Юрий Лаймин
At NightFall
"Make sure you close the doors and study before we get back, okay? You would try those questions again. We wouldn't want that pesky little Yvonne taking away your rightful prize, would we?" Her mother's thin voice rang through the whole house, causing a headache that happened regularly lately. Though the manner lessons she had been taking since 4 demanded she responded politely to her mother, she had no will to do that but she had no control even over her responses as her mother shouted her name again and she had no choice but to answer with a "Yes mom." She always told herself to study hard and smart to gain a scholarship out of the country as that was the only way she could be free. But now, she wasn't sure she had the patience anymore.
Another night, another hour of studying and boredom. Another night of being alone doing nothing but reading, taking notes and listening to the crickets sing around in freedom. Her mates were out there having fun, making friends and enjoying life and here she was, waiting for her mother's command to switch the television.
Imagine a 17-year-old without any form of communication, friends or acquaintances, that was her. The only people she had were her parents, the workers to who she barely spoke and the fictional characters from stories she read. Never had she thought she'd be in this position but ever since the Evil had planted itself in her parent's minds, she always expected so much worse every month.
At first, it was having to filter her friend's list, then they moved to phone use before confiscating it totally and restraining her movement. Even down to her television, nothing was spared and left out. She became a prisoner in her father's house.
Sometimes, her life reminded her of Rapunzel, the Disney princess. They had everything in common except the Madam Gothel part. The ones keeping her prisoner were her own biological and legal family. Well, they also didn't look alike and she was also only willing to speak to someone who also went through the same ordeal, her cousin Heather.
Being a princess was not fun. She knew a lot of people would disagree but she wasn't going to change her opinion. Having no control was pathetic. Maybe one day, she'd be free without her grandparents going crazy on her, without her relatives looking down on her and most certainly, without rules and expectations holding her down.
The next morning went on like any other day. She went to school, acted like the loner her mother wanted her to be and spoke to only Heather. Getting home early was something she had to do if she wanted to have some me time. She only had two hours to herself before her education became the most important thing in her life again. She spends that 2 hours trying to watch the movies she has heard her classmates speak about.
That particular day, she watched Tangled again but this time, it spoke differently to her. She saw herself in Rapunzel but she had nobody to help her escape. That night, rather than studying as her parents told her to, she tried to figure out ways of escaping. Having no means of communication or money, her thoughts of traveling only got more difficult. She thought and pondered but she had no idea of what to do. She could run away on a normal day as she was taken to school and back home by a driver and her school won't allow her out until the school closes. And even if she managed to run, she had no way of living, no shelter, food or clothing. The escape was doomed to fail. But if there was anything about her, it was her determination. Even though it meant jeopardizing her life by forfeiting her education.
Since the next move was a week away, she had a lot of time to plan. She had nobody to trust or talk to which made the planning more bothersome and also easy. She tried to think of a way to earn money but her only option was her parents. Deciding to rid her mind of pride, she decided to ask her parents for her pocket money. Her parents used to give her money for upkeep every month but seeing that she went nowhere and had no use for money, they stopped.
The next day, she spoke to her parents about the upkeep money and though they were suspicious, they agreed. That day after school, she was given a whopping sum of a hundred thousand nairas. Her relatives once complained about the money is too much for her age but she guessed the only reason they gave her that amount was to make up for the lack of freedom but even that was not enough. Nothing was enough to pay for the price of her freedom.
Luckily, the money was enough to take care of her needs until she clocks 18 which is 3 weeks from that day. She planned to go back to the town where she once had friends who were okay with her being a princess. She could only hope they would accept her. Thankfully, she had gotten a scholarship to a university abroad and all she needed was her flight ticket.
On the last day at the town she was at as of current, she spoke to Heather who tried every way to talk her out of her decision. People might think she was happy being controlled but she wasn't. It was all Evil's fault.
"Lucky are the princesses, for they are pampered all their lives." Though it wasn't funny, the whole class burst into laughter and so did we, not knowing we were the target of the insult. A lot of the girls flocked around us, asking us things they never would have. We were all oblivious to the fact that our secret was now known by someone who was told by someone we trusted.
At first, rumours came to us of people finding out about us being princesses but it turns out Evil was smart enough to want to throw the light away from herself. She told them we were children of one of the richest men in the city.
Two weeks later, Heather and I were both kidnapped and our parents were swindled of their money, leaving the relatives complaining as we were not only girls, we were also easy targets for mishaps. From that day onwards, friendships evaporated into thin air and home was everywhere.
Even though Heather tried and tried, nothing could change her mind. And even though she knew she took a risk letting Heather know, she still tried to trust somebody, she still tried to trust Heather. She could only hope she wasn't betrayed. Again.
The next day, everyone was packing. The workers were fired, the house cleaned of any luggage and the princess missing. Never had it felt that good running. Knew she would start a new life, not as a princess but as a normal girl. Maybe she would regret it but for once, she wanted to feel what freedom felt like. To walk alone without seeing her parents everywhere. To have friends and talk about random stuff, she wanted that again.
She walked and walked, not stopping once. Knowing she had limited time till her parents found her, she tried some distance between them. She also tried not to spend her money anyhow. She tried working odd jobs which gave her enough money to eat twice a day. Every day, she worked during the day and ran during the night. A week later and she finally got to the boundary of her destination, the only village where she could get a bus without drawing the attention of her parents. Though she was paranoid that people would recognize her, she tried to put herself at ease as she doesn't look the same. The clothes she wore looked ragged and dirty from overuse, her hair in knots, her skin dark and crusty and she was slimmer than she was before but she didn't care.
On her way to the bus station, she suddenly remembered it was midnight and her escape was beginning to seem more dangerous than she thought. No bus or any means of transport would be available. Nobody would even be awake or so she thought.
Suddenly, she began to hear footsteps. At first, she thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her mind but when she turned back, she was shocked to see some men and women, 5 in number behind her. She willed her feet to move faster but she couldn't but run. It was beginning to seem like her prison was better. Looking around, trying to find a place to hide, she began to perceive the neighbourhood to be familiar but she couldn't say why.
Suddenly, she lost her footing and fell face flat, her head hitting the floor with enough force to pry her head open. Though her head was still intact, the fall caused a migraine, a very critical condition. And immediately, she heard the Evil's voice, "Lucky are the princesses, for they are pampered all their lives." Then it came back to her, it was where it all started, where her freedom was taken away from her. She remembered her father's advice, "Fight, fight until all your energy has been overtaken from you."
Well, she fought for her freedom. She at least fought till she was out of power.
Evil's face flashed in front of her closed eyes. Her short stature, her bleached skin and her proud eyes.