Hey kids,
Ready? Cool, now buckle your seatbelt, and put on your hard hats :)
BY THE WAY: You may not know, that I posted the Prologue before this, so go back and read that first.
Chapter 1
"Isabella, we must go by Lucinda's to pick up the new curtains for your room." Mother howled at me from downstairs; her nasal voice reverberating off the walls of the house. I breathed out noisily.
I didn't understand why my room always needed redoing and redecorating. My room seemed to be in a constant state of flux. It was just fine to me, Mother should have known by now I didn't lust for material things (then again, something told me my opinion didn't matter too much to her).
That was only one of the countless things Mother and I disagreed upon.
My hand lightly grazed the heavy fabric of my dark blue curtains. I loved them, because they kept any sunlight from entering, letting me sleep in. Mother had a way of constructing things (such as taking a spontaneous trip to Lucinda's) so everything was exactly how she wanted to be. I dreaded the sword constantly over my head, ordering me to be neat and tidy with every aspect of my life. But then, it was all I knew.
My mind drifted off to a subject, I often thought about. In the textbooks, it said that men never had this sort of desire for material things. The women on our side wrote them off as pathetic, dirty, nonintellectual scum, so it made sense that their choices were frowned upon when it came to décor and neatness. I never actually met a man... no one my age had.
Men were frowned upon. Though it escaped me why—I was so young when we were separated. I had no recollection of what men are like. I wished I had been born earlier.
The teachers instilled the belief that men behind The Wall were a disease, germs that should never be unleashed on our fine society. They are said to be peculiar creatures—our same species, yet still the exact opposite of us. It was only seventeen years ago that men were banished from our world. But, how could we live in harmony with them for all those years before? This endless list of conundrums came together to form the giant, messed up, blob that was my life.
The teachers (or anybody old enough to remember for that matter) never breathed a word of what the other side of The Wall really looked like. I didn't understand how we could learn about them, if there were only a few words ever used to describe them. And they weren't kind words either.
When I was younger, when I dared to dream, I used to envision myself going to the other side of the wall and meeting a man. I would ask him numerous questions about his race. When I told my mother of this wish— I received a fresh slap in the face and a scolding.
She said, "Never speak of such sin again Isabella, or there will be hell to pay". And I never did, I was a fast learner.
There was a thing (well not really a thing, it was more of an emotion) called 'love', that existed before the split of our worlds. Not like mother/daughter love—it was something that could only be shared between a man and woman. That type of love was unheard of now. I could only imagine what it's like. It was said to be very powerful and everlasting, but of course no one knew just how powerful it was anymore. We are not able to experience it, and the women who had experienced it weren't allowed to talk about it. I had dreamed that—whenever I would make it to the other side—I'd find love. This I never told my mother; I'd gotten smart enough to know that some things are better left unsaid.
Then again, the only time I'd ever heard of love is from The Crazies—if I hadn't listened to their stories, I never would have even fathomed its existence. They were crazy after all, maybe they were lying; it seemed so implausible. This type of love probably didn't even exist.
"Isabella…" Mother called up, impatiently.
Isabella, Isabella, Isabella. I loathed my full name; it was so dry. But my mother insisted that just plain Bella was not ladylike. Ladylike—bah! Hollow Wood was famous for their ridiculously long names.
Hollow Wood was only one of the colonies on the women's side of The Wall, along with three others that had quite imaginative names.
A colony deep within the desert (about a month's trip) was ironically named 'Icy Rose', with its balmy heat and infinite drought, only an adventurous woman would live there. Surprisingly, it was thoroughly inhabited.
Another lay in the bowels of the coldest of tundras, again, contemptuously named 'Blue Flame', it snowed through most of the year (excluding June and July of course), a strange and exciting concept. Snow was so rare here.
We had four colonies altogether, Hollow Wood represented the deep forests we were nestled in; the trees were tall, and not at all hollow. Clearly irony played a huge role in these names.
Icy Rose was to the east, Blue flame was to the north, Hollow Wood was to the west (we were closest to The Wall), and the last one; Mystic Waters, was named because of the rumors of the water being opaque, almost like milk. It was supposed to be pearly white in color, and when you put your hand in it, it disappeared. Some women saw it as a spiritual symbol; and often went there to find spiritual renewal.
