*For anyone new to my stories* I previously wrote a story called "Daisy's Story: Poor to Couture." I only changed the title because I think I had to. Anyway... this story is similar to Daisy's Storyoor to Couture, just I'm hoping to write it better than the previous story. This will be well-written and detailed, even more so than the previous. I hope you enjoy!
Prologue:
Thunderheads had stationed themselves directly over the desolate town of Zaruna. Rain. What else was new. Vicious gusts of wind rustled the few dying trees that decorated the tiny area, while the citizens hurridely ran to the shelter of their "cozy" houses.
Daisy Cheri was no exception.
She and her family, like many other families of Zaruna, were doomed to make the best of their life of poverty and misery, thanks to the lack of businesses and jobs. They struggled and thrived, and had their ups and downs, but thanks to their love of life, however horrid it may be, continued to strive on.
Basically, Zarunians were doomed to an eternity of deprivation.
nice... was that your lost story??? that your remaking?
Signature-------------- One of us is a hero. One of us is a fraud. One of us is a junkie. One of us is a sinner. One of us is a murderer. All of us are LOST
Daisy looked around her room. It was tiny, filled with old Ms. Nintendique magazines and sketch pads full of Daisy's fashion designs. A light coat of dust covered most of the floor, and cobwebs hung from the rafters.
Portia, Daisy's sister, who was currently lying on the small bed by the door, raised her head and stared curiously at her sister.
"What's up, Daise?"
Daisy turned her head to look at her sister, eyes filled with longing.
"Oh, nothing. It's just that another person is living the dream, according to June's issue of Ms. Nintendique."
Portia grabbed the magazine that Daisy was looking at and tore through the pages, finding the jealousy-causing article.
"Able Sister Fantasy," said Portia, reading the title of the article. "Labelle, the middle Able sister, has recently acquired a job at Gracie Grace's high-fashion store in the city of Galladora. She will work as a sales clerk and fashiong advisor while Gracie Grace is unavailable. Congrats to Labelle, and best wishes!"
Portia turned back to her sister with sympathy. Everyone in Zaruna who knew the Cheris knew that Daisy had always dreamed of being a world-renowed fashion designer, much like Gracie Grace.
"Sis, don't worry. Someday we'll find a way to fullfill these dreams of yours. I know we will. I'll make SURE we do." And she opened her arms wide, beckoning Daisy to give her a hug. Daisy walked welcomly into her sister, thankful for the loving support she gave her.
"Thanks, sissy. I know." Daisy smiled. She returned to her creaky, old bed where she returned to drawing a purple and pink flowered sundress and strappy sandals, things she wished SHE could wear.
Gradually, the rain began to cease. The massive thunderheads slowly headed toward Galladora, much to the delight of the poor Zarunians. If you had nothing, and the Galladorians had EVERYTHING, could YOU stop yourself from rejoicing when bad things happened to them?
Five O' clock was slowly approaching, the time in which Goldie and Butch Cheri would return home from work: running a family-owned market in the slightly more "upscale" part of Zaruna.
The two sisters pulled on their matching blue raincoats and stepped outside to the leaf-covered yard where they waited for their parents.
Several minutes passed by, and finally a rusted old minivan pulled into the gravel driveway of the shack they called home.
"Mommy! Daddy!" The girls screeched. They ran to open the doors for their parents, who much appreciated it after a long, tiring day at work.
"Hey, sweeties!" called Butch. He pulled Daisy in for a hug, and then grabbed Portia.
"Girls, we missed you so much. And guess what?! We have SURPRISES for you!" Goldie's smile stretched all the way to her floppy, golden ears.
"Ooh... I wonder what it is!" Portia sighed dreamily.
Daisy the quieter one of the two, just smiled at her parents. She knew how hard they tried to keep the two girls happy, and she wanted to let them know that she truly treasured every little gift they gave her.
"Open your paws and close your eyes," their mother whispered.
They did so, and into their tiny paws she placed one strawberry-flavored hard candy.
"Open your eyes," she then commanded.
"Aw, thanks Mom, Dad!" the two girls rejoiced.
