Oh! My Darling

Vallín Family

In a very distant kingdom, there were some villages that were well frequented by the inhabitants of nearby villages and visitors from neighboring lands, as well as by travelers arriving at the port.

For the visitors who came, they were welcomed by one of the richest villages in the province, and this village was known for its commerce, whether of food or cloth, everything could be found as long as it had the king's authorization.

There was the village where the scholars were centered that was known for its beautiful buildings, and it was said that they lived in clans, but who could say since nothing about this was ever confirmed.

And the most important was the village where the direct relatives of the royalty were, composed of dukes, counts, princes, and their descendants, a rich and prosperous village that everyone wanted to visit, however, common people only passed through these streets with a kind of pass, this being a way that the king found so that his relatives could live peacefully.

However, life for the poorest people who lived far from these three villages was much more difficult, having to wake up at cockcrow time to catch the Wagon that would bring them to the richer villages where they could work. However, there was one family that was considered poor without having even a handful of rice to cook at mealtime.

Before the rooster crowed, the elders were already awake to catch a ride in the wagon that would take them to village two, where the scholars lived. Irene and her younger sister, only fifteen years old, would start at a job their parents had arranged so that they could save the money for their dowry in the future.

The oldest of the sisters had a dream, a bit improbable for the reality in which they lived, however, her hope never died even in the face of the difficulty she encountered, while the youngest was a troublemaker in which everyone claimed she was born with a problem and would never find a husband, because she acted in the wrong way for a lady, but this did not discourage her or make her feel sad about who she was.

While Carlota slept peacefully, not caring that she would start work today, Irene the older sister who had just turned twenty was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her father before he went to work, it wasn't much just bread with milk with garage.

She did not agree with the work her mother did, waking up so early and going to village two to work as a servant for a doctor's wife, because they always mistreated her like words and beating her to show their children that they should not make future mistakes otherwise they could be in her place and be beaten until they learned, it was sad, but that was the reality of the servants who had a family and lived in village six.

Anyway that morning Irene was very hopeful for her new jobs and how she could help her mother buy her freedom, however, there was something that made her unhappy, and that was because her father did not tell her and her sister where they would work.

- Wake up, Charlotte, or we'll miss the three thirty wagons. - Irene went into the room she shared with her younger sister and called out to her, she went to the piece of mirror she found while washing clothes and began to rub rice on her face to make it whiter than it already was, after a bit she took the grains of annatto and mixed it with a little water to get the paint and rub it in her mouth and then wiped a bit with the paper to soften the color, making it as natural as possible.

She looked once more and was happy that she looked so beautiful, but this joy passed when she saw that her sister was still sleeping even after her gentle attempt to wake her up.

She got up and went to where her sister was sleeping, as they couldn't afford a bed or anything, they slept on a cotton blanket their mother had made and kicked her sister and made her roll over and open her eyes. - Wake up, Charlotte. We're late because of you, hurry up, because I don't want to lose this job and give up my singing career because of you.

- Opening her eyes, Charlotte had a little trouble getting used to the light from the lamp Irene had placed on a small table where her things were kept. Looking around she realized she was in the room she shared with her older sister, actually, it wasn't really a room because there wasn't one in the house, and since they couldn't afford to build any rooms on the land, so they only shared it with banana tree fabrics that they had made themselves, in total it was two rooms and a kitchen, the bathroom was outside even so if it rained they would have to bathe in the rain without any protectio.

- What time is it? - Carlota asked her sister, who was pulling the blankets that covered her, in order to put them away.

- You only have five minutes to get ready and leave. - She lied, because that was the only way she could get the other one to get out of the blanket she was trying to take from her sister to make a roll and tie it up and put it away.

- What? I must have overslept again, I'm sorry. - She got out of bed and grabbed the dress she had separated the day before and put it on, it was a simple dress, but it was her best clothes, she left her sister in the room and ran to the backyard, where she would do her morning hygiene brushing her teeth with a mixture of coal and soap that her mother had made two days ago that helped to leave the teeth clean and white, leaving the teeth at first black and completely ugly, however after brushing her mouth a few times her teeth were completely clean and white.