***tra-la-la. i am laughing SO hard at all 2 or 3 of the people who reviewed on this story and my other one saying "whats the point of it?" well ill tell you. the point is to have fun writing and to get reviews. there. "what kind of a name is zoi? what kind of a name is sampson?" hmm. theyre unique names. sooo yah... bad reviews dont get me down so tell me what you think, good or bad!****

The stranger that had come to our home did not return for many days. Mildred was in the same mood: walking about the house, wringing her hands, weeping, and saying something about them taking her away.

Gracie, Mary, Betsy, and I formed a sort of union. We didnt quarrel all that time. We didnt even barely speak. The house was silent except for Mildred.

The day of the ball arrived, and Mildred was finally silent. Gracie showed the first sign of compassion she had ever showed and put her arms around her mother.

"What is the matter, Mama?" she asked quietly.

"NOTHING IS THE MATTER!" screeched Mildred, shoving Gracie off her. "I'M NOT CRYING, SEE? WHY DO YOU THINK ANYTHING IS THE MATTER?"

"You stopped crying is all," said Gracie.

"Well, maybe I decided that my daughter needs to be prepared for the ball this evening." Mildred began cleaning the kitchen, although I had cleaned it just half an hour before. "Zoi!" she snapped suddenly, and the four of us children jumped. "Go get Gracie ready. NOW!"

"Yes, Mildred," I said quietly.

Gracie was excited, bouncing out of the kitchen and all over the place. To her, Mildred was back to normal, yelling at everyone, and that was good. She ran up to her room and bounced on her bed. "Get my dress!" she sang over and over again.

I pulled her disgusting dress out of the wardrobe and held it up to her.

"Put it on me!" she exclaimed.

"Get off the bed," I said horribly, "and I will." I had been in the worst temper the last few days, wondering what the man wanted and angry at Mildred. I never let it out. I never even spoke. But now was my time.

Gracie leaped off the bed and landed in front of me. While I undid the dress she was wearing, she sang just to pester me.

"Mama will be mad," she sang, "if she finds out you were mean to me! Mama will slap you again, and you won't go to the ball!"

"Gracie, be quiet," I snapped.

She blew a raspberry at me with her tongue, then began jumping on the bed in her undergarments, singing the same song.

"Fine!" I said, violently throwing her gown on the bed (she landed on it and wrinkled it). "I'm not going to help you get dressed. You have to hands. You can do it yourself.

Gracie started to scream and pretend to cry, although she continued jumping up and down on the gown. "MOMMA!! ZOI WRINKLED MY DRESS!"

I folded my arms and stared at her. "I did NOT wrinkle your dress!"

Just then, Mildred entered the room in a terrible rage. "What happened to the dress?"

Gracie was still jumping on it, a stupid thing to do when she was saying that I had wrinkled it. Mildred siezed the dress and pulled just as Gracie landed on it, causing Gracie to fly back and hit the wall, which really made her cry.

"YOU were the one wrinkling it, you foolish, foolish child!" Mildred scolded, attempting to keep her voice down. "I will not raise liars for children."

She turned on me. "And as for YOU, girl!" she said, advancing quickly. "You will wear her dress, and she will wear yours." Gracie stopped crying.

I was horrified. I would go to the ball in front of all of Frell dressed in a disgusting pea-green dress that was so wrinkled it looked like it had been chewed up by a cow and spit out. Sampson would see me and I would be embarrassed. Wait. Why was I caring what Sampson thought of me? I hated him. Or did I? I just had to keep that in mind: I hated him.

Indeed, I was to wear the gown to the ball. That evening, I donned it and stepped into the kitchen where Gracie was modelling my dress to her mother.

"Oh, it's even more beautiful on you than it would have been on that wretched child!" exclaimed Mildred, even though she knew I had just entered the room.

"I know!" sang Gracie. "She would have ruined it, ruined it, ruined it!"

I clenched my fists and cleared my throat.

Mildred and Gracie turned to me. "Ah," said Mildred. "Finally. You must be off! I want every detail of the royal family, and NO TALKING TO THE PRINCE!" she added in a shriek.

I winced and nodded.

"Gracie, be careful of that dress!" said Mildred. "It's raining out! I don't want it dirty at all so I can sell it on the market when you're finished."

I choked on a sob. What a loss of a beautiful dress.

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erg. that chappie wasnt so great.... it was kinda random, you know? hmm i hope thats okay with you people cuz at least you got what was happening!!

very, very soon you will understand what is going on... perhaps next chapter, even! wow!!

have a great day.

review, please.