"Now, I'll go make dinner, and you two girls go clean your room."
Goldie and Butch walked through the chipped front door into the tiny wooden house, leaving Daisy and her sister alone in the front yard.
Suddenly, the bushes on the side of the house rustled. A thin, gray cat moved slyly toward the girls. When she reached them, she crawled behind them, stood up, and said, "Hello there." and laughed maniocally.
By the time their cries had faded out, hysterical laughter erupted in the silence.
The cat that had so suddenly startled them crept in front of them and smiled.
"Scared ya, huh?" the she-cat asked.
"Mitzi!" The sisters were relieved that it was NOT a kidnapper coming to grab them from their own front lawn, throw them in the trunk of their car, and drive full speed to some unknown land and never return home.
The Cheri girls had known Mitzi since Kindergarten at the run-down Elementary school around the corner from their parents market. Mitzi's father, Kabuki, caught fish in the nearby river that stretched all the way around Zaruna and sold them to Butch. Fish were not all that expensive, but something was better than nothing.
Mitzi smiled, content that she had successfully scared the girls into thinking they were being stalked.
"So..." began Mitzi, uncertain of what to say after that. She looked uncomfortably around the grassless yard, which was now all but flooding in red and orange leaves.
"How are your parents doing?" Daisy asked. Mitzi's mother, Monique, had recently caught the flu swimming in the frigid river. Medicine was scarce in the poor town, with only far-off Galladora to provide medical attention.
Looking down at her worn out sneakers and smiled, but not in a happy way.
When she looked up, there were tears flooding her eyes. "Dad says she may not live until tomorrow." The salty droplets began flowing down the sides of her rosy cheeks. "I don't know what to do. I came here looking for something to take my mind off of everything." She sniffed. "She doesn't even remember who I am."
Not knowing how to comfort their poor friend, the girls shifted uncomfortably in their shoes.
Daisy was the first to reach out. "We're here for you." She stroked her best friend's ears, the way she liked. She felt Mitzi nod against her shoulder.
"Hey, why don't you stay for dinner?" Portia offered, doing her part in supporting her devestated friend.
Mitzi shook her head. "I'm sorry. I better go check on my mother." And with those last words, she walked off into the distance back toward her house.
The girls understood.
After all, these could be Mitzi's last moments with her mother.
Three hours had passed since Mitzi had gone to check on her mother. The rain had returned, clouds casting shadows on the dying wildlife occupying every space of the town.
Boredom was nearly killing the girls. How long could they keep reading and rereading every Ms. Nintendique issue they owned? And Daisy’s fashion sketchbook was full. Their TV was broken, and the parents didn’t make enough money to fix it.
Daisy decided to venture into town to pick up a new notebook so she could continue her imaginary clothing line. She had a ton of ideas in mind, fall skirts with leaf-prints, cream-colored blouses with ruffles, and many accessories all the color orange. She was worried that if she didn’t write them down soon, the ideas would vanish.
When she entered the kitchen that night to ask her mother if she could buy a new one, she found her mother weeping in her father’s arms.
“Mom,” she gasped.
Mrs. Cheri looked at her daughter with an exasperated look and hastily put on the best fake smile she could muster.
“Oh, hey sweetie,” she sniffled. Her eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained the apron Portia had given her for Christmas.
Daisy ran into her mother and hugged her gently. “What happened?” she whispered, unsure of whether she even wanted to know.
“We just got a call from Mitzi’s father. Monique passed a way a few minutes ago.” Monique was one of Goldie’s best friends, and now she was gone.
Nausea filled Daisy. Whenever something horrible happened, she felt sick.
“No.”
She ran out the door. First she would go buy a sketching notebook, and then she would go visit Mitzi and her father to tell them how sorry she was about the loss of Monique.
“I’ll be back before dinner!” she yelled to her dumbstruck parents.
And she set off on her tiring journey to the center of town.
The gravel road leading to town was long and tiring. Sores began forming on Daisy’s paws as she speed-walked into town.