Our world was different than the way it used to be. When I was little, I'd stop and listen to the Crazies while running errands for Mother. I'd sit, just marveling at their tales of what once was our world. A world of unity, where both men and women lived in peace; the old women would talk to anyone who would listen, and I definitely listened. The Hawks never took these women away because everyone knew that they were insane and nothing they said could be trusted. Although I knew this, I was still entranced by the stories.
A beautiful and magical world full of wonder and love; a world where the good times outweighed the bad, and people (not just men or women), but people found fulfillment in one another. I've pictured that world, longed for it, and desired it more than Mother desired new fur coats; and that's saying something.
"Isabella, are you coming?" Mother's high pitched voice echoed, louder this time; something automatic inside me switched on and I began obediently getting ready.
"Yes Mother, I will be down in a minute." I pulled my obnoxiously bright yellow sundress on, my knee socks high and my preposterously large sunhat on my head. I turned to face the mirror to gaze upon my splendor. I hated the way yellow looked on me, but it made Mother happy so I supposed I would survive.
I stalked out of my room, and made sure my posture was straight and my dress was neat. I sighed once again, the air escaping between my teeth as I pulled my perfectly composed happy face over my true face to hide my disgusted demeanor.
I straggled behind her while she swiftly and skillfully swept her way through the marketplace, completely in her element, holding her head up high (or more correctly, her nose in the air). The sun beat down on the busy streets of the Hollow Wood Square. The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was noon; and the streets were filled to the brim with shoppers and merchants. You could be trampled if you stood still.
We passed, Frieda's Vegetable Shop, alongside Agatha's Beauty Parlor, then Alexandria's Antique Store… the list went on. If there was a remote area of retail you'd never heard of—the Hollow Wood Square had it in its midst.
I felt a hard tug on my arm, as Mother dragged me into Lucinda's little fabric shop. Lucinda was one of Mothers' very good friends, for they had much in common. They were the leaders of the dress making club, and ruled with an iron fist (well as much as you possibly could in a dress making club).
My face brightened significantly, as Lucinda's daughter (and my best friend) Mary Alice Brandon (Alice) backed out of the storage room, carrying a box that all but engulfed her petite figure.
I internally giggled at her stubbornness. She couldn't carry that intimidating box all by herself, but you couldn't tell her that. Her pride was higher on her list of values than her own life.
Alice was complicated to explain, and all but the opposite of me. You know what they say: opposites attract. Her hair was short and went in every direction, and Lucinda resented the fact that her daughter's hair didn't grow as long as mine. It was the color of midnight.
The box teetered to the left, and she lost her footing, her tiny feet slipping and her hands reaching desperately to grab onto something. I laughed taking a few steps, grabbing the side that was falling. The box balanced, and she muttered a 'thank you ma'am', thinking I was someone important.
I cleared my throat and peeked around the side of the box. Waiting for the narrowing of her eyes as she realized I wasn't as important as she'd thought. Shock quickly crossed her features, as she registered my face. She smiled and sighed in relief, and I could even detect a little hint of faux resentment.
She whispered in a low voice, "Oh it's just you." I stuck my tongue out in response.
"Hello Isabella." She greeted me louder, for our mothers' benefit.
"Good afternoon Mary, are you well?" I asked politely and perhaps a little mockingly, feeling Mother's presence as her penetrating gaze bore into my back.
"Thank you, and yes I am well." You would never be able to tell she wanted nothing more than to slap me at this moment; she was good at acting (or lying). She strained her neck to see past my shoulder. I felt the rush of air passed as Lucinda brought my Mother into the back room to look at the curtains she had picked out. She finally sighed, rolling her eyes dramatically, getting back into her own skin.
"So, you are well?" I teased, lamely. She lightly slapped my arm.
"Oh be quiet, Bella." We both bent down to pick up the box off the ground.
"Never Alice." I stressed her nickname, a fleeting smile crossed her face as I said it, for she rarely heard it, and she, like me, despised our long, formal names. A look of utter mischief lit up in her bright blue eyes.
"You know, the curtains my mother has in store for you are so sheer, it's almost as if you won't have curtains at all." She smiled, as I groaned, falling back into one of her chairs.
"Goodbye sleeping 'till eight."
"Hello Sun." She joked, Alice was never one to think too far ahead, she had her bright moments, but she typically acted upon impulse.
