Francesca's Dream

Painful Daze

       Francesca awoke in a haze lying on her stomach. How had she made it back to the bunkhouse, she thought. She was stretched out on a bench on the middle of the room." Ahh, your finally awake." said a small voice. Francesca looked over towards the voice ; A girl with curly blonde hair and her nose in a book; sat on one of the beds.

       Francesca tried to prop herself up with her elbow wincing in pain." Don't try to move now that I finally was able to get the bleeding to stop." She said looking up in concern. "It will take some time for your wounds to heal, and you will have scars." She said now standing over her, peeling what remained of her uniform. Her shirt was shreds, she would either have to find a new one or steal one from another prisoner. "How did I end up back here and what time is it?" Francesca asked now coming out of her painful fuzzy daze. "Its five o'clock you've been unconscious for about three hours now, And to answer your other question I helped carry you out with Aira. The guards were originally going to leave you out there, but Aira convinced them to let us move you if they whipped him to." She said in a small painful voice.

       Francesca was stunned by what she was hearing; why would a boy she had never met, risked getting whipped to take her back to the bunkhouse to heal. "Why would he do that?" Francesca asked the girl. "I guess he couldn't stand seeing people suffer at the hands of the Atrox anymore." the girl said. "My name's Helena Vanenburg, by the way." "Francesca." Francesca replied. Conversation grew quiet between the girls for a moment before Francesca spoke up. "Why are we here, what do they want us for?" She asked with concern in her eyes.

       Helena sighed and sat on the bed she had originally been sitting on. "Were Curs, mix-breeds if you will. We are not like everyone else I for instance am half human and half china doll. Some people her are half Mermaids, Munchkins, Fairies at one point we even had a boy who was half woodnymph. Elphaba has trapped us here thinking that only people of pure blood deserve to live free." Helena said. She then paused for a moment;"Most of the prisoners here are children;my father sold me and my sister to the Atrox party when it first began about two years ago. My two older sisters were taken to do experiments on, while I was left at the age of twelve, to survive on my own." "I suspect that you have fairy blood in you by your fair complexion and your green eyes." She said in a flat voice.

       Francesca was beginning to understand everything, this was exactly like the Holocaust; the work camps, experimentation, a series of unwanted races. Tears began to run down Helena's cheeks; A bell sounded, it rang three times. "Dinner is ready, do you want me to try and bring something back or do you want to try and walk?" Helena said whipping the tears from her face. "I think it would be best if i come; if they catch you with food you might be punished." Francesca said beginning to lift her self. She screamed out in pain, her wounds had reopened. Blood ran down her thin pale back; Helena grabbed Francesca and began to help her stand up. The pair began their long walk to the mess hall.

       The pair entered the loud mess hall, it suddenly became very quiet; all eyes were on them. Helena helped Francesca walk over to a table and sit down," Wait here, I will get us some food." Helena said, then turned and walked to the line of hungary prisoners eagerly waiting to receive their food for the evening. Francesca sat there and looked down at her hands in her lap. The room filled with noise once more. Aira stood and walked towards Francesca; standing over top of her now, she looked small and frail. "Can I sit." He said in a plain tone. She looked up and nodded, not knowing what to say.

       Moments later Helena came back with two small bowls of porridge, Francesca looked down at it in utter disgust. This was it! she thought, after a long hard day of work this was all they were going to feed them. Helena tapped Francesca shoulder; "you need to eat to keep your strength up and to help you heal." She said with sympathetic eyes. Francesca looked down at the meager bowl, gave a huff mixed in frustration and surrender. She picked up her spoon and began to eat the tasteless, goopy mess. She didn't stop till the bowl was clean.

       

       The bell sounded; ten minutes till bed. Helena was putting salve on Francesca's wounds; she tied the back of Francesca's shirt. Aira walked over to the bench where Francesca and Helena sat; "You can have my bed tonight, if you want." He said looking down at Francesca, and her pale green eyes. "Thanks." She replied looking up at him. She stood up and walked over to the bed, reaching up to grab her pillow from the top bunk. She bent down and laid in Aira's bed; two guards came into the bunk house. Pistols in their holsters, they walked down aisle of the bunk house. Reaching the end they shouted "LIGHTS OUT!" . The lights were out and the doors to the bunkhouse were shut and locked. "Good night." Helena whispered. "Good night." Francesca whispered.

       The last thing francesca heard before dozing off to sleep was the sound of thousands of snoring prisoners.