Edna and I used to play games often, whether or not she knew that was the best way to coax a child, I will never know. But that was what made me happy in those days. I remember her elderly voice scolding me in a way to make me feel bad because I knew I would be missing out on something good. She would make me do some chores as well, nagging me to do as I’m told because I should pay my way, or I might have to sleep outside in the dark!

She had disciplined me, making sure that I could read and write the basics, but she was unable to teach me beyond that. She had taught me how to embroider and how to act like a young lady, making me obtain a few memories of her hitting my bottom in a matter of discipline, due to my mistakes.

She told me her old stories of growing up and how lucky I was. That even though my father had brought me out of his residence, it wasn’t like he didn’t love me. That I was still a daughter of a person that had money, just not as much as a ‘nobleman’ had. She had also told me more about my father, from when he had been young.

Back then, I didn’t particularly feel lucky, I was too young and naive to trust her words completely…But really, I had been, I had been really lucky!

It took me awhile to remember her words after she left, but I finally agreed with her and wished that I was just as lucky one more time. To have someone to teach me and look after me with a loving look…Just one more time…

 

Edna hadn’t gotten her creature until she was fourty years old, but she felt completely happy that she had been able to obtain it after so long. Her dolphin creature helped her become more compassionate and loyal, as my father had taken her in from when he was but a child and she had no thoughts to abandon him because of it.

Her loyalty followed her into death…Leaving me alone with the one loving upbringing that I shall never forget!

With the memories and stories, from being with Edna, I really wondered where my sweet, innocent and fun part of myself had gone. I had been happy…And the world had been small, just the little hut and a close by town was the world I knew of back then, so much easier then now…Now I knew about two countries and their capitals…And biggest of all, I knew how people could treat one another…With or without creatures!

Yes…My world back then might have been smaller, but it was a lot better!

 

Edna and I had traveled so long to get to this hut near the sea, but luckily, back then, I was but a small, infant child…But, never did I realize how far I was away from my father’s residence. I thought about it in my second life and came to realize why my father only saw so little of me while I had been there.

Thinking back, I unknowingly smiled and thanked Edna once again for giving me an upbringing like that…

The first things that I had learnt about, was being respectful and making sure I knew that minimal in life is free, that I should work hard for what I want…

She really did dote upon me and made sure that I wasn’t too dirty and that I always ate and slept comfortably, well as comfortably as possible, given the place we stayed was just a small hut.

I found out later though, that the house was not hers but that of my fathers, and that…I had to find my own way back home because she was not able to come due to death of old age.

For the small, eight-year-old me, I still don’t think I could have acted any other way. I had nudged Edna’s unmoving body many, many times and I had cried and stayed by her still, cold figure for a whole day and night before moving. I hadn’t wanted to accept her gone from my life, I hadn’t wanted to accept anything else because I had been happy, and I never knew how much I had relied upon her, making me feel even worse upon her death.

Had I been too naughty? Should I had washed the clothes like I was asked to that morning? Maybe, I should have cooked with her more…I could have done more then make her soup while she had been sick in bed…

I remember asking her…To wake up and tell me what I could do for her to stay…I said I would do anything, that all she had to do was wake up and tell me. I was going to do it straight away, she wouldn’t have to say it twice. I would be really good…I would be the best, well behaved girl that she’d ever seen…

But…She never woke up…

 

 

I had been my father’s fourth child, and he hated that he was unable to see me more then once a year. Since his maid and himself were different creatures, they could not communicate over long distances, which would have been helpful in this case, but unavoidable. If Edna had perhaps been a heron, like that of my father, they would have been able to talk telepathically to one another. But the only other way to have communicated through their minds, is if he had enslaved Edna, but he had never enslaved anyone and knew it was against the Dragon King’s law.

Actually, my father was quite lazy and was a loner, he preferred to stay away from trouble, so this was probably a big reason why he sent me away, instead of bringing me into his household…It might have been too much drama and worries for him.

Nonetheless, I don’t hate him for his decision, even though I didn’t see him very often.

Every time he came, he could only stay one day, before he had to travel away and after Edna had died, I really had no idea when my father would return next…If it had been only a month away, it may have been ok to wait for him, but it wasn’t…I think it was about three months or so before he was to come back to see me and I did not have enough food to last that long.

