Chapter 1 – Love Makes Its Way
Although our family was not the richest family of our time, we lived in a beautiful mansion, in a neighbourhood in London, in 1830.
I live with my parents and my sisters: Anastasia, Lorelai, Emma, Vanessa, Leonora. I am the youngest girl, my name is Elena.
My father’s greatest wish was that we should marry suitable men.
I spent the whole day reading books in the garden. I enjoyed every day the smell of books, the cool breeze, the sound of nature and the fresh smell of roses.
My mother was a great lover of roses. He cared for them with so much love. She is a wonderful mother!
Father took us every night to balls organized by neighbours or his army friends. Every evening people would gather as a family for the ball, it was a special way to spend time together, to have fun, to make new friends.
The ball was the most suitable way to find a future partner.
Many girls were finding suitable men in their life.
Mother taught us how to behave in society, she took care of every aspect of our personalities.
But no matter how hard she tries, I know she can’t shape us according to her wishes.
Anastasia was stubborn, Lorelai and Emma, the twin sisters were not good at patience, Vanessa was fascinated by music and the piano and Leonora loved riding. We all had our own perspective on life.
We preferred to live freely, to form our own character and personality, despite our mother’s wishes.
We’d rather do anything than sit through my mother’s lessons on ethics and manners.
Tonight, mom forced us to go to the Brouns, they were hosting the ball tonight.
We were not very excited, not even Anastasia, who is 25 years old, had the desire to get married. He preferred to teach children to read and write. Anastasia was a teacher in our neighbourhood.
Although we didn’t want to go to the prom, we were always present, we respected our father’s wishes. Although we each had our own desires and flaws, we were obedient to our parents.
-Hurry up Elena, you just don’t want to be late
-You won’t be late, I still have a little hair
A girl’s outfit consisted of a voluminous, colourful dress, the bows giving life to the whole complex.
The hair was beautifully arranged, tied, or left loose, wavy or straight, held with some coloured ribbons. Every girl came beautifully dressed to the ball. They all looked like princesses.
– Are the girls ready?
– I don’t think it will last much longer, answers the mother.
Father had become more and more impatient; his desire was to marry Anastasia. He was of the right age for marriage.
– We have arrived father, we are ready.
-Look gorgeous, I’m sure you’ll attract many eyes tonight.
The carriage was waiting for us outside, it was warm and pleasant outside. You could feel the crisp summer air.
The sound of nature refreshes your soul.
After a carriage ride of about half an hour, we arrived at the Broun family mansion.
The Broun family was wealthy, the Brouns had two sons, Jonathan and Adam, and a sister Flora. Both were enlisted in the army. Their father being the commander.
They were generous and modest people. It was hard to find people like this.
-Elena, Mr. Broun’s boys are so cute.
-They are some smoky guy’s Anastasia, you’re right!
– I don’t think any of them would ever fall in love with me
-Don’t think about that, you’re a special girl, you’re beautiful, you love children, you’re wonderful. Never demean yourself in front of a man.
– I would like to be invited to dance.
– I’ll talk to dad, he manages to do something
-Don’t go to him, leave it
Knowing that Anastasia was a shy girl, I went to my father and told him about my sister’s feelings.
Dad, after I told him, went to Mr. Broun. Mr. Broun agreed to meet the girls.
– My girls, I want you to meet Mr. Broun’s sons.
– Good evening, we exclaimed together
-Anastasia being the eldest, continued the discussion
The boys danced with each of us, this being their father’s wish. The only one who seemed to want to meet one of us was Adam. He seemed attracted to Anastasia.
They danced all night. My sister was so happy. It seems that love always finds its way to the heart.
This evening I enjoyed the beautiful music, the atmosphere of the story.
The instruments shone; the singers let themselves be led by the melodic line of the portable with great grace.
That evening Vanessa delighted the audience with a song of her own on the piano. She was so beautiful; everyone was delighted with her performance.
She was at ease, she felt free when she sang.
Mr. Broun seemed impressed with her. Unwittingly, I gained the goodwill of this gentleman.
Around midnight, the ball ended. But before it was over, Mr. Broun invited us to dinner tomorrow night.
Dad accepts the offer with great pleasure and enthusiasm.
We said goodbye to the Broun family
We said goodbye to the Broun family and started for the carriage.
Adam took Anastasia by the hand, leading her to the carriage himself. Sign that Adam was attracted to my sister.
Each person lets themselves float on the wings of love as our heart dictates.
Although I’m not really attracted to the prom, seeing the feelings and small gestures of affection between Adam and Lorelai, I remembered some fairy tales from my books.
