Bright flaxen rays shone through a crooked window of a small house on the outskirts of Dradfold town , nearing the mouth of the expansive 'Laziha' Forest. The sound of chirping and singing birds was the song of the morning.
Florah groaned in her sleep, turning her head to face away from the sun rays that shone to disturb her slumber, raising her upper body a little to fluff her worn out off-white pillow, resting her messy fiery red wavy hair crowning her oval shaped head, blinking once then twice , the heavy sleeper realized it was already mid-morning for the sun to be shining that bright.
The realization startled the remaining bits of sleep out of her as she abruptly opened her hazel eyes to be met with her bright miniature room "oh no no no no no , why did I over sleep " she rapidly stood from the bed only for her to be forced back down due to the drowsiness and aches she felt all over her frail body.
Holding her head in her shaking two hands ,she felt like screaming over the rush of pain she felt running through the streams of her nerves "huuh" she let out sigh of relief when the pain subsided "it is getting worse " she muttered.
Dragging her already fatigued body off the bed, she stood in front of her half mirror pitying the mess she looked like 'I should be used to this by now' she thought. Slowly slipping out of her old cotton night gown, she turned to see the marks slowly disappear in to her back 'no matter how many times this happens, I never seem to get used to it nor get customed to the pain it carries '.
Moving away from the half broken mirror, she moved to her hand woven brown basket where she picked a light brown dress , swiftly clothing herself she tied her messy hair into a high ponytail quickly moving to the dusty corner near her petite mahogany door , she grabbed her leather shoes whose appearance begged for retirement "ohhh I am so so late, that old hog is going to enjoy making me regret this , oh COME ON!!!" She cried as one of the shoe laces tore while she was tying it.
Forgetting the damn shoe lace, she dashed through the door almost forgetting to lock it , 'humph humph' she half ran to the vegetable market holding the front of her dress to ease her movement as she maneuvered her way through the sea of people at the market so she could reach her employer's stall 'Miss Bernatta'.
"Good morning Miss Ber..." "pass me the box of cauliflower at the far left" Miss Bernatta hollered before Florah could utter her unnecessary greetings, carrying the wooden box over at the middle aged woman " that will be 1 silver and 2 coppers , Miss Bernatta informed her customer. " I hope these are fresh as you say woman" spat the filthy looking male customer before paying and carrying the box on his left shoulder before disappearing into the sea of people that had swarmed the market to pick up there groceries.
Miss Bernatta turned her raging eyes to Florah who was busy stacking the potatoes into a small basket, "you wretched ungrateful girl!" She spat . Despite her employer's not so friendly face and tone , the young lady kept on doing her job , yanking the potatoes from her, the middle aged woman threatened " listen here little brat, this is your last straw, if you are late one more time so much so as one second , you can wave this job GOODBYE!!"
Secretly heaving a sigh of relief, the wavy haired Florah went back to her tasks 'That wasn't as bad as last time ' she thought, given that the old witch yanked her hair when nobody was looking not like it would have made a difference . The market was particularly busy this time of month as fresh produce arrived at the farmers' stalls.
Florah wiped her sweaty forehead as she hadn't had any rest since she arrived and it was already midday judging by how high the sun was up in the clear blue sky , passing the last box of red tomatoes to the 'old mole' 'one of the many names she called her employer in her head' 'huuuhh' Florah let out a sigh of exhaustion as she collapsed her tired bottom on a wooden stool in the small shop as Miss Bernatta had taken some produce to sell it to a stall at the far side of the market.
'Grggh' her stomach protested to be fed, giving she hadn't eaten anything since last night's bland rice and beans , she figured she could get something to eat since the sea of people had already dispersed and only afew were still at the market, standing up from her seat , she pulled a big wooden cart to the entrance of the shop demarcating that no one was at shop .
Moving to a small stall that sold fried fish, she greeted "A Good Afternoon Mr.Humphis" she offered a kind smile to the old man. "Lorah, I was wondering if you planned to starve and wither away before this old chap",'hahah' the old man stated while wrapping a piece of fish in an old newspaper, "come on take this " he offered the young lady who received it , reaching into her small pouch of coins which was secured around her wrist ,"here is..."'Haaa girl you know however much you try am not going to accept your payments". "Please Mr. Humphis.." "Ahah it's fine , it's fine ..just go back before that foul mouthed woman comes back and doesn't find you at the shop , come on go on go on" Florah looked at the money and fish in her hand and smiled at the nice old man "I remember little Willie's shed needs a few patches and the rainy season is soon approaching , I will be there at 3" with that said the young lady turned on her heel and dashed back to the shop . Mr.Humphis just sighed and shook his head at the departing Florah.
Sitting in the shop licking the last of the fish bones off of its meat, Florah spotted Miss Bernatta trotting back with her usually neated brows , entering her small shop she reached in to the small box of coins collected from the days work , counting her money for a while , she finally turned to Florah and shoved seven coppers to her " There you can leave now , WHAT! it's not like you did much Princess arriving at whatever time you desire, now why are you still here!"
Florah quietly accepted her payment grateful that 'Miss old mole' didn't deduct more, straightening up to leave, she turned her body lightly bowing "I wish you a pleasant rest of the day Miss Bernatta " wished Florah which the woman just ignored, walking out of the shop, she remembered the mess she made back home due to the raw pain she felt last night, she internally shivered just thinking of it deciding to first go back and clean up before going to help Mr. Humphis at 3pm.
Trekking back home, she passed through the dirty alleys of Dradfold town where the peasants and lower class habituated, young girls and boys played on the streets kicking rocks and chasing each other, she mostly kept her head down not looking at folks of the town who mostly gave her odd looks, she felt like disappearing in the dirt her appearance wasn't making it any easier to go unnoticed, her striking fiery red wavy hair stood out like a sore thumb, her stature slim with her height taller than most girls of the town, bright hazel eyes with freckles sheltering under her eyes and on the bridge of her small slender nose accompanied with her soft pink lips made her face to be quite a sight for sore eyes.
Breathing a sigh of relief as she reached the outskirts of the town to come in view of her tiny house, quickening her pace to reach her door, she moved to insert her rusty key only to realize that the door was already opened frowning at the thought as she cleared remembered to have locked it though in a hurry, carefully pushing the door she peeped only to see a wretched fool peacefully in slumber on her petite bed 'huuuhh' sighing in relief and annoyance.