After about a half hour of endless walking, Daisy decided to take a quick break on the side of the road. She sat with her arms around her knees, rocking back and forth in misery. Mitzi had felt horrible when she had come over to see the girls, and they didn’t do anything. Now it was too late.
Why was she sitting here relaxing while her friend was in pain?
Daisy regrouped and sprinted into town. Once she reached the center, she spotted the tiny general store that was also Katrina, the fortune teller’s hut.
The outside of the store was draped in silky purple and red fabric and covered in sparkly beads and decorative coins. The inside, however, was even more appealing.
Golden staffs with jewels glittered around the perimeter of the store. Afghan rugs in bright oranges and reds covered the floors, and red velvet poufs and stools were placed around the table at which Katrina read animals’ fates. The whole tent smelled strongly of perfume and scented candles, adding to the mysterious ambiance.
Daisy approached the counter where Katrina sat, cards displayed in front of her, crystal ball at hand. Smoke furled through the ball, twirling every which way, and Katrina was staring deeply into its depths.
“Um, ‘scuz me, miss, but do you have any sketch pads?” Daisy asked hesitantly.
The fortune teller looked up from her crystal ball and pointed her bangle-covered hand to a wooden shelf draped in purple fabric on the other side of the tent.
Daisy nodded and grabbed a pink daisy-covered notebook off the shelf and brought it back to the counter.
“Is that all? Or would you like your fortune told as well?” Katrina said in her unnaturally high voice.
Shaking her head no, Daisy said, “Sorry, I don’t have the money.”
Katrina smiled. “A special deal just for you. 10 Bells on top of the 50 the notebook costs. 60 Bells total.”
Daisy sighed at sat on the tiny velvet pouf in front of Katrina. She knew she would regret spending money on this; she didn’t even believe in this kind of stuff.
“Compatibility or today’s fortune?” Katrina asked.
This was a no-brainer for Daisy. “Today’s fortune.”
Katrina began to hum strange words. “Ke ho ma ta matata. Le ko ataratata. Ke lo batata. AIEEEEE!” She pulled a card from the pile laying on her desk.
“We have the water card in its original state.” She began. “A fish in the sea swims bravely to the deeper part where his friends are playing. A shark suddenly comes out from behind a coral reef and eats him alive. His friends are horrified and swim off.” She looked disturbingly at Daisy, and then back at the card in her hand. “We have HORROR, SHOCK, and DEATH.”
Normally Daisy would have laughed at this odd prediction, but something about the look in Katrina’s eyes made her change her mind.
Signature-------------- One of us is a hero. One of us is a fraud. One of us is a junkie. One of us is a sinner. One of us is a murderer. All of us are LOST
Aw thanks! I will, but I'm going to wait for a short time to see if I get more comments. There should be a new chapter by Monday, maybe tomorrow, even later today. I don't know, but for sure by Monday!
Katrina smiled grimly, trying to hide the fact that Daisy's future did not look pleasant at all.
"I'm sorry, dear. This was not what I sensed. It's much more upsetting than usual." she said.
Daisy hopped out of her chair and headed toward the store's exit.
"Thank you," she whispered, breathless.
Sprinting down the road that ledback to her house, she found a crowd of people standing in front of her parent's market, and it didn't look like they were there to buy produce, either.
Daisy crept over to the multitude and pushed her way gently to the center.
"Mom?" she whispered.
There, in the center of the circle, was her mother, cradling her father's head in her lap.
"Mom?" she repeated, tears forming in her eyes. "What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong!" Daisy sobbed. Tears streamed down her pink cheeks like dewdrops.
Goldie looked up at her daughter, eyes red and puffy. "Something is not right with your father, and we don't know what it is." she sniffled. "He just sort of fell down all of the sudden. He's not breathing right."
Her mother stroked behind Butch's ears, the way he liked it.
"We need medical help." Her mother said, looking around at the group of Zarunians huddled around the family.
Posted: 8/11/2009 6:11pm 
oor to Couture, just I'm hoping to write it better than the previous story. This will be well-written and detailed, even more so than the previous. I hope you enjoy!
I'm so sad I lost the other! Hope you enjoy this though.
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