 

So, with Edna’s last words for me to take anything worth something, so that I could afford to return back to my father, I had to follow them and try to do exactly that. With a note of my father’s name, address and even a map for me to follow, then everything else fit inside a homemade bag that was nearly too heavy to carry on my back, I had been ready to go…My heart though, it wasn’t ready…Not at all…

My whole life surrounded the woman that took me hours upon hours to bury in the back, near the water. I knew for my future that I must leave, yet…I just felt like my life was out of my hands, my weak hands…

With tears in my eyes, I left the hut and the woman that was my family…

But…I never knew, that from this moment on, my life would turn completely upside down.

 

I had known of caring, love, the gentle touch, respect and the small sweetness in life…To become aware of how inadequate I really was…To become aware of the complete opposite of what I already knew about life…

Right from the beginning, I was already not feeling very good, as I knew I was homeless and weak, being a little girl.

I was scared of the dark and would not travel at night, so the trip back towards the capital was long and tedious. I was not welcomed by other customers at a tavern to eat and I was looked upon strangely when I went to an inn to sleep…I lost most of what I had to get me to the capital without even realizing, just because my bag had a rip in it. I had to backtrack for two hours and by the time I was back heading towards the capital, I was dirty, smelly and it was getting close to dark time, having me want to cry for Edna over and over again.

They weren’t the only things…I had also gotten lost, losing another day or two of travel. I also got completely scared of a…Pig…

…To my defense…It was a really big pig…

Then the usual of having to stop at intervals, because my back was hurting from what I was carrying, only made my journey longer.

I was unable to get a carriage after leaving the first town, as they didn’t want to be at fault for a little girl to ‘run away’ from home. I also didn’t know how to ride a horse on my own, making walking my only option…

 

 

…I had not made it after all, as the capital was in the far distance, but I had nothing left to take me there. Even if I walked the rest of the way with what I had, the capital was still a small spec and I knew it was too far away for me to survive…

I had been shown how money was used prior to this journey but had never tried to cut prices or negotiate and I lost everything due to greedy people scamming me. After growing up, even going through that trial, I realized how lucky I was…I had been a small girl, not knowing much and easily scared…A lot more could have happened to me!

So…I was very lucky!

I had been in a town or two over from the capital and I already needed to get myself some more money somehow, just so that I could eat and possibly change my clothes.

Not having any kind of know how to obtain my own food, as I was unable to hunt, and clothes, even though I could sew, it didn’t mean I had the equipment on me to make my own clothes…I really was lost to how my future was heading, seeing that I had gotten hungrier and sicker by the day.

 

***

 

One day, as I was coughing and trying to rest, someone did see me and took me in. I didn’t have much strength to fight them as they tugged me away, but I did state that I was on my way to the capital, to seek out my father. I remembered that my words seemed to be misheard or weren’t taken seriously and before I knew it, I was a maid working for whoever took me…But, I had a bed with shelter and food on a table…

Edna told me that I shouldn’t take things for granted and I indeed was thankful for the food and bed…It’s just, I had to work hard, and a lot, and I was not used to it at all!

I was shown then, that back when I was living in the hut, I was indeed what Edna had said! I was lucky!

Doing the small number of chores, to ‘pay my way’, wasn’t like being a maid at all!

Becoming a maid, I didn’t get to play, I found that out rather quickly when I got into trouble for even wanting to use the swings!

As a maid, I was working many jobs, having to do another job after already done two or three…That in itself had scared me as well! And half of these jobs, I had never done before!

Edna only made me do two jobs, at most, before letting me play for hours, then perhaps getting me to do some more jobs before bed…It was so different!

And because it was so different, I was scolded and even beaten quite a few times to put me ‘in order’…

 

For quite a few months, I was there as a maid, working from sun up to sun down and it took me that long to get over the soreness of doing it. My hands had started to go red, then they had started to bleed, now they were harder then they used to be, but I didn’t like it…

My sickness had taken me a month to get over, the longest time that it took for any sickness I had prior to then! My muscles took weeks before they would stop hurting!

My curiosity got me into trouble and I also had gotten hit for talking back, when I just wanted to ask if I could sit down…

I missed Edna a lot!

I missed someone who cared, someone who played with me. I didn’t like getting yelled at or told to continuously do jobs!

It wasn’t fair!

Edna…Why…Why did you leave me all alone?

 

I started to get really upset with myself, because I was grateful, yes, but I still wanted to continue to the capital to seek out my father. And…I really started to hate it there!

