The Unscripted Muse

I used to think that the mud in Aurora was the only thing capable of pulling a person under.

My life was a simple, exhausting cycle of sun and silence, revolving entirely around the farm, my grandmother, and my diary. Lola was the kind of frail that made you hold your breath when she coughed, a woman who had supposedly sacrificed every ounce of herself to raise me in the dirt. To me, she was the only reason I bothered to wake up.

But then Art arrived.

Artemisia Tala V. Evangelista, she smelled of expensive lavender and carrying a world of silver and neon in the back of her SUV. And with her came Silas Vane-a man who looked at my life and saw a problem he could solve with a pen and a checkbook.

When Lola's lungs finally gave out, they offered me a miracle. A hospital in the city. A second chance. I signed the contract with a heart so full of gratitude it hurt, thinking I was finally being set free to save the only person who ever loved me.

"Thank you, truly" I said sincerely to the woman whose beauty rivaled a Greek goddess

But I didn't see the frown. The eyes that sharpened the moment we left the province. I thought I was finally starting my life, but I was actually just fulfilling the purpose of a stolen one.

"I'm Maya Diwa A. Sagrado and I hope I can pull through this mess"