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Teresa
Chapter Four: "On Sunrises and Porridge"
Current Location: Greenhill
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10:21 pm. Fast asleep, with no intention of
getting up, if ever.
7:21 am. Still fast asleep, and still with no
intention of getting up, ever.
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Teresa had always loved watching
the sun rise. Often in her youth, she would wake up earlier than most to
watch dawn fast approach; watching the flecks of orange, purple and
pink give way to a softer sky blue. Sunrises were always beautiful,
irrevocable proof that whatever the ways of the world, nature would still be
its most beautiful. As it rose, life slowly begins anew, from the
gradual chirping of birds to the more human sounds of people awakening to
another day.
There were however, times when dawn,
early morning, or even late morning, was *not* a beautiful sight to behold,
at all. It basically comes down to two main factors: if the person
in question is suffering from an illness that requires much needed
rest, and if the bed is parallel to and in close proximity to a certain
large airy window that just happens to face the east.
These were some of those times.
Teresa only had the strength
to groan once; the remainder of whatever failing energy she had stored had
to be used to tug the sheets over her head in a final attempt to ward off
whatever sunlight that has suceeded in penetrating through the window
barrier. Who the hell moved the bed? It only seemed like an hour
ago since she had nodded off to sleep. With much moving around, Teresa
finally settled for pulling most of the covers and a formidable number of
pillows between her head and bright sunlight. Darkness had never looked so
good as it did now.
The Fates however, had other
plans.
"Rise and shine, Miz
Teresa!" Sadie, the Academy's resident and most bubbly-headed
chambermaid, burst into the room with a smile that would have quickly
blinded Teresa, if she hadn't been already by the godforsaken morning.
Normally, Teresa would have always counted on her cheery, though slightly
vague, demeanor to brighten up her day, but then, these were not normal
times. "Miz`tress Caitlin told me ta see ya up and spoon some of
her hot porridge as soon as you're able!" Taking no notice - or
choosing not to notice - Teresa's pathetic condition, she swiped the
blankets off the bed in one mighty swing of her arm. "Then you gotta
getcha medicine!" she called out in her sweet pidgin accent.
She hated porridge. And she could
see the darkness -sweet, sweet black darkness - finally slip away. With a
muffled cry of protest, Teresa struggled to sit up, eyes almost squinched
shut from the glaring light, peering around desperately - something,
anything - to provide for some means of protection, scant as they may be,
but Sadie would have none of that. Almost immediately, as soon as she'd
managed a vertical sitting position, did Sadie happily shove a tray
containing fruits, water, and a large bowl of hot porridge onto her lap.
"The miztress says to eat em all up, else she's gonna spoon feed em
into ya!"
Teresa gaped. "But I hate
porri--"
"And as soon as yer done, I'll
be headin' back up here fer yer medicine!"
Teresa debated upon either chucking
several fluff pillows or the horrid porridge at her, but by the time she
came to her decision (she was going to hit her with the pillows *and* the
porridge), Sadie had already bustled out of the room as quick as she had
entered it.
With a low grimace, Teresa stared
miserably at her morning meal, vision slowly clearing and adjusting. She
only managed a small, half-hearted bite on a large red apple before
abandoning it altogether. She was a lot better than she had been the
previous day, but she had no appetite. She wouldn't have an appetite, eve if
she *was* hungry, not with porridge. She wished there was a pond right next
to the window. As a child, she had a habit of pouring her gruel down her
next door neighbor's fish pond from her family's dining room window, to count
how many dead fish came floating up. She had never been caught; and the
fish, rather than choking on the rancid taste, actually looked quite
well-fed.
As it was, she had to settle for
pouring the disgusting concoction onto the small plant box hanging just
right outside her sill. She was fond of flowers, and hoped it wouldn't cause
the plants to wilt. "Better you than me." She told them, even as
she did the dirty deed.
Great. Now I'm talking to
inanimate objects.
And besides, she wasn't that sick
anymore. She could only assume that the work had piled up on her in the two
days she had spent in bed, which meant she was going to have to work
doubly hard to try to catch up again, plus there was still that unresolved
reports regarding the Highland empire and the new road that is to be
built just outside Greenhill......
Sadie came back up just as Teresa
attempted to climb out her bed and make her way towards the desk at the
center of the room. Like a child caught with a hand inside the cookie jar,
she quickly sprung back into her original position, hoping that her ears
weren't burning.
Sadie looked slightly confused,
then apparently seemed to shrug it off. She gazed at Teresa's empty bowl
with barely concealed approval. She beamed. "Oh good, ya finished yer
porridge!" Unscrewing the small medicine bottle she had brought along
with her, she tipped it off to one side, allowing a few multi-colored
pills to come tumbling out. "A little medicine, then yer gonna be back
ta restin'!"
"I want to know what's going
on." Teresa demanded, only it probably didn't seem to be one to the
maid, sitting on her bed with only a nightgown for wear. "Where's
Emilia? And is there anything I should know of?" Gods, she was the
acting mayor, not an invalid.
Sadie frowned slightly, chewing on
a fingernail. "I dun think so, ma'am. Ain't seen no hide 'r tail o'
those Highland boyos anywhere near here. And I aven't seen Emilia fer some
time, anyhoo."
It was Teresa's turn to frown. It
was unlike Emilia to just disappear without anyone knowing, unless no one
thought to look at the library's medieval romance section. "Well, go
get someone to find her, and send her to me when you do." Emilia for
all her bookish tendencies, knew more than she would let on.
Once medicine and fruit were aptly
consumed and digested, Sadie was only too happy to leave Teresa to her
musings, off to report her success to the Mistress Caitlin. Teresa yawned
and lay back down on the pillows. She'll be alright in an hour or so, and by
then she'll be refreshed enough to tackle the paperwork. As the pills slowly
began to do its work, her eyes began to close, thought beginning to swirl
away like mist.
Later......
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Teresa |