• Alice felt the days drift by in an odd cadence. Ever since the day she had discovered that her parents had died on the road, everything had felt like a dream. The mornings were silent and as Alice lay in her bed, she thought her mother would come to sing her usual song and chide her daughter for being asleep so long, Alice lay there waiting for her, but when the realization came that Mother would never wake her up again, the familiar sting of tears. AAlice’s large home was as quiet as the servants whispered around her were and the sound of Alice’s footsteps in the hallway was deafening. As the little girl spent her days watching the dark gloomy afternoons, she felt it was fitting that the weather would mourn the passing of her lovely mother.
    A couple of days before the funeral a large, luxurious car drove up to the driveway. Alice watched cautiously from the window as a family exited the car. A large, almost imposing woman looked up at the large stone mansion with disdain on her horse-like face. The man, who Alice thought was the woman’s husband was short, very stout and balding however; his face repelled Alice as he shared the same expression as the large woman. Three children climbed out of the car. Alice felt a little bit more cheered up, Alice rarely played with the other children and the sight of having playmates would help her stop feeling sad all of the time. There were two girls who were dressed like princesses and very pretty and a rather large boy. Mr. Jakes, her mother’s lawyer, came out of the car. Roger, the family butler came from behind Alice. “Miss Alice. Your mother’s relatives are here.” The little girl hurried down to the main hallway to greet the children. “Hello” she said, “My name is Alice Garnet. How do you do?” The two little girls looked at her and giggled rambunctiously. The large boy pushed his sisters to the side, “How dare you address us, are you one of the maid’s children? “ Before Alice could reply to the rudeness of this strange boy, she noticed the large woman was hitting him on the back of his head.
    “Idiot!” she said in a shrill voice that was unaccustomed to her stature. “How dare you say that to your cousin, Alice!” and then with a change of tone she held Alice so hard that the little girl felt she would explode “Alice! You poor little darling! To lose your mother AND father? Oh, my little dear! Well, when you come to stay with us we are going to make you so happy that you will forget all about this tragedy!” Alice pulled herself back to say, “I don’t want to forget! My parents are dead and I can never forget that.”
    There was a sneer on the large woman’s face before it quickly changed to an insincere expression “Oh of course not dearest. Well, I suppose I should introduce you to our family. We are the Daltons, your mother’s cousins. I am Ermintrude, my husband’s name is Gerald and these are my three little darlings, Becky, Mariah and my pride, Jonah.” Alice gave everyone a small smile. “I suppose dear that you should run along to get the butler to get our things!” AlAlice gave an uncertain shrug as the butler began to pick up the various bags and summoned the house cleaners to help. “Careful!” said Ermintrude in a shrill voice. “We will be staying in the master bedroom.” Alice gave a small grimace. Why don’t they stay in the guestrooms? Alice didn’t want to start any problems and so she watched the Daltons move their way up the stairway.
    As much as Alice’s days had been so surreal, it was strange now. The Dalton family seemed to intrude on everything. Her parents’ bedroom was now covered in the Daltons things, Cousin Ermintrude used her mother’s jewelry and her mother’s sweet perfume was now finding its way to cling on her cousins clothes. Gerald looked at everything in the mansion with a scrutinizing air, as if he was measuring how much money the various antiques and works of art would cost. Becky and Mariah were very cold to Alice and Jonah seemed to bully his sisters so much that Alice was afraid of him.
    One day Becky and Mariah were skipping rope outside and Alice excitedly got her jump rope before running outside “Can I play?” she asked. The girls giggled at her in their silly little peal. “Why would you want to play with us?” said Mariah. “Well, I thought we could play Double-Dutch.,” answered Alice.
    “Well, you usually are so stuck up like your mother!”
    “No I am not and neither was my mother!”
    “You are so! At least that is what Mommy says. She says that you had better stop your act before you come to live with us or she might have to send you to a boarding school. “Alice the blood from her face leaves her, live with these awful people? “I am not living with you.” she said faintly.
    “Oh yes you are! You have no choice, Mother says.”
    “Well, your mother is being silly and it is not true. “
    “Yes it is! Moreover, you had better get used to it. Mother says that our home may not be as nice as this place but then again it won’t be for now.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “You silly girl don’t you get it? You are richer then us and that means that whoever takes care of you gets a portion of your family’s wealth. That means that I can get a pony finally.”
    Alice could not hear anymore of this. She could not stand the smug expression on Becky’s face and there was a feeling of anger that took over her. “I wouldn’t live with you and your family even if they begged me!” Becky’s smug face did not relent and as she looked back at Mariah, she nodded slightly before pushing Alice to the ground. A flash of anger overtook the little girl as she lost her temper and pushed Becky back doubly hard. Suddenly there was a flourish as the two little girls pulled each other’s hair and hit each other. Alice was on top of Becky and striking her before feeling herself being picked up by her hair.
    “You naughty little girl!” said Cousin Ermintrude “How dare you hit my daughter that way.” Alice did not answer her back but only scowled at the large figure of this strange woman. “She hit me first!”
    “That isn’t true, Mommy” said Becky in a whiny voice “Mariah and I were jumping rope and then the little monster came and taunted and teased us and called us names. When I tried to defend us, she began to hit me. “
    “That’s not true!”
    “Yes it is, mummy” cried out Mariah.
    Aunt Ermintrude gave Alice a smack on her bottom before saying “Now you get to bed little girl I wont’ stand for that when you come home with us.” Alice knew it was better not to fight anymore and so as she walked away, smoothing her hair and rubbing a scratch on her arm. She heard Mariah say “Oh mother, do we really have to deal with Alice?”
    “Only for a little while, dearest. Once we send Alice to a boarding school and we get that large check from the lawyers then you and I will go on a shopping spree.”
    “Is she really rich mummy?”
    “Oh yes! That large check is only from the interest from one of the investments. We will be richer then ever!’
    Alice sat on her bed, to feel that the only reason why she was wanted was her money felt horrible but there must be a way out. Is there?
    The next day at her parent’s funeral. Alice ignored the sight of her mother’s jewels on Cousin Ermintrudes neck. The drive to the graveyard was not quiet as the “three darlings” all punched and teased each other and Cousin Ermintrude and Gerald bickered. Alice only looked outside of the window and when she felt the pinpricks of tears in her eyes, she felt a painful pinch on the side of her arm and saw Becky and Mariah laughing at her.

    The funeral was long and told Alice mostly about her father’s achievements. She was shocked to know that her father had been considered a good man but the only thing that she had seen from him was disdain. There were only a few words about her mother and the contributions she made to charities. When Alice went to the coffins she only gave a small prayer at the for of her father’s but once she went to her mother’s closed casket she kissed the hard wood and tried to not cry. She placed a white rose on it and whispered “Goodbye Mother, I love you.” The sound of silence pervaded the crowds as the sound of the flowered covered caskets lower in the ground. Someone pushed a bit of dirt in Alice’s hand and as she heard the thud of it hitting her mother’s coffin, she felt strangely weak. Tears streaked down her cheeks and there was the sound of thunder above her. Lightening flashed and the threat of rain was approaching. Alice felt her head feel so light and her knees shake slightly. THere was a feeling of weakness and things began to tilt and as the sound of thunder began again. Alice felt so faint and suddenly it all went dark as her still body fell to the ground.