The problem was, I wasn’t getting paid much at all. Due to having to use money on the way to get here, I was sure that what I was earning then, was not enough!

So, all I could do, was continuing to work and save up my money, so that one day I could leave and find my father.

For three and a half years, that was what I did and then finally, I asked to leave.

…I had not been too informed upon who I was working for, as the person who took me wasn’t one of the family, but one of the head workers there. They had ‘scouted’ me and just put me onto the register of workers, whether I wanted to work there or not.

But, going up to them, stating my leave, they had been completely astonished and had beaten me until I was bruised and battered!

What had I done wrong?

I had done what I was told, in thanks for food and a bed, now I just wanted to go…So, why was this person beating me as though I had wronged him!?

What do they mean by stating that they own me?

I never had seen that piece of paper before!

…Have they completely misunderstood me?

 

I found out then that I was not just a maid, but a slave! Apparently, I had signed a slave contract with them, but I never understood back then…Well, at that time, I still didn’t after they showed it to me!

I had told them what I was doing and where I was going and when they put the piece of paper before me, I thought it was them stating that they understood or something!

To be honest, even now, I think those people were nasty for using a girl’s intellect like that! Of course, I didn’t know what I was doing! It’s no wonder that they got away with it!

Is it really so easy to get a slave?

How many children have been played into this type of trap!?

 

Again, at that time, that didn’t make sense to me because I hadn’t thought I was being owned all this time. I was pretty sure what it had meant, so I shook my head and had stated that I was not owned and that I was going to go see my father…But that only made me receive more beatings and now that I think back to my innocent self, I shake my head to my own naivety.

I had always thought that I was there ‘paying my way’ and getting some extra cash to help me continue to the capital…But suddenly, my world turned around and I had to seriously consider how to get away from this…Place…

I didn’t know until later that I was already slowly closing myself off to others at the age of twelve…Because I became known to what falsehood and distrust was…What even bullying was, it really was no wonder how I somewhat grew up so quickly in such a small amount of time!

Back then, I found it easier to lapse into a shadow, so that it looked like I was doing as I was told…But discreetly wanting to come up with ideas upon when and how to get out of there!

For the first time, I was keeping a secret and didn’t tell anyone of my decision and through knowing this, it seemed to have made me feel even lonelier then I already was…

I missed Edna so much that it was nearly unbearable!

Often, I soundlessly let a few tears fall from my cheeks as I would lay in bed, just wishing or taking myself back to the days that Edna was alive…In my heart, I was crying out to her so loud, yet…I never uttered that out loud. I was different on the surface…I was…Stronger now…

Back then, I never realized until later, that I had already created a shell for myself, hiding within it. Hiding someone innocent and sweet, someone that felt wronged and preferred to smile and play. She buried herself deeper and deeper as all these years has passed…

 

***

 

I ended up running away and returning back to the capital a year later. It hadn’t been an easy feat, even remembering my predicament now in the present. Seeing that cultivation was something that could be done, my desire to become strong enough to leave, seemed to become my top priority and so I tried a few different ways…As I had no teacher to show me…

I had ended up cultivating by pictures in my spare time and found that I was able to run faster and harder, if I put my mind to it. Pictures of not only that of remembering of what I’ve seen others do while I had been working but using my imagination and that of my pure natural instinct to bring me to a point where I felt different inside myself.

I would meditate, do push ups and sit ups, then I would spend extra effort into running more from job to job and going faster and faster. Since I had been doing these jobs for some time now, I found that this was actually not too hard to do and easily found myself able to push my limit to reach further and do more…

 

When I had reached a point in my physical body, where it was a lot more durable, I tried to find the best time to run away, knowing that if I just did it at any time, I would be caught…

No, I had to find a way where they won’t look for me for a while and hopefully, I would be far enough away that they won’t reach me.

For two months, after I finally felt strong enough, I had to patiently wait, yet it was a hard thing to do!

I was excited to leave, yet knew if I did things stupidly, I would be beaten, so I just had to be patient!

And my patience had proven to have gotten me out!

Of course, I had arranged it when the family that I rarely saw was going away to the capital or festival. Meaning, less people that were going to be at the residence!

Finally, the freedom I wanted was given to me!

I ran…I ran so fast and far that even I was exhilarated!

It was a nice feeling after all that time of being ‘owned’ and unable to do as I wanted…And, for the shortest time, my shell had come free…