She looked me up and down, a scoff escaped her. Oh great, I thought, what did I do wrong now?
"What?" I questioned, annoyed and slightly self-conscious. Her eyes rolled so far, I could almost see them falling out of their sockets. She took a fistful of my hair and held it up for my appraisal.
"My hair?" I inquired, knowing there was some hidden mistake I'd made.
"I see that, but what I also can see is you didn't brush it properly." She smiled, accusingly, and smugly. I moaned, exasperated.
"And?" I asked mockingly, lifting one eyebrow. She mimicked me to a tee by raising her eyebrow as well.
"And? How many times have I told you that you should take care of what your mother gave you?" She scolded, glaring at my unbrushed locks, before unsuccessfully trying to comb it out.
"A million?" I responded rebelliously, trying gently to push her hand away from my hair, but to no avail. She cared about my hair and my appearance more than I did.
"But your hair is so long, it wouldn't take much effort to take care of, really." She absently combed through my hair with her fingers. I slapped her hand away playfully. She smacked my arm until we fell into a playful fight of little smacks, not hard enough to do harm.
"My hair, my choice." I told her, as she reached once again for my hair, she could only scowl. She sighed and reached for her over-sized purse.
"So, did you finish that one-thousand word essay in history class?" She dug through her bag until she took out a few pieces of paper with elegant script written on it, with the occasional scratched out line and misspelled word.
"Yes, I did thank you very much." I beamed, she groaned.
"I still have around two hundred words left to write, and my brain is completely drained of all information." She inattentively scanned over her paper.
"Try rambling on about certain events, elaborate much more than necessary, like how the women who founded our colony, got our economy started and how we managed to stay afloat when we are so close to The Wall. Miss Stanley made sure to stress that point, so she'll probably take off points if you don't mention it." As I said this, a light bulb seemed to appear above her head.
"Can you tell me again, Bella? I daydreamed in class that day." I quirked an eyebrow, suspiciously, but I didn't argue and continued.
"Remember, a group of five women got together, took control and made our community. They assigned jobs, giving your mother her job as a seamstress for example. They also rationed things. Making sure to send anyone who spoke of the other side to jail for a night with no food or worse…" I added quietly at the end, looking at my shoes. I didn't particularly like the way our colony worked, but it was life.
"Go on", she mumbled, scribbling on the paper furiously.
"Do your own work!" I exclaimed, trying to swallow the bile that had risen in my throat. "You do recall what happened last time you were caught cheating right?" I bemused in a low voice, shivering as the scene unfolded due to the fact that I had been too wimpy to say 'no', to her request to see my paper. Alice gave me an understanding look, obviously recalling the time; the look also held an undertone of her comprehension of my unjust dislike of The Wall.
There was obviously something wrong with me, she saw that too. I guess that's why we stuck together, we were both freaks. We both had a secret dislike for The Wall—that's what was so strange. Everyone loved The Wall, that's just how it went.
But we kept as quiet as possible; the consequence for any sign of disloyalty would result in being thrown in jail.
The jail was said to be torturous. Women went in there strong and either came out a complete mess, or didn't come out at all. It broke you; nobody knew how except for the ones who worked there…and of course the ones who were sent there. Chills ran down my spine. It was a huge building made out of stone (just like everything else here). It was patrolled twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. To the citizens of Hollow Wood, Hell would be a better alternative to jail.
I pushed the gruesome thoughts of that place out of my head and forced myself to read my notes for class.
The scent of Mother's over-bearing perfume filled the room again, and we both stood up, straightening out our skirts, trying to appear decent. She trotted up to me, holding the yellow, lace, curtains in her arms, a look of pride and accomplishment clear in her eyes.
"I've got the ones." She said giddily. I however, wanted to puke, just as I was sure Maddy did.
"They're exquisite." I lied through my teeth. Truthfully, I hoped there could be some plausible way for them to be accidentally thrown into the fireplace.
"Come along Isabella." Mother sang exiting the store, into the sunlight of the day, giving a goodbye glance to the only person I have to keep me grounded to this earth. It might have been the heat, but I could have sworn that in the light, the lace winked at me.
Yeah, I know this is an extremely dry first chapter, but I promise, excitement actually happens :P
You guys are cool, and so are reviews. Just planting the idea in your head. Yep.