Summary: Loosely inspired by the Disney short Little Match Girl, with an added, sinister, wolfish twist.
A/N:
I've been craving it, so I let myself have it, and now I offer it to you, to partake in, if you wish to join me.
Match Girl
Sighing heavily, the brunette left the dank and molded mattress she unfortunately called her bed, scuffling quietly as to not wake the other, still slumbering, and much younger children that filled the tiny cramped space. She rinsed her face with ice cold water at the basin at the end of the room, then hurried towards their shared clothing trunk to try and find something reasonably warm to wear to make her forget about her lack of proper foot and hand coverings. Though the Madame provided them with a roof over their heads, a place to sleep, and every so often, something to wear, she did little else for the nine children that were housed up in the smallest room of her home. She was a strange, widowed lady who often times was not even home. Sometimes she was kind and made the children something warm and delicious to eat, but usually she would go through fits of rage, abusing whoever was unlucky enough to cross her. She terrified Eren, the oldest of the nine who found themselves forced to depend upon the demented crone.
Eren slowly made her way down the crooked staircase and quietly slipped past the Madame's room, she wandered into the kitchen and opened the creaky pantry door. She quickly searched through the sparsely supplied space and found the small wicker basket that contained the lively hood of herself and the other eight children. After securing the basket of matches, she hurried to the shoe closet at the entry way of the small home, and lingered there, debating whether or not to take a pair of boots to keep her feet warm and risk the chance of the Madame discovering the missing pair or just hoping that she wouldn't get frostbite. The risk of frostbite was the less risky option so she settled for wrapping her already freezing feet with a few more layers bandages and throwing on a pair of old socks she'd found a few weeks prior.
With one last, forlorn look, Eren made her way out into the snow covered courtyard and down the frozen cobblestone pathway towards the woods, the shortest way she knew to town. After what felt like several hours, though it'd only been closer to one, she found herself near the main plaza, putting on her brightest smile and trying her hardest to get the attention of passerbys in hopes that she'd make enough to buy a few loaves of bread for herself and the slumbering children.
"Matches," she shouted, "I've got matches here for sale," she wandered up and down the plaza, down the streets, and paths she knew well, "five matches for 2 pfennig! Just 2 pfennig!"
She was no stranger to wondering through the frigid streets, nor being ignored or scoffed at as if she were a rodent invading the holiday table, nothing more than a nuisance. Though it hadn't always been this bad. In the seventeen years she'd lived, the first nine were what could have been considered paradise, she'd probably still be there if it hadn't been for the manic patient of her father that broke into their quaint home and set fire to her comfortable life.
Being the sole survivor of her family of five was not something she'd have ever imagined before she was orphaned at the tender age of ten. The next five years were spent being shuffled from family to family until she met the Madame. She was lured in with kind words, the offer of a warm place to sleep, food to eat, and clean warm clothing; but so were all the other children until the Madame grew tired of them and left them to rot while she found another doll to peek her interests. Eren had been lucky, she'd played the role of the Madame's lovely little doll for nearly an entire year before she was cast aside like the old pair of socks that currently clothed her feet.
"Matches! I've got matches here for sale!" her wanderings continued, moving from one street to the next in hopes that someone would purchase at least one match from her, "Five matches for 2 pfennig!" she cried out desperately. All she received in response was a harsh gust of wind, several cold glares, and increased snowfall.
As the day neared its climax and what warmth the sun's ray provided dissipated, she sighed and looked down at her meager earnings for the day, '6 pfennig, barely enough for a small bread loaf,' she thought, and made her way to the alley behind the bakery, hoping to find something safe enough to eat for herself so she could give the bread to the other children.
Finding nothing but frozen scraps, she shook her head and tried to ignore the pain of her grumbling stomach, dusted the snow off her coat, then walked into the bakery, hoping the baker would be willing to give her anything burnt or scraped that wasn't fit to be sold. Upon entering the bakery, she received nothing but dark glares and upturned noses, she ignored them and went straight to the counter and held out her hand to the elderly man presenting her earnings for the day with a determined look, despite hearing every low murmur of "what's that smell," or scoff of "filthy."
He gave her a once over, then looked at the measly excuse of a payment in her hands before shaking his head and saying, "Sorry miss, there's nothing her you can buy with that."
Eren stared at him, her mouth slightly agape, "S-surely there's something? Sir I'm sorry but this is all I have!" she stated a little louder than she thought, but held fast and tried again to offer the man the money.
"The cheapest thing I have right now is 10 pfennig," he stated firmly, but seeing her fallen expression, added in, "try to come back earlier in the morning when we're still fully stocked."
"B-but sir…I have eight siblings to feed…" her voice grew louder and she immediately remembered where she was, feeling every pair of eyes in the baker's shop on her at once. Gritting her teeth she turned on her heel to run out but was stopped by rather abruptly by a man in a long black trench coat and an expensive looking top hat.