-Good morning mom
-Good morning dad
We all greet our parents before breakfast.
-Good morning girls
-Sit down, dad answers happily
-Girls, as you well know, tonight we will meet the Broun family. I want you to act like real ladies.
-I want you to start finding suitors. I want to start marrying you, choosing suitable men for you.
– But father, I want to choose my future husband, I want to fall in love, to love, to feel my heart beating around the person I love. I want these things, father.
-Elena, life is hard, it’s not like a story from your books, life is much more than love.
-But father…
– No Elena, I don’t want to hear another word
-I choose suitable men for you, I know you best, I know what you need
– We end the discussion here.
I went angrily to the garden, my place of refuge, where I sit with my thoughts.
Am I so hard to understand, all I want is to love, to feel love with all my senses. Not to stay next to a person just for his wealth, a whole life.
Tonight, at the prom I would like Anastasia to approach Adam, she liked him. There must be a way to approach it.
If only there was a way for Anastasia to reach Adam’s soul.
Inside we all want to marry for love.
It was evening.
We were all excited to be dining with the Broun family, they were people of great social status. But with all that they kept a chosen modesty, a quality hard to find in our parts.
-Good evening Mr. and Mrs. Broun! We all exclaimed in the group
Anastasia continued:
– We are honoured because we can dine with you
– The pleasure is on our side
We all sat down at the table. We enjoyed the choice food, the sound of the violins, the presence of everyone.
At one point, Mr. Broun began to take the floor and all attention was turned to him.
– Mr. Wilson because that’s our last name!
-I recently went through a great tragedy, my daughter Flora had an accident and now she is in a wheelchair. She cannot continue her studies; I would like to request that your eldest daughter can be our daughter’s teacher
– We know that she teaches children from the surrounding area, we would like to have this honour
– Mr. Broun, we would like to help you with all our hearts
-Surely, she will be paid properly…
You could see happiness on Anastasia’s face, she wanted to get closer to Adam. It seems that love always finds its way…
Days, weeks, and months had passed. Adam’s sister got up from her chair, and Adam started to have feelings for Anastasia.
He began to know her as well as I did. She was extremely happy. She had the opportunity to love, to fall in love with the person her heart chose.
Chapter 2 – The Calm Before The Storm
Anastasia had been married for two months. Everything around us was just joy. But it was actually the calm before the storm.
Mother was getting weaker and weaker. You could see the pain on her body.
We were getting more and more disappointed. The doctor said everything was fine, but he seemed to be hiding something from us.
Mom loved us immensely, she didn’t want us to think that she might not be gone as soon as possible.
Not many people live to old age these days. The pain of leaving a life had become a habit. Parents are left without children, children without parents and husbands without wives and husbands without husbands.
Wars, plagues, incurable diseases, all had become a circle. What gave me hope in those days were books.
In every sunrise, I saw the hope of a better day.
Dad was getting more and more exhausted. Money was spent on medicine. They were falling more and more.
I worked from morning till night. To save money, we reduced the manor’s staff, we no longer had a housekeeper, a cook, the farmer who took care of the animals, it was just us.
Lorelai and Emma worked on a nearby farm. Vanessa had become a nurse at a small nursing home in the neighborhood.
Leonora and I didn’t take care of the mansion, the animals, the cleaning, but we didn’t take care of my mother either.
Our days of happiness have become just a memory.
We were no longer invited to the ball, because of our illnesses we fell in the eyes of the people of rank.
The nights were the hardest, we had to stay in front of our mother. The father was a merchant, he often left with a ship to bring goods from the surrounding area.
My mother had opened the door for us. We were all exhausted, but with all that we still hoped for better days.
After Anastasia’s marriage, there had been a storm in our life.
In the evening, I didn’t have time to read, but I had one after I got out of all the trouble. I would lay my head on the pillow and let my imagination take me away, dreaming of the books she could read. In my imagination I had created my own universe. It was my way of escaping, even though I knew it was just a dream and the morning would bring with it the reality I was living.
-Elena, wake up!
– Okay, I’m waking up
– Come on, the cows are waiting for you, they need us too
-Wait five minutes and I’ll come down
-Good morning mother!
My mother was lying on the bed, but I always greeted her and kissed her on the forehead, even though she seemed to be sleeping.
The mornings were beautiful, the air was fresh, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping their melodious song. Mother’s lovely roses were gone. Mother’s beautiful garden had become just a memory.
Every day, after finishing my chores, I would walk up the hill behind the privileged mansion at sunset, take a deep breath and hope that tomorrow would be a better day. For a few moments I looked at my past, at the balls we had, at the luxury in our house, at the friends we had then, at the mother who was always sitting next to us to learn, often I get bored and seemed boring. .
