Flora wheeled the cart into the dining room and parked it at its usual place. She remembered the last time that she pushed the food cart inside the dining room was three days ago when she served lunch to Mr. Renan. The guest had returned to Cardena since then and Flora had not any guests to serve. She tried to remember the things that Pablo had told her before and hoped that she would not commit any mistake that would get Pablo to be angry at her.
Flora took note of her uniform and smoothened her apron. She then stood at her spot next to the food cart and waited for Pablo’s instructions. She was surprised that Pablo was not standing next to her, but was pacing the floor, something that was not characteristic of him who had always seemed composed and confident.
That night, Flora returned to the servants’ quarters with Nadi. She felt tired and decided to get to bed early. She helped Nadi prepare for bed and heard her daughter say her prayers before sleeping. Flora herself got under her blankets after saying her prayers and flicked off the light from her bedside lamp. She looked at the dark room and observed how the dark shapes of the walls and furniture took form.Flora did not know what time she had gotten asleep, but she was assailed by strange dreams. She dreamed of Nadi hugging her doll as she was led by Emil down a dark staircase. Nadi appeared to be crying, but she allowed herself to be pulled by Emil. Flora tried calling to her daughter, but it seemed that Nadi could not hear her. Then, Flora saw Emil disappear through a chasm that opened at the bottom of the staircase. Nadi stepped into nothingness and she fell still hugging her doll.Flora called to her daughter and tried to run towards the chasm whe
The next morning, Flora woke up from the sound of her alarm clock. She opened her eyes and realized that she was curled up in bed. She immediately silenced her digital clock and stayed in her position for a while.Such a strange dream, she thought. She remembered the blood dripping from the chin of the man who bent over the unconscious Eva who lay on the marble table and she shivered. If it were a dream, it was quite real, she said to herself.Flora flung the sheets and got out of bed. She went through her morning rituals and then woke up Nadi. When they were both ready, they got out of their room and walked over to Eva’s door. Flora raised her closed fist to knock on the door. She hesitated a moment before proceeding to make three knocks. When she heard nothing, not a sign of movement from within the room, she knocked again. Louder this time around.“Maybe she’s gone out,” said Nadi who was holding her doll. “Maybe she went a
As Flora ate breakfast with Nadi at the anteroom, she could not help but feel agitated the way that Rosa shouted at her earlier. Rosa had allowed Nadi to stay at the anteroom or at least ignored her presence all the time that her daughter was there. Nadi had also behaved well and played with her doll without disturbing her mother next door. Flora was hesitant to bring Nadi anywhere else because even though she could not see her, it was comforting to know that her daughter was near.When they finished breakfast, Nadi asked Flora a question, “Is Rosa angry at you, Mommy?”Flora did not realize that Nadi could hear what was happening next door. She knew that her daughter could, but Flora ignored the fact.“No, my dear, she just wants me to bring you to a better room,” said Flora.Nadi gave her mother a hug and Flora felt that her daughter was comforting her. She hugged her daughter back and finally decided where to bring her.M
When Flora arrived at the laundry room, she looked around and saw that Nadi was nowhere to be found. She tried to calm her nerves as she knew that her daughter could be hiding inside the storage room. She walked calmly towards the storage room and opened the door to look inside. She flicked on the lights, but she still could not see any trace of Nadi. She felt her heart beat faster. She shouldn’t have let Nadi stay at the laundry room by herself.“Nadi…” Flora called softly. “It’s Mommy. Are you here?”Flora heard a soft giggle and she felt relief flood over her. She entered the storage room and decided to play along.“Hmm… I wonder if someone is hiding behind those boxes!” said Flora as she looked behind the boxes of detergent. “I thought I heard someone giggling.”Nadi giggled louder.“I know. Maybe there’s someone hiding inside the cabinet!” Flora then op
Flora covered her face with her hands and cried without a care, not minding that she was still inside the dining room in front of Pablo. She felt as if her whole world had come down on her. She could not care less if the master himself entered the dining room and found her on the floor. She heard Pablo still shouting at her and even tried to pull her up to her feet by pulling her arm, but she ignored him. She did not know when Pablo finally left the dining room, she only realized that he was gone after what seemed an hour that she cried.Flora felt the dryness in her throat and her eyes felt swollen from crying. She finally got the strength to stand up, using the food cart to support herself. Then, not knowing what else to do, she pushed the cart towards the kitchen. She was still sobbing as she entered the kitchen and her face was still wet with her tears.When Flora raised her head, she realized that Rosa was looking at her. Rosa’s forehead was furrowed and her
Flora did not realize it, but she breezed through the dining room and across the entrance hall until she got to the wide staircase. Her footsteps were mostly muffled by the carpet, but it was also the force of habit that she maintained her steps light as she crossed what she considered to be hallowed halls of the mansion. Upon reaching the wide staircase that opened to the entrance hall, she held on to the bannister of carved wood for support and climbed up the steps as fast as she could. She reached the landing and walked quickly towards the south wing.The portraits that hung on the walls seemed to watch her as she sped along with a single intent in her mind – to reach the room where her daughter was. Nothing else mattered to her but Nadi who remained the single purpose of her life. Without her daughter, Flora knew that h
Flora and Nadi was walking towards the staircase when she heard voices of servants who were coming up from the opposite wing. She realized that she was bound to be discovered with Nadi if she continued to walk towards the staircase. She knew that she needed to act fast before the servants get to where she and Nadi were. Then, she saw the storage room and decided to hide there. Immediately, she and Nadi ran to the storage room and she let Nadi sit behind the laundry baskets.The voices got louder as the servants went closer to the storage room. Flora opened the door a little and she saw that the servants were carrying dirty laundry. Flora panicked as she realized that the servants were going to the storage room and leave the laundry there. Without thinking she did something that she would otherwise not do.After a while, the door to the storage room opened wide. The servants stopped talking abruptly when they saw Flora inside.“Oh!” said one of the se
As Flora went back to the mansion, Nadi stayed inside the storage room and waited. She always found herself alone when her mother was at work so Nadi did not mind having to stay for a while inside the enclosed space. She found the presence of her doll comforting whenever she was left alone and would even talk to it as if it were a real playmate.“What do you want to do, Dolly?” Nadi asked her doll and placed an ear over the doll’s mouth as if to listen to it speak.“You know we can’t go outside,” replied Nadi. “Mommy, told us to stay here.”Nadi went silent as she pretended to listen to her doll.“I can sing for you if you’re sad,” Nadi replied. Then, she started singing her nursery rhymes while making her doll dance on the floor. Nadi giggled as she imagined her doll dancing merrily while she sang. All of a sudden, Nadi heard the door to the storage room open and she went quiet. She crouch