He stared down at her with a faint hint of confusion …and was that sadness? in his silvery-blue eyes, then back at the oversized man behind the counter before pulling out his wallet. Eren stared up at the man with a mix of fear and frustration in her eyes, shouting out, "E-excuse me sir!" Before dashing back out into the snow covered streets. It was nearly sunset, she needed to hurry home before darkness fell and she was unable to see.
She started towards the woods, hoping to reach the cobblestone path before sundown, though she wanted to run, she knew how weak her body was and the likely hood of her making it back was much slimmer if she exhausted herself before half the trip had been made. Fortunately she neared the edge of the wood before all the light had completely faded, and she knew that even in the darkness, she would be able to make it home because of the path, what she didn't know was that a strange pair of silvery eyes was watching as she made her way into the woods.
Nearly an hour later, Eren found herself panting at the top step of the Madame's home, trying to compose herself and bring her frozen limbs up high enough open the door. One she was safely in, she collapsed in the entryway, feeling tired and frustrated for being unable to provide a meal for yet another day this week. There was no food in the kitchen nor in the pantry, and judging by the happy clamor of the children, Eren could only guess that the Madame was no longer there. She would never allow the boisterous noise of eight children to fill her halls if she were anywhere in the house, no matter her mood.
A little energy returned to her after realizing the Madame's absence, so Eren stood and began to dust herself off, feeling the warmth slowly return to her limbs and making movement easier. She started to leave the entryway, but froze when she heard the loud knock from the other side of the door. Wide-eyed and alarmed, she turned to the door and realized she hadn't locked it, then hurried back to turn the lock. After a few strained seconds passed, she leaned her ear against the door to listen for any movement, then cautiously called out, "Who's there?" when there was no response, she took a deep breath and very slowly unlocked then cracked open the door. What she saw was no person, not even a beast, rather, a large brown bag left in front of the door.
Quickly surveying the surroundings, she propped open the door, grabbed the bag, then shut it just as quickly before making sure she locked it securely again. Eren took the bag to the kitchen and quickly opened it, gasping when she saw several loaves of bread, what looked to be a dozen or so rolls, a small block of cheese and a few links of wurst.
"Who would..?" was all she could say, wondering who or why anyone would leave such a feast at their doorstep. She felt tears well up and spill over as she began to carve up the meat and cheese to be rationed to each child, all the while feeling an intense sense of appreciation and happiness for whoever left the bag there. "Thank you," she whispered, as she wiped the wetness from her eyes and finished the preparations.
She ran upstairs and giddily passed out the food to each child, treasuring their grateful faces. Upon requests for seconds, she returned to cut up a bit more of the food before storing the rest away for the next few days' worth of meals. As she packed the bread back into the bag, she noticed a little note written out on a small cream colored piece of paper. Written out in neat script were the words,
Sie haben etwas vergessen.
'But I wasn't able to buy anything…how could I have forgotten something?' she thought, folding up the paper and slipping it into her pocket.
That night, she and the others slept with full bellies and without worry of being forced from sleep to complete one of the Madame's bizarre tasks. She hadn't left for a while, and Eren could only hope she'd decided to return to France again. The last time she'd left, she was away for over a month. She prayed that would be the case again, because that meant one month for her wounds to heal, and to try and find another place to live that would take them all.
A/N:
Sie haben etwas vergessen. You forgot something. I don't speak German so I asked a friend for this translation, if any of you are fluent speakers, could you please let me know if this is an acceptable translation? Thank you.
I would like to formally welcome you back (hopefully) to enjoy the newest fruit of my stress relief. I know my absence has been inexcusable, so I would also like to extend a formal apology along with the following offer: For the next month, beginning (today!) December 1, 2015 until New Year's Day, I will be accepting requests to write one shots/ficlets, though I do have a few rules, but outside of these guidelines (below), all is free-game.
So firstly, I sincerely apologize to all of you who have been following me and sending me such wonderful messages and encouragements to continue writing. I've made the personal decision to finish writing both Dear Rabbit and Mundane before I post any more chapters, as I've had quite a while longer to think about what I wanted to do with each story and universe. That being said, you can expect updates on BOTH of them before the year has come to its end.
Secondly, Thank you all so much for the overflow of support and love that you've all given me over the past two years, I seriously can't believe how wonderful this fandom is and how understanding and supportive you've all been, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you so, so very much.
Lastly, the guidelines for my previous fic offer:
1. If I am not comfortable with the request, I reserve the right to refuse it, no ifs, ands or buts.
Ie. I don't do bestiality, pedophilia is a no go, rape is out of the question.
2. I'd prefer if the ship was Riren/Ereri, but I am open to other pairings, though I can't guarantee the quality since I'm a LeviXEren shipper for life.
3. Feel free to get creative, wild, and downright weird!
If you have any more questions, or are interested in this offer, then please, leave a comment below or message me on my tumblr: haruka-hourou
On an entirely different note, I finally made and Instagram – and it's…you guessed it, haruka_hourou, I've gotten really into cosplaying the past year or so, and I've been posting updates on my costumes and a few cosplay photos intermixed with my everyday life, so if any of you would like to keep in better contact, feel free to follow me and I will follow you back~! I'd love to get to know y'all better!