About this chapter... I'm not entirely happy with it because I tried to write about something that I didn't know about and it just turned into this. Hopefully it's not too bad.

Chapter Three: Rose

In a small suburban home just outside the city, Rose Flores sat against her bedroom window, watching the snow fall. She was bundled up in a sweater and a blanket because her parents couldn't afford to turn the thermostat up in the winter time. Her little sister, Daisy, was sleeping in their shared bed. Rose wondered what it would be like for Daisy when January rolled around. All her friends would be talking about the trips they took and the gifts they got, and Daisy would have nothing to speak of. It had been easier for Rose when she was little, her parents weren't so 'down on their luck' then. She sighed and turned back towards the window. Dawn would peak over the houses in a little while, and Rose didn't want to miss it. Somehow it always made her feel better about the day ahead.

Rose was in charge of waking her parents up at six for them to go to work. They didn't have any alarm clocks anymore, and Rose was always awake by four anyway. She poured herself some cereal and offered to get her parents something but they declined and said they would get something at work where they didn't have to pay for it. That was usually what they said every time. Her father read the paper while he drank his coffee, and her mother rushed to put her make-up on and find her other shoe. It was like this every morning. Her father remained cool and collected while her mother freaked out.

Her father was a security guard for an office building in the city and he managed to make deals with a lot of the people that came through the doors, 'you give me this and I'll let you through without the mandatory search'. That was generally how he got his breakfast and lunch, and how he kept Rose stocked with school supplies.

Her mother was a maid for a high end hotel and had the head chef convinced she was in love with him, and that was how she scored her breakfast, lunch, and sometimes dinner. Rose's father had no problem with this tactic. Her mother also stole from the hotel guests. She only took things from people who was passing through and only needed to stay a night or two. While they were out eating or at the pool, she would come and clean their rooms, but she would also go through their suitcases and find things that they obviously wouldn't need or even think to check for until they reached their destination. That was how Rose and her mother never had to buy feminine products or toothpaste, and they always had the latest fashion of jewelry. .

Yes, Rose's family was quite peculiar, but she loved them. Soon she would be graduating high school and getting a fulltime job to help out. College had never been a possibility. Neither of her parents had graduated high school, so Rose was lucky enough as it was.

Christmas arrived the next day and Rose woke at four in the morning like always. The night before, after Daisy had gone to bed, her parents asked her to watch for the mail man in the morning because something special was going to show up. They didn't tell her what it was, but she already knew. It made her feel slightly ashamed of her family. If the kids at school knew, half of them would pity her and other half would laugh.

Rose pulled on a sweater and shoes and walked outside. The snowing had stopped but it was still pretty cold. Peering through the darkness, she could see a truck driving up the street, stopping at one house down the way before pulling up in front of her driveway. A short man in a large Eskimo coat got out and rummaged in the back of the truck for a few minutes before bringing out a large box. He had some trouble carrying it but managed to bring it to Rose before dropping it. He placed it on the step, stretching his back and breathing a bit heavy.

"This is the Flores residence right?"

"Yeah." Rose bent to pick up the box, but found it was much too heavy for her. She motioned to him to help her.

"Oh! Of course." The man picked up the box and walked through the front door.

"You can put it on the table." Rose was stiff and unemotional. He placed the box gently on the table before tipping his hat to Rose and bidding her a Merry Christmas. She smiled and reciprocated the sentiment.

When he was gone, and the truck was well down the road, Rose opened the box. Inside, the gifts were already wrapped. There were several small ones and a couple large ones, and none of them had tags on them. Rose automatically decided that they would all go to Daisy. She placed them around the miniscule tree and took the cardboard box into the garage. An hour later, the sun was up and her parents trudged sleepily out of their bedroom.

"Did it arrive?" Her father began pouring coffee while her mom poured everyone cereal.

"Yeah, I put them around the tree. And before you say anything, I want Daisy to have everything."

"Oh, hija." Her mom quickly pulled her into a hug and Rose rolled her eyes.

"It's no big deal mom, I'm sure that none of it is suitable for an eighteen year old."

"You're not eighteen yet." Her mom handed her a bowl of cereal.

"But I will be in a week. Anyway, I'll help Daisy open everything but I'm not keeping any of it." Daisy came out of her room just then and gasped when she saw the gifts under the tree.

"Can I open them now," she squealed. Her parents nodded and Rose went over to help. The first box was a Dora the Explorer back pack. Rose shot a look at her parents; Daisy had wanted one for sometime now, and Rose was sure that the people at the foundation didn't know that. Her mother shrugged and her father looked at the ceiling. The other presents went quickly and all the wrapping paper was tossed unceremoniously out in the trash. Rose stood up and began taking all of Daisy's new things into their room.

"Hey wait, there's one left." Daisy crawled to the back of the tree and picked up a rather small and thin gift wrapped in plain red paper with a gold bow. Unlike all the others, Daisy unwrapped this one rather carefully. She pulled the object out of the paper and looked it over. "Ugh, it's just a book. You can have it Rose." Daisy jumped up and handed the book to Rose before going to the table to eat her cereal.

Rose dumped all of the gifts on the bed before examining the book. It was bound in red leather and looked rather old. She opened the front cover and flipped the first few pages. There was no copyright and publishing information, nothing about the author, no dedication, nothing. There was simply the story. She closed the book and fingered the fading gold-leather of the title.

"The Labyrinth…" Rose felt a chill when she said the title, and thought she saw something sparkling out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked around, she saw nothing. "Huh." Rose threw the book in her desk drawer before returning to the kitchen.