Autumn had always been my favorite season.
Ever since I was a child, I would look forward to autumn and her warm colored leaves, her chilly breezes and early sunsets, her beautiful crops and bright spirit. Autumn had a beautiful atmosphere that was celebratory in the sense that the holidays were coming, but the weather wasn't atrocious and there was still plenty to do outdoors.
That was why I was always grateful when autumn neared.
It was all fun and games until I was sent to this orphanage. My life had been perfect until… fate decided I was unworthy.
From the time I was orphaned, I had entered the darkest, lowest point in my life. Nothing seemed to ever go right. First my parents were killed in some mysterious accident I was never told the truth about, I was sent to this orphanage where all the kids hated me because they thought I was cursed, and on top of that, the caretakers despised me too. I had come from a decently well-off family, better off than all of them combined; of course they'd be upset that I was now shoved in their care.
But still, I knew I didn't deserve it. The values and trust my parents had instilled in me while they were alive never left me for a moment.
That's why, as soon as I turned fourteen, I began to plan my escape. So far, it wasn't going too great, but not too badly either.
"Brielle, get over here, you spoiled little brat!" Laura's shrill voice called. Laura was one of the older girls at the orphanage, or as I'm 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 to call her, my "elder sister." Although she was only two years older than me, she was one of the oldest in the orphanage, and so most of the other kids respected her.
"Coming, sister," I responded sullenly.
Laura had hated me since day one. In fact, I'm almost completely sure that she's the one who spread the rumor about my family being cursed. She claimed that my family was haunted by an evil ghost because we had stolen money from the ghost's family. The other kids built upon her tale—my mother was an evil witch who seduced my father, my father was a crook and a fraud who murdered the ghost's family and stole their money, and more.
I despised it from the bottom of my heart. I had heard from my relatives how hard my father worked to earn his worth, so how could I not be upset about them tarnishing his name like this? It was horrible. At first, I would beat up anyone who said his name, but after being punished so many times, I eventually gave up.
"Can you move any slower? I swear, you're like a slug. Slimy and 𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘺. Come help me with the dishes," Laura demanded as soon as I set my foot in the kitchen.
"Today's your dishes day, though. Today's my laundry day."
"I don't care, do it both. Maybe it'll straighten that spine of yours a bit."
I rolled my eyes and sighed. Little did she know about all of the various jobs I did, trying to scrape together enough money to get out of this place safely. I might have been born into a rich family, and I'll admit, I was a little bit spoiled—but I was nowhere near lazy.
Since I was used to doing the other kids' chores for them, I was able to wrap it up pretty quickly. The laundry was easy to do, too; it was just folding for today. Within an hour and a half, I was done, and could head to the bakery where I worked for a small sum of money.
While the pay wasn't great, the work was easy and it was something I was good at. And to me, baking was actually quite fun. It wasn't super tedious and didn't require a ton of concentration, so it allowed me to relax a little bit.
This bakery was tiny but it was well known throughout the town. I had been incredibly lucky to get a job here; it was hard to get a job anywhere in the town since there were way more people than jobs available. On top of that, the directress of the orphanage was incredibly strict. She hardly allowed anyone to leave the orphanage, much less get a job and make money for themselves, so I had to sneak out whenever I wanted to work.
I hurried up to my room to grab my coat and wallet. 𝘐𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺, I thought morosely as I climbed the stairs. 𝘖𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.
A few other kids in the room were playing board games, and judging by their immersion, I could tell that they wouldn't be a problem. Quickly and cautiously, I grabbed my things and left.
As I stepped outside into the crisp autumn air, the scent of petrichor stung my nose. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵'𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. But I had no time to linger! The bakery would close in the evening, but that still only gave me a few hours to work.
Since my hours weren't fixed, I was only paid by the time I actually came in. In other words, there was no room for tardiness.
As soon as I walked into the bakery, I was overwhelmed by the sweet smell of pumpkin pie. It was already November and I had hardly realized it. That meant it had been exactly 6 months since I started working here.
