.

I gently squated and whispered to her ear.

-"Do me a favor little dove, fetch me a pair of scissors will you?... And a clean rag, I have your nasty blood on my nails. Also, I want you to polsih my whole floor again."

I slid my fingers through the wet wood, looked at her and passed my wet fingers in her face.

-"Your tears stained the wood."

I stood up and walked towards the window.

The chamber whore stood up weakly, curtsied and scurried to do what I told her to.

Again, I gazed to the cloudless sky and slowly began to drift away.

A few minutes passed and the chamber whore rushed back with the cleaning utensils and the scissors.
I told her to clean every nook and cranny in my roo., because if I found something, the tinniest spot dirty I'd make her clean it all again.

I sat in the chair and watched her clean the floors, it made me relax a little about all of the things mother spoke about.

She finished rather quickly, right about thirty minutes I'd say. I looked at the room and couldn't see anything dirty, the boudoir was spotless. Just as I like it.

She stood at the door while she cleaned her dirty hands on her dress.

-"Really good job, chamber whore, whats your name?"
-"Marie Josèphene, my lady"

she said never parting her eyes from the floor.

-"Marie... This will be the first and last time you stain my floor, because if there is a second time... You'll clean it with your toungue instead of rags. Understood?"
-"Yes, my lady".
-"Now Marie, get me the scissors?"
-"Of course, my lady"

When Marie came back, I told her to sit in the chair infront of the window. When she did, I grabbed the scissors and grabbed a strand of her gorgeous hair and cut it from her head. I kept cutting and cutting, while the huge chucks of the golden hair slowly fell at my feet. I kept cutting until there was no hairs left in her head. I went to my vanity and grabbed my mirror and handed it to her.

-"Look at yourself! Don't you look gorgeous?"

She looked like she had just sucked a lemon, and her eyes were red and puffy, filled with tears.

-"A gorgeous angel" I scoffed "Stop crying and clean this mess before I cut your throat instead of your hair, you bald headed chamber whore"

-"Yes my lady."

She said while she cleaned her tears and tried to stop crying.