But now, I miss those moments that I didn’t want then. I don’t consider those important moments in my life.
Now I understand how important they were, especially my mother. Sometimes you have to lose something to understand how valuable that thing was in your life.
Everything became just a memory for me.
Days passed, mother’s life flowed every day.
Work had become a regular way of life for us. We had become peasants, just the men in the vase that we were.
I only had expensive clothes, the most beautiful dresses, the most beautiful hair bows. Only we were those young ladies courted by high-ranking boys, we became mere peasants.
Chapter 3 – Mother’s Death
A year has passed…
A year passes like a breath when you are happy, when everything is going the way you want. But when you’re in the doldrums, the days seem endless.
This is how we lived this year, mother sick, father always away on a trip, us working day to night. The days were hard in our lives.
We missed our mother, her hugs, her warm voice, her teachings about everything she did for us.
During this year we realized how important mother was.
But even so, sick as she was, we enjoyed her presence.
I always sat next to her, I told her my dreams, my wishes, we all talked with her, even if she was too weak to be able to talk to us all the time.
But she was there, we had her by our side.
I realized these days how important family is.
-Elena, when is the doctor coming?
– I don’t know, Vanessa. Talk to Lorelai last time, she knows better.
– We will talk to her tonight at the table.
-Vanessa, should dad come today?
-Yes, it is.
– I hope it will arrive by dinner time so we can eat together.
It was six o’clock. The girls had come from work, I had finished the work only father seemed to be coming.
Traveling by ship was very risky, often those who left never returned.
We always prayed that God would bring dad safely to us. I always lived with the fear that my father might not come again…
We all sat around mother and sang. It was a way to calm us down.
The clock said seven o’clock sharp, but father had not arrived.
I was so worried…
-What do we do if dad only comes?
– Elena, stay calm, dad will come.
It had started to rain outside; it seems that the storm is coming.
We were all anxiously waiting for him. I had already set the table, it was half past seven. We had lost our patience.
When we were about to sit down at the table, there was a knock at the door,
– We’re going to open it. Lorelai and Emma opened the door, being the oldest in the house, they became the pillar in our parents’ absence.
– Come on, it’s dad!
– Dad, I’m glad you arrived, we all exclaimed in the group.
– I thought you suffered something bad
-My dear, God would not leave you without a father, especially now when you need me. God knows you need me. Stay calm, I’m here with you!
We enjoyed dinner together. We thanked God for everything and went to sleep.
Mornings were hard for me, I wish you had slept more, but each of us had responsibilities. Even if it wasn’t easy for us, we respected them because we knew that if we didn’t do them, we could be left without food, without money, without a home. And this was our biggest fear.
In the morning we would kiss my mother, as a sign of love and appreciation. I didn’t want her to feel like she was a burden to us.
-Dad, dad, mom isn’t breathing!
– Girls, come quickly
-What happened?
– Mother is not breathing Leonora, where is father?
-Dad is out in the market, to sell the products brought from abroad.
– We have to be called home, our mother has died
– You stay here, I’ll go get the horse, we’ll get there quickly.
I stayed with Vanessa near my mother. I was crying at her head, the pain of losing a mother cannot be expressed in words. Her once beautiful body was engulfed in suffering.
Our tears fell down her face, flushed and pale. She seemed at peace, even though we were in pain.
– Horse hooves are heard, Elena
– I think that she has become a father
Dad had entered the house in pain. His serene face was gone. The news of our mother’s death had changed him completely.
-Dad, is mom really gone?
-Yes, your mother has gone to heaven
We all started crying next to our mother’s head.
-I’m going to the girls’ office to tell them the sad news
-Stay next to her until we come. Even if she is only with us, she looks at you from heaven.
It was evening, we were all around my mother, the sadness of losing our mother could be seen on us.
It was morning, it had been the longest night of our lives. At noon the priest had come for my mother’s funeral. Despite the fact that it was my mother’s funeral, it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, nature seemed to be with us on this day of suffering.
At my mother’s funeral, only our relatives were there, our friends no longer existed for a long time.
Well, friends are there, hardly they don’t exist. I have observed that people are like shadows, when the sun is there they are also there but when the sun is gone, the shadows disappear.
Dad’s heart was torn to shreds. His tears flowed like a river of water.
The pain of losing a loved one cannot be expressed in words. Dad was the most broken of all. He was by her side in the hardest moments. Dad is the most loving man in this whole world. Through thick and thin he is there by your side.
But still, life is unfair sometimes. You lose what you love most, family.
