-Lilli-
Lucky
. It's a word that I, Lilliane Hearst, have heard pretty much every day of my life. I was
lucky
to be born into a rich family. I was
lucky
to already have one million dollars only at the age of 20. I was
lucky
to get whatever she wanted.
But I really don't peg myself as an extremely lucky person. After all, I have a big secret. You know, one of those secrets that only a few people in the world knew. My secret is that I have leukemia. But don't feel sorry for me. I've had it since I was 8, and I can deal with it. The worst thing about it is that I can't go out since my parents are worried that I'll get even sicker. And although the villagers think that I am too snobby to play and spend time with the villagers, the truth is that I still have to deal with my treatment, which causes me to lose a lot of my hair.
Yes, that's right, I wear a wig. Except when I have to do things like taking my bath or going to sleep. The good thing is that after I got cancer, the wig that I was given almost matched my previous hairstyle, so you couldn't tell that anything had happened to me.
For a long time, I knew that having cancer would mean an anything-but-normal life. But since when had I ever had a normal life? Ever since I turned 13, I had always wondered what it would be like to actually have a normal conversation with someone who couldn't make gold items appear with a simple command.
I sat on my plush pink bed and combed my short, golden locks with my pink hairbrush. I know it's childish for a 20-year-old to like pink, but it was my mom's favorite color. Before she... never mind.
I looked out the window, watching as the small village children played a game with a red ball. I stood up to the mirror and thought about how to make myself look more normal and maybe I would be able to fit in. Right then, I was wearing a pink dress covered in dark ribbons. I had 30 more dresses exactly like it. I rung the small bell next to her bed.
Ring! Ring!
Suddenly a knock came from the door. I swung it open and a gentleman stood there. It was our butler, Alistair Fletcher. He had cared for me ever since I was born, and I had formed a great bond with him. He was like an uncle to me.
"How do you do, Miss Lilli? Whatever can I do for you today?" asked Alistair.
"I was just wondering if you could bring me one of the maid's dresses. Something that would fit me. Like what Kalida wears."
Kalida was a girl who worked on the Hearst manor along with her mother, Mary. Kalida and I would usually sit together on the balcony and have lunch, although it was not practical for a servant and a rich girl to even sit together. But my parents didn't mind.
In fact, they rarely saw me these days. They were too busy with money affairs. Kalida was the closest thing I had to a real friend. I even thought of Kalida as her friend, because we both had known each other since we were born 5 days apart. I was older, of course.
Alistair bowed and exited the room for about five minutes. I heard some brief chatter outside. Then he reentered with a small brown cloth with 3 holes for a head and arms. I thought it was absolutely beautiful and would be perfect to fit in. I went into my closet, changed and looked into the mirror.
I couldn't believe that the person looking back was me. I looked so different. I didn't even recognize my reflection. I dismissed Alistair and went into my wig closet to choose hair that was more fitting for a village girl. I looked around.
Blonde, blonde, another blonde wig, brown.
I stared at the brown wig. I had never worn this wig in my entire life. It was the only wig that wasn't golden in color. I secretly took off my current wig and replaced it with the brown one. I was really starting to transform into a common village girl. I sneakily stepped out of my room and crept down the stairs, careful not to make a noise. I opened the doors of the mansion and ran down to the village as quickly as I could.
When I arrived, I began to walk down the paths of the village. I saw the beauty of the village, and it rested in the hands of the kind, caring people. I looked around for the group of children with the ball and found them. They were in the middle of a game.
I watched them for a while before finally going up to them to ask them if I could also play. I realized that the goal of the game was to catch the ball that someone had thrown in order to get them out. It sounded like a lot of fun.
"Pardon...I mean hello. I want to play too. Is that okay?"
The boy with the ball turned around. His dark brown hair covered his golden eyes that shimmered in the sunlight.
"Who are you?. I don't think I've seen you around here. Are you here visiting from another village?"
"Yes, I'm from the...uh... Tabuki Village. It's very far from here, so you probably haven't heard of it. My name is Li...Linda. Linda Smokes." I almost gave my identity away. I sighed and hoped that he would buy into my lies.
"Ok...I'm Karson. Karson Jones. Sure, you can play. If you can catch this," he quickly hurled the ball towards me.
I was frozen in place. I had never learned how to play sports. Everyone was too busy to teach me anything other than academics.
Oh no.
