***I do not own any characters of Grandia2 except those who I made up for
this fan fic, so don't sue me for stealing.onegai.arigato0_0
Chapter 9: When Everybody Found Out.
Five months had passed by, yet there was still not a word or a sign of Ryudo. The chilliness of autumn has descended from the heavens already. The leaves from the trees were starting to changed from their lively bright green color to a dull, dry, dusty color of brown, red, and orange. The little village of Carbo was full of liveliness and excitement about preparations for the upcoming bitter cold winter. The men gathered around, while smoking their pipes, talked about the harvest and plans for next year's spring planting. The women bustled themselves with the pickling and preserving of fruits and vegetables, as they talk about the new dress styles for winter. The children ran around the village jumping up and down on the piles of fresh fallen leaves, were laughing with happiness and joy as they chased each other.
Elena sighed as she looked out from her window, remembering the previous autumns she had. During those years, she, with Tessa, and the others would visited the villagers, doing charity work as they passed out fresh baked bread, little sacks of cornmeal, and bags of lemon drops for the children. While visiting their homes, the women would ask the sisters to come inside for pies and tea. Throughout the week after the harvest, there would be sermons on the church every evening. The villagers would pray and gave thanks to Lord Granas for the bountiful harvest, and they would all listen eagerly at Elena's beautiful singing of "A Deus". And at the end of the week, there would be a huge party at the center of the village.
To Elena, all of those wonderful memories were gone, faded away into the past, which seemed far, far away, like a wonderful dream. Those things no longer exist to her anymore, and even though it would take place again, it would no longer be the same as before. "Nothing is the same anymore", thought Elena sadly, as she walked away from the window, feeling a sense of distress, as she recalled those happy times she used to had. She sat down on her bed listlessly, feeling tired. She hasn't set a foot out of the church, ever since she started showing physical signs of her pregnancy. Throughout the whole summer, she spent most of her time inside the church, helping out with the household chores, sitting on her room thinking about her misery, or just looked outside from her window thinking about nothing.
Mother Carius had constantly inquired Elena to go outside to talk a walk and get some fresh air, but Elena would resist and made up lies of some sort, excuses such as, "I am tired", "I am not feeling well", "I am busy", or "The weather is too hot". Inside, she longed to go outside, to be bathe in sunshine, and smell the sweet smelling air that drifted off from the woods. Every nerve of her body was screaming for the desperateness of the outside world, instead of being stuffed up inside a four walled room, but her pride got into the way. She doesn't want to let other people know about her secret. Shaming herself and Father and Mother Carius that she is with child without getting married. She doesn't want to face the taunts and jeers from the villagers if they found out. Basically she feared a stain on her dignity and her reputation; she's tried to run away from the truth. Elena looked down at her now bulging front. She was already seven months pregnant, and nobody on the village had learned this except the doctor. "I can't hide it forever. They will find out eventually, and soon, I am going to be shamed and be hated in this town", thought Elena, sadly. She felt her stomach, and sighed again. She still couldn't believe the fact that she was really with child. She wished that she had never gotten into this messy state. But there was no one to blame for this, except herself. It was her own fault, because she knew that a young lady should never make love with any man before she gets married.
"Why do I have to end up like this? Why do I have to get the worst of everything?", Elena thought bitterly, and she started to sobbed. She suddenly felt a sharp pain; her unborn child was kicking inside her. Elena hugged her stomach with one hand, while wiping tears with the other. She despised the situation she's in now. She even sometimes disliked the child she's carrying inside. As she closed her eyes, Elena secretly wished that she would have a miscarriage, and get rid of the bundle of disgrace, but immediately regretted for what she had thought of. She felt terrible. The child might be a huge burden to her, and it's carrying a name of shame, but the child is innocent. This child is her flesh and blood, it has a part of her and also.a part of Ryudo. She and the child have a special bond together, a relationship as mother and child. She realized that she had no one else now, except her baby. Elena felt her stomach again; she had no one to share her pain and agony. The pain that she was holding inside: no one could understand how she felt. Being alone, unmarried, and expecting a child, she felt lost. There was nobody for her to talk to, to express her feelings. Father and Mother Carius were there for her, but she don't want to cause them to worry about her, they had there own work to handle, and..Ryudo., he had left her for seven months already, and he had no idea that she's carrying his child.
"Elena!?", called Mother Carius from downstairs. Elena stepped out of her room and walked down the stairs, "What is it, Mother Carius?"
"Oh, there you are, my dear. Would you do me a favor?" asked Mother Carius, as she stirred something from the saucepan. "Sure", reply Elena. "Is there anything I can help?"
"Can you take this coltsfoot root ointment to Granny Flora? She said her backache is hitting again. I would have gone if I could. But all of this preparations for tomorrow's party is..", said Mother Carius.
"It's fine, Mother Carius. But can I help you, when I get back?", asked Elena. The truth was, she really doesn't wanted to go, but she don't have the heart to resisted, to let Mother Carius knew her fear, and not help her a bit, even for a small favor as going outside to the village.
"Are you sure, dear? But I recommend you to take a rest instead. I don't want you to move around that often, especially in that condition of yours", said Mother Carius.
"I had enough rest already. Please, I really wish to help", plead Elena.
"Alright then. But only a little bit. I don't want you to wear yourself off", said Mother Carius, as she handed Elena the ointment, which was wrapped in a piece of cloth.
Elena walked slowly as she stepped onto the sermon hall, and hesitated when she reached the front doors. She expected what would happen to her once she stepped out; everybody that knew her will found out her dirty secret, and soon she would be hated and be disgraced. She grasped the handle of the door tightly, her knuckles are shown white through her hand. She took a deep breath, and opened the door, preparing to face the mocking and scoffing from the villagers.
Elena felt a little shaky as she walked out of the church. She clutched the ointment tightly with the hands. She decided to walked fast with her head bowed down, so nobody would recognized or thought it was her, but unfortunately the villagers recognized her golden pinned up braids.
"Hey! Look! It's Elena", an old lady cried, as she walked slowly to Elena, wanting to gave Elena a hug, and all of a sudden everyone around her was starting to walked toward Elena, each wanted to give the pretty Songstress a greeting. Elena tried her best to covered her front with the ointment as she walked away from them to the other direction, but stopped as a little girl ran up to Elena.
"Miss Elena! Miss Elena! Could you sing me one of your pretty songs, please.?", cried the girl happily.
"Oh dear, I would love to....but not now..I'm busy right now", said Elena softly to the girl.
"Bummer.", said the little girl, feeling a little sad, but lightened up when she saw the package Elena was holding. "What's that?", asked the girl as she snatched the ointment away from Elena's hand, and ran away.
"Hey! Give it back to me!", cried Elena, as she tried to get back the ointment. But as she tried to run after the girl, another sharp pain hit again. She hugged her stomach with both hands, as she bit her lips from the pain; her child was kicking her again.
The girl looked at Elena with fearsome eyes, "Are you alright, Miss Elena?" The girl sound scared. "Here, I am sorry", she said as she handed Elena back the ointment, and ran away. Elena got the package, and as she looked up, she saw the shocked faces of the villagers. They stared at her silently, open-mouthed, as they eyed Elena's stomach for a few minutes, and then a woman cried out.
"Why! She's with child!"
"This is a disgrace! She's not even married! By the looks of her, she could be 6-7 months pregnant!", said another woman, and then all the villagers started talking about Elena at once. Elena, with her face flushed with embarrassment and tears forming on her eyes, quickly ran to Granny Flora's house.
"Who's there?", said Granny Flora, as her blind eyes faced the direction of the doorway.
"It's me, Granny Flora. Elena.", answered Elena.
"Oh, my dear Elena. How pleasant it is to hear your sweet voice", said Granny Flora happily. "I haven't heard your voice for months, dear. Are you well?"
"Yes, Granny. I am fine. It's just that during these few months, I'm needed at the church", lied Elena, "How's your back feeling today, Granny?"
"A little bit better, but still, I could hardly move at all, without feeling the intense pain. But just hearing your beautiful voice eased my pain a bit", said Granny Flora smiling. Elena blushed, "Granny, here is the ointment from Mother Carius that you needed. She would have visited you herself if she could, but with the food preparations for tomorrow's party, she could hardly tear herself away from the kitchen", said Elena as she placed the ointment on Granny Flora's hands.
"Thank you very much, my dear. I apologized for troubling you, with all this work that had to be done", said Granny Flora, as she held Elena's hand.
"Please don't say that, Granny Flora. It's no trouble at all. Mother Carius might be busy, but I am always available", Elena assured.
"My dear, you are always so sweet and benevolent. But I believed you should get going now. It's getting late and Carius's wife might be expecting you."
"Then take care, Granny Flora. I wish you would feel better soon. I would come and visit you again another time. Have a good evening, Granny", said Elena as she was about to leave.
"Please come visit me soon, Elena. I just love to listen to your sweet voice. Take care too, my darling."
As Elena exited out from Granny Flora's house, she hoped to get back to the church unseen, but failed. As soon as she stepped out of the house, the villagers stopped what they are doing, turned their eyes and attention completely to Elena, and walked towards her, with repulsive faces while whispering mean thoughts about Elena.
"Who do you think is the father of the child?", one lady asked the woman next to her.
"I believed it's belongs to that horrible Geohound", the woman answered distastefully. "It does seem like Elena is sweet on that ugly, horrible looking man. I remembered the day he left; Elena walked him to the woods"
"Then that means Elena did had an affair with him and he must be the father of the child", cried an old woman.
Elena burned with shame for being the center of attention, being criticized and talked like a piece of object. She really wanted to sob on front of everybody, for tears were welling up to her eyes. She could no longer stand there, being judged like that. She started to run, while wiping her tears away from her cheeks, as she heard more taunts and scoffs from the villagers.
"Look at her! Running away from shame!"
"Such a Geohound trash! One of his dirty left behinds!"
"What a hussy!"
"We should either burn her at stake or drown her nearby!"
"I thought she was pure and virginal, but she is no better than those whores who would give in to anybody"
"Even a whore would not make love with a dirty bastard such as that sickening Geohound!"
"Hey, Elena!", a young man, with a boil on his nose called out. "You want to spend the night with me? I don't mind how your figure looks, as long as you make me happy. I'll pay you money. I bet that Geohound didn't even left you a tip after you slept with him", he joked as he held his bag of money out, and his friends next to him burst out laughing.
Elena continued to run. Those words were too much for her to bear. Never in her life had she been insulted like that. Elena felt that her heart was breaking into pieces. Their words were like a million of thorns piercing into her heart and soul. Throughout her life, she had been loved and cherished, but now.she is detested and had adapted the name as "Geohound's trash". Tears continued to stream down her face as she ran back to the church. She quickly opened the door and slammed it behind her. She wiped her tears and mopped her face with her handkerchief. She sat herself down onto one of the rows of seats on the sermon hall. She closed her eyes as she laid her head down onto her hands. She tried to calm herself down. She doesn't want to go into the kitchen yet. Because of her red eyes and blotchy face, she knew Mother Carius would question her. She sat still for half an hour, and then afterwards, she dragged herself up and headed towards the kitchen.
Mother Carius was busily kneading a pie crust and she barely noticed Elena's presence as she came in. "Mother Carius?", spoke Elena in a soft voice.
"Oh, it's you Elena. Back so early? How is Granny Flora?", asked Mother Carius, as she crimped the edges of the pie crust into a scalloped fold.
"Her back is still aching terribly. She seemed very pleased to see me. I talked to her for a while, and after I gave her the ointment, I bid her farewell", said Elena. "Now that I came back, Mother Carius, is there anything I can help?"
"Well, dear.You sure you are not tired? You face looks pale. Maybe you should go rest", suggested Mother Carius.
"Oh, no, I am fine. I promised that I would help you, and I really want to help. I can't stand seeing you work so hard, and I can't even lend a hand even if I am able to", protested Elena.
"Well then, Elena. Why don't you check if that cake over the counter is cooled yet, if it is, frosted it with vanilla glaze. After you are done with that, check if the bread dough has rise yet, but I reckoned it already had. Then help me knead it and put it to rise again", instructed Mother Carius.
Elena went to work immediately. She just loved the sweet smell of cake. The fragrant warm steam smelled so nice as it rose up to her face. Mixed with smells of fresh baked bread, cakes, fruit pies, and cookies, the kitchen was so cozy and warm, as it shielded the evening chills from outside. Elena closed her eyes and breathed in the delicious fragrance and aroma. As she began to frost the cake with the warm vanilla glaze, she felt like a little girl again, while she forgot the miseries of her real life. She happily spread thick layers of the sugary glaze onto the round cake, and felt so delighted when she had finished. After she placed the frosted cake onto the table, she went to the counter to check the bread dough. She lifted the cloth away from the bread box and saw a big puffy risen dough of flour and yeast. She took out the dough and started kneading as she recollected the times of her childhood birthdays. During those times, when supper was finished, she and her sisters would wait patiently and eagerly with round eyes, as Mother Carius brought out a frosted white cake.
Then everybody would sing:
"Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to Elena!
Happy Birthday to you!"
After they sang, Elena would closed her eyes and make a wish, blew out the candles, and then everybody would cheered. Then everybody would eat happily, with shining faces; so cheerful and full of bliss. "Such happy times."thought Elena, as she continued to knead the bread dough, and her mind started to wander off again.
"Elena?", asked Mother Carius, a little worried as saw Elena's faraway eyes.
"Huh? Oh, Mother Carius. What is it?", asked Elena, awaken from her day dreams.
"Are you alright?", asked Mother Carius, a little concerned.
"Yes, I am fine", said Elena.
"You looked tired, dear", said Mother Carius, as she walked over to Elena's side. "The dough looks ready. Put it back in the bread box and set it aside next to the stove, therefore it would rise faster. That's all for now, Elena dear. Go upstairs and have some rest. I'll call you when supper is ready."
"Yes, Mother Carius", replied Elena.
After she gave the bread dough a last pat, she floured it lightly and put it back to the bread box. She washed her dusty hands on the wash basin, and headed up the stairs. She gently closed the door behind her. Night was falling upon; the whole room was dark and shadowy. Elena lit up the candle on her vanity dresser, causing a faint glowing light across the small room. She quickly let down the window curtains; she doesn't want to look at the little village that she had known all her life; where almost every soul living on it now despised her. She sat down on her bed, and ran her hand through the embroidered coverlet. Again her mind went back to her misery and aches as her index finger trailed through the rose pattern. She stopped at the end of the embroidered rose petal, as tears welled up her eyes. "Oh, Ryudo.Where could you be?", thought Elena, sadly. She took out the pendant that Ryudo gave her before he left. She had kept it under her pillow all those time, keepint it safe. She looked at the shiny amethyst glimmer. "What take you so long? What do you have to do that is so important? Can you please come back soon? I can't take this any longer. I need you.no.we need you.the baby and I.desperately." Elena's thoughts dissolved into tears, as they flowed down her face. She could no longer hold back the unshed tears. She desperately needed Ryudo. She clung to her blanket tightly, and hugged her wound, as she wept silently on her quiet flickering candle lighted room.
Chapter 9: When Everybody Found Out.
Five months had passed by, yet there was still not a word or a sign of Ryudo. The chilliness of autumn has descended from the heavens already. The leaves from the trees were starting to changed from their lively bright green color to a dull, dry, dusty color of brown, red, and orange. The little village of Carbo was full of liveliness and excitement about preparations for the upcoming bitter cold winter. The men gathered around, while smoking their pipes, talked about the harvest and plans for next year's spring planting. The women bustled themselves with the pickling and preserving of fruits and vegetables, as they talk about the new dress styles for winter. The children ran around the village jumping up and down on the piles of fresh fallen leaves, were laughing with happiness and joy as they chased each other.
Elena sighed as she looked out from her window, remembering the previous autumns she had. During those years, she, with Tessa, and the others would visited the villagers, doing charity work as they passed out fresh baked bread, little sacks of cornmeal, and bags of lemon drops for the children. While visiting their homes, the women would ask the sisters to come inside for pies and tea. Throughout the week after the harvest, there would be sermons on the church every evening. The villagers would pray and gave thanks to Lord Granas for the bountiful harvest, and they would all listen eagerly at Elena's beautiful singing of "A Deus". And at the end of the week, there would be a huge party at the center of the village.
To Elena, all of those wonderful memories were gone, faded away into the past, which seemed far, far away, like a wonderful dream. Those things no longer exist to her anymore, and even though it would take place again, it would no longer be the same as before. "Nothing is the same anymore", thought Elena sadly, as she walked away from the window, feeling a sense of distress, as she recalled those happy times she used to had. She sat down on her bed listlessly, feeling tired. She hasn't set a foot out of the church, ever since she started showing physical signs of her pregnancy. Throughout the whole summer, she spent most of her time inside the church, helping out with the household chores, sitting on her room thinking about her misery, or just looked outside from her window thinking about nothing.
Mother Carius had constantly inquired Elena to go outside to talk a walk and get some fresh air, but Elena would resist and made up lies of some sort, excuses such as, "I am tired", "I am not feeling well", "I am busy", or "The weather is too hot". Inside, she longed to go outside, to be bathe in sunshine, and smell the sweet smelling air that drifted off from the woods. Every nerve of her body was screaming for the desperateness of the outside world, instead of being stuffed up inside a four walled room, but her pride got into the way. She doesn't want to let other people know about her secret. Shaming herself and Father and Mother Carius that she is with child without getting married. She doesn't want to face the taunts and jeers from the villagers if they found out. Basically she feared a stain on her dignity and her reputation; she's tried to run away from the truth. Elena looked down at her now bulging front. She was already seven months pregnant, and nobody on the village had learned this except the doctor. "I can't hide it forever. They will find out eventually, and soon, I am going to be shamed and be hated in this town", thought Elena, sadly. She felt her stomach, and sighed again. She still couldn't believe the fact that she was really with child. She wished that she had never gotten into this messy state. But there was no one to blame for this, except herself. It was her own fault, because she knew that a young lady should never make love with any man before she gets married.
"Why do I have to end up like this? Why do I have to get the worst of everything?", Elena thought bitterly, and she started to sobbed. She suddenly felt a sharp pain; her unborn child was kicking inside her. Elena hugged her stomach with one hand, while wiping tears with the other. She despised the situation she's in now. She even sometimes disliked the child she's carrying inside. As she closed her eyes, Elena secretly wished that she would have a miscarriage, and get rid of the bundle of disgrace, but immediately regretted for what she had thought of. She felt terrible. The child might be a huge burden to her, and it's carrying a name of shame, but the child is innocent. This child is her flesh and blood, it has a part of her and also.a part of Ryudo. She and the child have a special bond together, a relationship as mother and child. She realized that she had no one else now, except her baby. Elena felt her stomach again; she had no one to share her pain and agony. The pain that she was holding inside: no one could understand how she felt. Being alone, unmarried, and expecting a child, she felt lost. There was nobody for her to talk to, to express her feelings. Father and Mother Carius were there for her, but she don't want to cause them to worry about her, they had there own work to handle, and..Ryudo., he had left her for seven months already, and he had no idea that she's carrying his child.
"Elena!?", called Mother Carius from downstairs. Elena stepped out of her room and walked down the stairs, "What is it, Mother Carius?"
"Oh, there you are, my dear. Would you do me a favor?" asked Mother Carius, as she stirred something from the saucepan. "Sure", reply Elena. "Is there anything I can help?"
"Can you take this coltsfoot root ointment to Granny Flora? She said her backache is hitting again. I would have gone if I could. But all of this preparations for tomorrow's party is..", said Mother Carius.
"It's fine, Mother Carius. But can I help you, when I get back?", asked Elena. The truth was, she really doesn't wanted to go, but she don't have the heart to resisted, to let Mother Carius knew her fear, and not help her a bit, even for a small favor as going outside to the village.
"Are you sure, dear? But I recommend you to take a rest instead. I don't want you to move around that often, especially in that condition of yours", said Mother Carius.
"I had enough rest already. Please, I really wish to help", plead Elena.
"Alright then. But only a little bit. I don't want you to wear yourself off", said Mother Carius, as she handed Elena the ointment, which was wrapped in a piece of cloth.
Elena walked slowly as she stepped onto the sermon hall, and hesitated when she reached the front doors. She expected what would happen to her once she stepped out; everybody that knew her will found out her dirty secret, and soon she would be hated and be disgraced. She grasped the handle of the door tightly, her knuckles are shown white through her hand. She took a deep breath, and opened the door, preparing to face the mocking and scoffing from the villagers.
Elena felt a little shaky as she walked out of the church. She clutched the ointment tightly with the hands. She decided to walked fast with her head bowed down, so nobody would recognized or thought it was her, but unfortunately the villagers recognized her golden pinned up braids.
"Hey! Look! It's Elena", an old lady cried, as she walked slowly to Elena, wanting to gave Elena a hug, and all of a sudden everyone around her was starting to walked toward Elena, each wanted to give the pretty Songstress a greeting. Elena tried her best to covered her front with the ointment as she walked away from them to the other direction, but stopped as a little girl ran up to Elena.
"Miss Elena! Miss Elena! Could you sing me one of your pretty songs, please.?", cried the girl happily.
"Oh dear, I would love to....but not now..I'm busy right now", said Elena softly to the girl.
"Bummer.", said the little girl, feeling a little sad, but lightened up when she saw the package Elena was holding. "What's that?", asked the girl as she snatched the ointment away from Elena's hand, and ran away.
"Hey! Give it back to me!", cried Elena, as she tried to get back the ointment. But as she tried to run after the girl, another sharp pain hit again. She hugged her stomach with both hands, as she bit her lips from the pain; her child was kicking her again.
The girl looked at Elena with fearsome eyes, "Are you alright, Miss Elena?" The girl sound scared. "Here, I am sorry", she said as she handed Elena back the ointment, and ran away. Elena got the package, and as she looked up, she saw the shocked faces of the villagers. They stared at her silently, open-mouthed, as they eyed Elena's stomach for a few minutes, and then a woman cried out.
"Why! She's with child!"
"This is a disgrace! She's not even married! By the looks of her, she could be 6-7 months pregnant!", said another woman, and then all the villagers started talking about Elena at once. Elena, with her face flushed with embarrassment and tears forming on her eyes, quickly ran to Granny Flora's house.
"Who's there?", said Granny Flora, as her blind eyes faced the direction of the doorway.
"It's me, Granny Flora. Elena.", answered Elena.
"Oh, my dear Elena. How pleasant it is to hear your sweet voice", said Granny Flora happily. "I haven't heard your voice for months, dear. Are you well?"
"Yes, Granny. I am fine. It's just that during these few months, I'm needed at the church", lied Elena, "How's your back feeling today, Granny?"
"A little bit better, but still, I could hardly move at all, without feeling the intense pain. But just hearing your beautiful voice eased my pain a bit", said Granny Flora smiling. Elena blushed, "Granny, here is the ointment from Mother Carius that you needed. She would have visited you herself if she could, but with the food preparations for tomorrow's party, she could hardly tear herself away from the kitchen", said Elena as she placed the ointment on Granny Flora's hands.
"Thank you very much, my dear. I apologized for troubling you, with all this work that had to be done", said Granny Flora, as she held Elena's hand.
"Please don't say that, Granny Flora. It's no trouble at all. Mother Carius might be busy, but I am always available", Elena assured.
"My dear, you are always so sweet and benevolent. But I believed you should get going now. It's getting late and Carius's wife might be expecting you."
"Then take care, Granny Flora. I wish you would feel better soon. I would come and visit you again another time. Have a good evening, Granny", said Elena as she was about to leave.
"Please come visit me soon, Elena. I just love to listen to your sweet voice. Take care too, my darling."
As Elena exited out from Granny Flora's house, she hoped to get back to the church unseen, but failed. As soon as she stepped out of the house, the villagers stopped what they are doing, turned their eyes and attention completely to Elena, and walked towards her, with repulsive faces while whispering mean thoughts about Elena.
"Who do you think is the father of the child?", one lady asked the woman next to her.
"I believed it's belongs to that horrible Geohound", the woman answered distastefully. "It does seem like Elena is sweet on that ugly, horrible looking man. I remembered the day he left; Elena walked him to the woods"
"Then that means Elena did had an affair with him and he must be the father of the child", cried an old woman.
Elena burned with shame for being the center of attention, being criticized and talked like a piece of object. She really wanted to sob on front of everybody, for tears were welling up to her eyes. She could no longer stand there, being judged like that. She started to run, while wiping her tears away from her cheeks, as she heard more taunts and scoffs from the villagers.
"Look at her! Running away from shame!"
"Such a Geohound trash! One of his dirty left behinds!"
"What a hussy!"
"We should either burn her at stake or drown her nearby!"
"I thought she was pure and virginal, but she is no better than those whores who would give in to anybody"
"Even a whore would not make love with a dirty bastard such as that sickening Geohound!"
"Hey, Elena!", a young man, with a boil on his nose called out. "You want to spend the night with me? I don't mind how your figure looks, as long as you make me happy. I'll pay you money. I bet that Geohound didn't even left you a tip after you slept with him", he joked as he held his bag of money out, and his friends next to him burst out laughing.
Elena continued to run. Those words were too much for her to bear. Never in her life had she been insulted like that. Elena felt that her heart was breaking into pieces. Their words were like a million of thorns piercing into her heart and soul. Throughout her life, she had been loved and cherished, but now.she is detested and had adapted the name as "Geohound's trash". Tears continued to stream down her face as she ran back to the church. She quickly opened the door and slammed it behind her. She wiped her tears and mopped her face with her handkerchief. She sat herself down onto one of the rows of seats on the sermon hall. She closed her eyes as she laid her head down onto her hands. She tried to calm herself down. She doesn't want to go into the kitchen yet. Because of her red eyes and blotchy face, she knew Mother Carius would question her. She sat still for half an hour, and then afterwards, she dragged herself up and headed towards the kitchen.
Mother Carius was busily kneading a pie crust and she barely noticed Elena's presence as she came in. "Mother Carius?", spoke Elena in a soft voice.
"Oh, it's you Elena. Back so early? How is Granny Flora?", asked Mother Carius, as she crimped the edges of the pie crust into a scalloped fold.
"Her back is still aching terribly. She seemed very pleased to see me. I talked to her for a while, and after I gave her the ointment, I bid her farewell", said Elena. "Now that I came back, Mother Carius, is there anything I can help?"
"Well, dear.You sure you are not tired? You face looks pale. Maybe you should go rest", suggested Mother Carius.
"Oh, no, I am fine. I promised that I would help you, and I really want to help. I can't stand seeing you work so hard, and I can't even lend a hand even if I am able to", protested Elena.
"Well then, Elena. Why don't you check if that cake over the counter is cooled yet, if it is, frosted it with vanilla glaze. After you are done with that, check if the bread dough has rise yet, but I reckoned it already had. Then help me knead it and put it to rise again", instructed Mother Carius.
Elena went to work immediately. She just loved the sweet smell of cake. The fragrant warm steam smelled so nice as it rose up to her face. Mixed with smells of fresh baked bread, cakes, fruit pies, and cookies, the kitchen was so cozy and warm, as it shielded the evening chills from outside. Elena closed her eyes and breathed in the delicious fragrance and aroma. As she began to frost the cake with the warm vanilla glaze, she felt like a little girl again, while she forgot the miseries of her real life. She happily spread thick layers of the sugary glaze onto the round cake, and felt so delighted when she had finished. After she placed the frosted cake onto the table, she went to the counter to check the bread dough. She lifted the cloth away from the bread box and saw a big puffy risen dough of flour and yeast. She took out the dough and started kneading as she recollected the times of her childhood birthdays. During those times, when supper was finished, she and her sisters would wait patiently and eagerly with round eyes, as Mother Carius brought out a frosted white cake.
Then everybody would sing:
"Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to Elena!
Happy Birthday to you!"
After they sang, Elena would closed her eyes and make a wish, blew out the candles, and then everybody would cheered. Then everybody would eat happily, with shining faces; so cheerful and full of bliss. "Such happy times."thought Elena, as she continued to knead the bread dough, and her mind started to wander off again.
"Elena?", asked Mother Carius, a little worried as saw Elena's faraway eyes.
"Huh? Oh, Mother Carius. What is it?", asked Elena, awaken from her day dreams.
"Are you alright?", asked Mother Carius, a little concerned.
"Yes, I am fine", said Elena.
"You looked tired, dear", said Mother Carius, as she walked over to Elena's side. "The dough looks ready. Put it back in the bread box and set it aside next to the stove, therefore it would rise faster. That's all for now, Elena dear. Go upstairs and have some rest. I'll call you when supper is ready."
"Yes, Mother Carius", replied Elena.
After she gave the bread dough a last pat, she floured it lightly and put it back to the bread box. She washed her dusty hands on the wash basin, and headed up the stairs. She gently closed the door behind her. Night was falling upon; the whole room was dark and shadowy. Elena lit up the candle on her vanity dresser, causing a faint glowing light across the small room. She quickly let down the window curtains; she doesn't want to look at the little village that she had known all her life; where almost every soul living on it now despised her. She sat down on her bed, and ran her hand through the embroidered coverlet. Again her mind went back to her misery and aches as her index finger trailed through the rose pattern. She stopped at the end of the embroidered rose petal, as tears welled up her eyes. "Oh, Ryudo.Where could you be?", thought Elena, sadly. She took out the pendant that Ryudo gave her before he left. She had kept it under her pillow all those time, keepint it safe. She looked at the shiny amethyst glimmer. "What take you so long? What do you have to do that is so important? Can you please come back soon? I can't take this any longer. I need you.no.we need you.the baby and I.desperately." Elena's thoughts dissolved into tears, as they flowed down her face. She could no longer hold back the unshed tears. She desperately needed Ryudo. She clung to her blanket tightly, and hugged her wound, as she wept silently on her quiet flickering candle lighted room.