The loss of mother will leave deep traces in our lives…
Chapter 4 – Hoping For Better Days
The void left by mother’s death will never be filled. But every day brings a new dawn. Nothing is forever, I always let these thoughts take over my soul.
The days passed the same, nothing new appeared in our life. I spent every day with my father. He was trying his best to bring happiness into our lives.
We all grew up, work left traces on our bodies. There were calluses on our hands. The skin was not as bright as before.
The truth was, I missed my old life. We lived in abundance; we didn’t think about tomorrow. I always thought in the evening if I had enough food for tomorrow.
I received the food with the portion, in the evening it happened to sleep on an empty stomach.
When dad was away, it was the hardest for us. Sometimes we had nothing to put on the table. Dad was in a lot of debt because of our mom.
In the evening, before going to bed, the imagination flies away. Although I had grown up and daydreaming was no longer acceptable in my life.
Sometimes I wish I could turn back time. Mom was right, life is hard. Life is hard!
I wonder if it’s worth living.
These thoughts overwhelmed me every night.
We didn’t have time for ourselves in the morning. We had become the most industrious girls in the neighbourhood.
Our neighbours were starting to admire us. Although we went through so much trouble, Dad kept us together.
Neighbours often came to see how we were doing. They were impressed with us.
Little by little, we started to get out of debt. By saving money and eating less, I made it.
The truth that we all made sacrifices. Having animals takes up all our time. Our childhood was spent working, but I don’t regret anything. I only regret that my mother is no longer with us.
It was a pleasure to graze the cow, feed the chickens, the pigs. But what was difficult for us was reducing the food portion. Father had not left by ship to bring goods; he chose to stay next to us.
And Lorelai and Emma no longer worked at the neighbourhood dispensary. The doctor had died and in his place was brought a doctor who had a pride that exceeded common sense, he kicked the girls out for the simple fact that they were spoiling his image and performance.
The only source of making money was by selling milk, eggs, meat, to make money. And sometimes we ran out of food. But dad made us a promise: We will have better days!
Now being simple peasants, we also made friends. Simple people but with hearts of gold. Among the nobility there was no such thing. They were all proud and arrogant.
During all this time, none of us wanted to get married, we all chose in our hearts to be with dad, hoping for better days.
Chapter 5 – The First Ray Of Hope
Little by little, I overcame poverty. But even so, we were no longer the noble family we had been. Life has shown us that in an instant you can lose everything you have.
We all wanted better days. We were five girls with their father.
We had our farm, people came home to buy eggs, milk and meat. The work was overwhelming but we all believed in father’s promise.
When it was my turn to take the cow to the pasture, I had time to think about my mother. I missed him so much!
But while my mind was on her, I daydreamed of the time when I would get married.
What kind of man will I marry? What will it look like?
When I was thinking the deepest, I could hear Lorelai shouting:
– Elena, your head is in the clouds again, come home, it’s already late.
In the evening at the table, I had as much food as I needed. We have overcome those food shortages in our lives. In the evening, my father read us from the Bible, we played games and sometimes we were invited to the neighbors for dinner.
Although they were modest, they were very giving and in the evening we spent time together.
Tomorrow, for example, we are meeting several families at Mr. Filip’s house. We celebrate Harvest Day.
We gather several farming families, bring food and enjoy together!
Now I no longer had the special clothes that I had in the past, but I became strong girls, with much more qualities than in the past.
– Good evening Mr. Filip, I brought the girls too!
-Good evening, welcome to our humble farm.
– Mr. Filip, do you have many guests? I asked curiously
– We are several families
-A few families moved to our neighborhood, and I happily invited them to join us
There was a lot of emotion inside me. I hadn’t been on a date with multiple people since my mother died. I wish so much that you would have been my mother with us.
My sisters were very excited. I haven’t been in such a big crowd for a long time.
-Looks like Lorelai found a friend.
– Yes, I’m glad he’s feeling well.
-Elena, don’t you want to meet someone?
-I don’t feel ready to let someone into my life. I prefer to be alone.
People were extremely happy, the food was extremely tasty, we were all thanking God for this year’s harvest. The children were running around, laughing and extremely happy. I spent this wonderful time with the children. We played extremely nice together!
Lorelai had had a truly blessed time. The boy she had spent the evening with was to be her husband.
Lorelai spent the whole year with Josh, he was a hard-working, family-loving and very caring boy. My sister was very happy. I was happy for her.
Dad was extremely pleased. Although we had lost the noble life we had in the past, we found another way to live our life, a simple but happy life. Full of love, peace, love and most importantly, family.
After our troubles we had our first ray of hope. We could be the wives of simple people but be full of happiness.
To be continued…