She woke up as the first east wind blew. Another new day to work hard and be satisfied with her work. She inhaled the fresh scent of dawn. Falling into the warmth and joy of a new day.
She sat up from the creaky wooden bed and has her feet touched the floor, she felt the coldness and hardness of the wood. Right then, she exhaled. The joy was gone as soon as it started.
Today was going to be another hard day of work. She quickly tidied her bed and changed her clothes. She sorted all the materials she would be needing and then arranged them inside her work bag.
She left the room and wanted to go to the kitchen which was right inside the living room but suddenly remembered that there was nothing to eat this morning.
The house she lived in was small. The kitchen and living area were connected together and were a small space. There were only two doors in the house. The one which served as the entrance and exit to her room and the one which served as the entrance and exit out of the house. The kitchen had very few equipments; two pots, a pan, few spoons and forks, two knives and three bowls.
The living area had a single wooden long chair and a fire stove. There was also another table in the living area behind the wooden long chair. Around the table were four similar wooden chairs. On the walls, there was a single sculpture hanging and the rest of the household had a dreariness and bleakness to it that could only be described by the naked eye itself.
She sighed and vowed to work harder today. She looked at her sixteen-year old brother still sleeping and tapped him to wake up. He woke up groggily and after some minutes, he snapped out his daze and went to change his clothes.
"Good morning, Ari." Logan greeted her first.
"Good morning, Logan." Arianna replied.
He hurriedly packed up everything he needed and slung his bag over his shoulder.
Together they walked out of the house and Arianna locked the door after them. They walked along the path, Arianna in front, Logan behind.
Logan looked at his sister. She had dark brown hair and as she walked her hips swayed gently. He didn't know why, but whenever Arianna walked, she exuded an elegant and graceful aura with a feminine charm. Such that no matter what she wore, anyone who saw her for the first time would have only one word in mind; Grace. Every one of her actions were graceful, dignified and noble as if she had been a queen before.
Logan was still admiring Arianna when she abruptly stopped and his face knocked on her back.
"You seem to be in a daze again, Logan." She said in a smooth voice.
"When will I stop being a fool? I am unworthy of you." He said.
"When you stop feeling unworthy, you become worthy." She said in a low voice.
She continued walking ahead and soon they parted ways.
She walked east to the first place she had to work today. It was an inn. As it was early in the morning and the sun had just risen, she had to go and clean the place.
She got there and began the job. There were twelve visitor rooms in the inn and two other rooms where the supplies were kept and the staff lived.
She had to clean all these rooms and got two hours at most to do it. The good thing was that each room was small and didn't have much furniture, so it was very easy to clean.
She knocked on the door of the first room quietly and prayed she wouldn't see the usual unambiguous scenes she met most times. Luckily, it was just a young man and he went back to sleeping after opening the door.
His room wasn't in disarray and she finished the job in less than ten minutes.
She continued until all fourteen rooms were cleaned. By the time she was done, the sun had risen completely and was shining brightly. The staff had also gone to their work places. The staff consisted of only one man and two women who also owned the place.
She walked to the woman who hired her with a bright smile and the woman gave her a bag of coins. She opened the bag and counted the money. It was complete. 20 copper derints; her salary for the month. Derints were the currency they used. After counting, she pocketed it and expressed her gratitude.
"Thank you very much. I bear my wholesome regards to you." She said.
The woman stared at her and tipped her with an extra derint.
"I'm sorry but I do not wish to collect it. I thanked you honestly for earning my fair pay." Arianna politely declined.
"I want to give you. Take it. That's not a request." The woman said and squeezed it into her hand. She winked at her.
Arianna still opened her mouth to refuse but the woman nodded negatively telling her she wouldn't take it back.
"Thank you." Arianna replied and also pocketed it. "I will leave now. Take care."
The woman replied with a slight nod of her head and watched as Arianna walked away.
Arianna's next stop was the market were she sold fish and sometimes, miscellaneous items. But before she could go there, she needed to go catch fish. She already had her gear and knew the right place. A place where she did not need to pay and had no competition.
She walked through the complicated routes before she got to a tunnel. She and Logan had accidentally discovered this tunnel when they were much younger and she didn't see the use until now. The area was sparsely populated and the tunnel was well hidden underneath a rock and along lush vegetation. If one didn't look closely or didn't fall accidentally into it, they'd probably live there their entire lives and not know of its existence.
She crawled into the hole and after one hour, slowly came out of the tunnel to a beautiful island.
She was mesmerized as always and took in a long breath of air.