The Prince and the Damsel

Mina Langley awoke to the sound of the birds chirping by the window. She groggily sat on her bed, searched for the alarm clock, and found it by the floor beside the bed.

9 am.

A lazy groan escaped from her mouth as she lied back on the comforting bed. It was too early. Usually she wouldn’t get up until it was twelve at noon, which by then would had her father storming into the room and lecturing her about being a decent girl. Mina was not interested being a decent girl. It never helped.

‘Mina!’ A shrill voice sounded from the kitchen. Mina frowned. It was Juliet, her step-mom. Looked like a perfect step-mother on the outside, but for Mina, she was a disguised witch. ‘Get your lazy butt down here now before I make you come down!’

Mina rolled her eyes and buried her head under a pillow, hoping to drown the witch’s voice.

‘MINA!’

‘Fine!’ Mina called out angrily. ‘Jeez...’ she climbed out from her bed, did a simple stretching exercise, went out from the room and walked her way slothfully to the kitchen.

‘Finally’ said Juliet, thrusting her hands on the air. She was wearing yellow gloves, and a pink flowery apron. Mina could see she was tired, a little agitated, from the way her brunette hair was tied into a messy bun with some strands falling over her pretty face, and from the way her brows knitted. It seemed that Juliet had done some house-cleaning; it was her daily routine.

‘Is it too hard for you to just get up earlier and do some chores around here?’ Juliet hissed. Ok, Mina thought, she’s pissed. ‘You’re sixteen years old; do I have to keep calling you every morning?’

Mina said nothing. She just gave a shrug. She knew doing so would make Juliet angrier but she didn’t care much. Sure enough, Juliet’s lips tightened. Before she could say anything, the phone rang. Juliet glared at Mina for a few more seconds before grabbing the cordless phone lying on the kitchen table.

‘Langley’s res- oh- hello dea- what- Mina?’ Juliet suppressed a sigh. ‘Your- dad’ she said stiffly, handing Mina the phone. Mina snatched it from her hand.

‘What?’ Mina said.

‘You failed your examination again’ her father’s voice was a collection of anger, stress, dejected and resignation. This was not the first time Mina received a call from her father’s work concerning her result. Every time her result came out, he was always informed by the teachers instead by Mina.

‘So?’ Mina said indifferently, casting a glance to Juliet, who was still glowering at her direction with her jaw tightened.

‘Mina-’ her father struggled for words, ‘you’re not putting any efforts on your study. What are you planning to do? Destroy your future?’

Again, it was the same, dull how-you’re-going-to-survive-without-education lecture.

‘I don’t have time for this...’ Mina said, yawning.

‘Mina, for once, will you listen?’ Her father sounded desperate. There was silence before Mina heard a heavy sigh. ‘We’ll talk about this at home...’

Mina placed the phone on the table. Her father was going to rush back home to talk about this matter face to face; it was something Mina loathed a lot. She took her steps out from the kitchen.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Juliet demanded, placing her hands on her hip.

‘Out’ said Mina. Ignoring Juliet’s protest she went to her room. Grabbing any black shirts from the floor, and a pair of pants in the closet, she slid into them and went to examine her appearance at the mirror. Black tousled hair, restless eyes, and pallid expression. She realized she was far from attractive, a complete non-de-script, yet she cared not.

Juliet was knocking on her door furiously.

‘MINA! YOU COME OUT THIS INSTANCE!’

Before Juliet could barge in, Mina took her escape through the window. She had many experience of climbing down from the second floor, so she managed to get on the ground unharmed and without breaking a sweat.

‘YOUR FATHER IS NOT GOING TO LIKE THIS!’ Juliet screamed. She was poking her head out the window and was pointing at her. Mina prodded her tongue at her, provoking her anger on purpose. Juliet looked like she was about to jump from the window and unto Mina, but of course, she didn’t.

Their neighbours merely watched. Thing like this was not unusual. Everyday there would be screaming and shouting inside the Langley house. Mina walked down the pavement casually, waving to the elders and greeting them while they shook their heads disapprovingly.

The girl’s mad, they thought. Mina laughed to herself when a lady shouted to her; ‘Aren’t you ashamed with yourself?’

Mrs. Marshall was one of the mothers who fear having Mina as a neighbour for she was a bad influence on their little girls.

Mina was wild, uncontrolled, and free. They had no bounds on her, she had no obligations to follow what they thought was good to her. She didn’t give a damn of what they were saying about her. To hell with them all.

Upon reaching a small, blue house, where a cat and a dog were playing by the green lawn, Mina saw Grandma Coco knitting as usual. This old woman didn’t care about her or the world either. In fact, nothing seemed to be on her mind except for her knitting. Mina secretly like her quiet attitude.

Unlike the others, Grandma Coco was far from being critical. So she stopped and observed the way Grandma Coco’s house stood humbly among the others; there was a small garden, flowers and butterflies, old wood and creaking stairs, happy barking and meowing. Grandma Coco took no notice of her as she knitted a sweater with her wobbly old hands.

Mina looked up to the dark windows. She squinted; someone was staring down at her. She didn’t get a clear view of that person. Whoever that person was, he or she had moved away from the window, leaving Mina wondering. They said Grandma Coco lived all by herself. So, who was looking down at her just now?

Thinking she was being ridiculous for taking an interest in what’s going on inside Grandma Coco’s house when she should be away before her father returned, Mina chuckled to herself. She walked away from the neighbourhood. Maybe she would spend some nights in Hendry’s place; just to be away from her annoying father and step-mommy.