1787- the story of a revolution

- chapter four -

I open my eyes and immediately sit up. Everywhere around me is fabric. It's pooling around me, embracing my skin.

 Soft fabric. I am sitting in a big bed, wearing a clean shirt. The shirt from a man and it is way too big for me. The room around me is very luxurious, everything has a blue and gold theme.  And it is flooded with soft light. I move and notice that it's nearly possible without any pain. I try to remember what happened yesterday, I feel my legs, my arms and every part of my body. Remember. Just remember what happened

. I had this terrible encounter with this drunk man. I can remember eyes from this hypnotizing ice-blue. I remember warm water and the scent of lavender. And I remember a name. Nina.     The maid who took care of me. Who became my friend. I smile and step out of the bed. It's a bit difficult to walk at least, but for the first time in my life, I have this glimmer of hope that I will get better. A little high-spirited I decide to go to the window. I pass the wooden wardrobe, a little cosmetically with a mirror above it. I walk towards the desk. It is made out of light wood. There is a quill, a pile of paper and an inkwell. I'd love to write to someone. If I could ignore the fact that I can't write. And that I don't have anybody to write to.

I look out of the window and see Paris from its most beautiful sight. Covered in layers of glittering snow. With all the graceful women and handsome men walking on the pavements.

Maybe this will become my life from now on. I turn back to the door. Can feel the soft carpet under my naked feet. I am walking towards the door which will lead me to the corridor. I want to search for Nina so she can tell me what I should do now.So I stick my head out of the door. The corridor is empty. Nobody is here. I decide to have a walk through the house. As I'm walking through the corridor, I look at the doors. To my left. To my right. They all look the same. What is behind them?  Are there any other guests in this house? Can I consider myself as a guest?

The doors are all quite. I don't hear any talking, laughing or whatever I expected to hear. Someday I will know what is behind all of these doors. I swear that to myself.

I have reached the corner to another corridor. It has no doors. But a staircase at the one end, so I decide to head down it. Slowly I'm walking towards the stairs and look down. A few maids are busy with crossing the corridor and not bumping into each other. They are doing different things. Some carry baskets with laundry in their arms. Some are carrying trays with fresh bread or fruits I never saw in my life before.

Suddenly a maid notices me. She has some dark red fabric in one hand and a lighter one in the other. "Can I help you, mademoiselle?" She asks with a soft tone. She looks a little bit older than Nina. And even though her voice is bright and friendly, it reminds me of the voice of a child. "Excuse me, but can you tell me where Nina is?" I ask shyly but she doesn't seem to care about the fact that I'm only wearing a man's shirt. "I will send her to your room. And you should head back there too, mademoiselle, otherwise you will maybe catch a cold." She says, nods and walks in the other direction. I head back to my room, which I don't have troubles to spot because I left the door open.

Back in my room, I am waiting for Nina. I look into my wardrobe to find it empty just like I expected.

It has enough space to fit more than the triple amount of clothing I ever had or desired in my life.

"This will not be empty for a long time." I hear Nina's warm and calming voice. As I turn around to answer her, my eyes spot the pastel purple fabric she is carrying in her arms. "What is that Nina?" I ask in amusement. "This," she says. "This is your first dress. I hope it fits but in that little time we weren't able to find something better." She answers with a little sense of guilt in her voice. "And I thought that purple would suit you very well." She adds.