"Brielle, my dear! Could you help me with making more dough for the pies? It's the first day of sales but they're running out quickly."
"Sure thing!" I called out. Leo Panebianco was the owner of this bakery, and ran it mostly with the help of his wife. Sometimes his son Austin helped out a bit, too.
I grabbed an apron from the shelf in the corner of the kitchen, rolled up my sleeves, and got to work. Making pie flour was easy; I had learned to bake pies when I lived with my parents, so now I just had to go through the motions.
As I grabbed the ingredients from the pantry, Austin walked into the kitchen. "Hey, long time no see."
I smiled. "I was only gone for the weekend."
"It was super busy though, so we missed you."
The last few months of the year were always super busy. Everyone was getting ready for the holidays, and of course the spirit of celebration encouraged spending money on feel-good items like pastries and cakes.
"Weekends are hard for me, Austin. You know that. But I'll try to stop by in the evenings if I can," I added, noticing the slight pout on his face.
"I know you've got a lot going on… but that would be nice."
We worked long into the evening, chatting quietly as we did our work. My evenings at the bakery always went like this. It almost felt like an escape from my usual reality—the reality that was the orphanage. The reality that I had lost a lot in this world, and that there was nearly no way to go back to where I had started.
Once all the customers had been satisfied (and we had run out of eggs for the flour), I gratefully accepted the meager 50 loches Leo offered me for today's work.
The sun had already set once I got outside, and the sky was painted in hues of blue, pink, and violet. The clouds were light blue and pink, reminding me of cotton candy. As I walked back to the orphanage, I couldn't help but appreciate how beautiful my town was. We weren't graced with a big industry or anything fancy, but we could support ourselves and the ambience was beautiful.
Walking up to the orphanage gates, I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of dread. It was as if there was danger beyond those very walls, repelling me, pushing me away, warning me not to go in. But it made no sense. It was obviously 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 dangerous to stay outside, since the directress would be upset if I wasn't present for dinner. If I wasn't present for dinner, she'd get suspicious of me, and then…
Pushing my doubts aside, I opened the door quietly. I glanced both ways before tiptoeing in and shutting the door silently—
"Brielle! Where in the world have you been?" The directress looked down her nose at me and scowled. She glared at me as if she had just seen a roach.
My eyes widened with fright. "I-I'm so sorry ma'am, I just went out for a walk, that's all…"
"Oh? Is that so? Then what's in your pocket right there?"
I froze.
The 50 loches Leo gave me in coins made a visible bulge in my pocket. There was no way to deny that I was holding something.
"Show me what it is," the directress demanded, her voice booming thunderously around the room. Reluctantly, I pulled the 50 loche coins out of my pocket and handed it to her. "Why, you little thief! How could you go around stealing loches from people? Menacing little rat!"
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵? I thought forlornly. 𝘐 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧!
I briefly debated telling her that I had earned the money, but that would get me in an even worse spot. She'd understand immediately that I was trying to save up and run away.
"I absolutely will not tolerate this kind of behavior. This is unacceptable. From today onwards, you are no longer welcome under my roof. Get out of this orphanage. You're better off rolling in a ditch somewhere."
I looked up at her in shock. She was… kicking me out? Was she even allowed to do that?
Either way, it wasn't the end of the world. So I was going out into the world a little less prepared than I would've liked. I lost today's earnings, but I had plenty stored up in my room. I just had to hope that that would last me long enough to find a sturdier, better-paying job.
"Understood, directress. I'll gather my things and leave."
Her expression didn't change as I went up the stairs to gather my few possessions. Really, all I had was a few spare changes of clothes, a thicker jacket, and the little money I had saved up over the past six months. I packed all of it into a plastic bag, save for the jacket which I wore and the money which I put in my pocket.
I slowly trudged back downstairs, noticing Laura smirking at me from the shadows. I could feel the eyes of all the other kids at the orphanage staring into my back as I made my way towards the door.
𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰… 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.
SLAM!!!
Without even a farewell, the directress shut the door behind me with an air of finality. My life at the orphanage really was over.
𝘚𝘰… 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵?