**Gives TWO large cookies to Meggie, OYC_Bambie, honeybee2000, Squirrel(even though squirrel attacked me trying to find the cookies and candy), Princess and ryu-hime...... Thank yall so much for the reviews!**
Here is the next chapter... it's a little different then I had at first planned...................
Estrella laid on her bed, it was perhaps 2 in the morning and she was unable to sleep anymore that night. She got up out of her bed and walked over to her trunk and looked through her clothes for her very thin sheet and lifted it into her arms. She put on her slippers and walked out of her room. She walked down her flight of stairs to the main flight and pushed slightly on the railing as if to test it. She tied one end of the sheet into a knot around the railing and the other end she tied around her neck. She looked down at the floor that seemed to be miles away. Why not just jump? She thought to herself but the fear of not actually dying when she hit the floor scared her. She climbed over the railing and held on with both hands, looking down as if she was seeing her hell. But no she wasn't, she was seeing her release of her hell. The world in which she lived, the cruel and unfair world was her hell. Mari and Jasmine where the devil, the handsome man who had saved her was a demon. She would jump, and she would find her heaven.
She leaned forward her small hands still holding on to the railing tightly. The fear of what she was about to do making her tremble. Tears rolled down her white cheeks and she watched them on their descent to the floor. They splattered and went in all directions on the wooden planks. She wouldn't, she realized, she wouldn't splatter, she wouldn't ever hit the cold planks. There would be no mess to clean up for the next poor soul that took her place in this prison.
She released one hand but could not find it in her to release the other, the only thing keeping the knot around her neck from tightening, from choking the life from her. She leaned forward a little more, hoping that the increase of weight would pull her grip loose.
"Estrella," said a soft voice behind her. "Please don't do it."
Estrella turned to see Roselyn. Roselyn was an old maid, she did the laundry on Mondays. Estrella never saw much of Roselyn, or of any of the other servants in the large mansion. She had forgotten that they even existed.
"Why am I living, Roselyn?" Estrella asked pulling herself closer to the railing once again. She looked at the older woman, her long silver hair was braided and fell close to her waist, and she was so pale white. She had a small dark red shawl wrapped around her slender shoulders and her once white nightgown touching the tips of her toes. She looked terrified, but Estrella couldn't blame her, it must have been quite a fright to see a young girl about to kill herself. The old woman took a step closer and held firmly to one of Estrella's small hands. Her hands were as cold as ice.
"Climb over the railing, my dear," said the woman in a kind and soft voice. "I will answer you if you climb over the railing." Estrella did as she was bid. The old woman untied the knot from Estrella's neck and then the knot from the railing while she spoke. "Listen to me, Estrella. I know it must be so hard for you, being so young and losing everything you once had. The family, the friends, even your very way of life. But, my dear, death is not the way out, it is not the end!"
"I will come back and haunt Mari and Jasmine for what they have done to me!" Estrella said barely over a whisper, but the tone of her voice was so evil stricken that it made Roselyn shiver. "I have nothing left Roselyn, only the clothes on my back. This sheet does not even belong to me."
The old woman pulled the shawl from her shoulders and wrapped it around Estrella's shoulders.
"You now have a shawl." She leaned over and kissed the young girl on the cheek before saying anything more. "And you will have a friend in me, Estrella, but you must never, never try to harm yourself. Your life is more precious then you know... You will realize this one day, my dear. When you are in my place, and where I now am you will understand. Until then, love, treat yourself well and never stop striving for what it is you wish to have."
Estrella moved to return the shawl, unable to except it, but Roselyn shook her head. "I can't take it with me. Now go to your room, to your bed, and sleep."
Estrella suddenly felt tired, exhausted, it was hard for her to keep her eyes open. The old woman took her by the hand and led her back up the stairs to her tower like bedroom and laid her into her bed. Covering her only with the shawl and then leaving quietly.
*°*°*°*°
"I suppose we must tell her family," Estrella heard Mari talking to the doctor as she walked down to make breakfast. Why was Mari up so early? Tell whose family about what? Estrella walked past them and toward the kitchen giving a curtsy as she passed. "Who will do our laundry now?"
Estrella stopped and looked at Mari but moved on quickly before anything could be said.
"Estrella wait." Mari instructed and Estrella sighed in defeat. Should have jumped, she thought to herself in morbid humor. "You have a new job, Monday's you will do laundry for us."
"What of Roselyn?"
"She died last night in her sleep. I will give you half of what I had been paying her."
Estrella stared at Mari. She stared at her long and hard, it had only been a few hours since she had seen the old woman.
"I am guessing that she died early in the night, there was no ounce of warm left in her."
Impossible! Estrella stood, mouth agape, trembling.
"What is it, child! Are you ill?" Estrella nodded slowly. She felt her knees grow weak, then she felt a sharp pain in her hip as it came in contact of the cold floor, then she saw blackness.
*°*°*°*°*
Miyara woke slightly cold. She looked around for her red shawl before remembering the night before. She had given it to Estrella through the body of the old servant woman, Roselyn. She mentally thanked the soul of Roselyn for allowing her to use her dead body to make contact with Estrella and save her from making a large mistake. She shivered at the thought of not listening to the Man that told her of the Prophecy. Estrella would have been dead. She shook her head and began to make herself a new shawl. Dark green.
*°*°*°*°*
The blonde girl and the prince sat down outside in the garden after the dance. Her blue eyes looking deep into his green ones. He gently touched her cheek, it was smooth and soft to touch. She reached her hand up and touched his, holding it gently and moving his hand to her mouth. She gently kissed his palm and then moved it back to her cheek. The prince looked at her; her beauty was undeniable, unimaginable, unreal. She couldn't be real, it wasn't possible to be so beautiful. This feeling that he had for her, it could be only one thing, it must be...
Love.
Anton opened his eyes, again his dream forgotten, again the feeling of joy overwhelming him. He got out of bed quickly and dressed and went to find his mother. She had said today he must go to the tailor to have his outfit made for the ball.
* If anything I say in my story is not easy to understand or if you have a problem with it, or if you just want to say something PLEASE feel free to put it into the review. I will try to answer any question I can that won't give away my story line. This story isn't going like I thought it would and I think its going to have a lot more drama then I first expected, but I am not so sure really. I really hope yall like it.....
My very first reviewer of this chapter gets... *thinks reeeeeaaaallly hard* ...a pink pony!!!!! PLEASE REVIEW!!! Really, I know I'm desperate, yall don't have to tell me ;)