The Good Days: Part One

      "RENALINE!!!!!" a voice yelled. "Get up! You have to make my bed and make and serve me breakfast! Don't forget, you have to cook the eggs for 102 and a half seconds, no more no less! Then you have to do my mane and makeup! My guests are coming at noon! I must be ready by then! Hurry up!"

      That voice belonged to Glenda, a rich Uni who had the entire mansion all to herself. She owned so much expensive jewelry and clothing that there was no room for it anywhere. But even with fancy dresses all over the place, Renaline always had the mansion as clean as can be.

      Renaline woke up in her cardboard box that did not resemble much of a bed. She got up, made Glenda's bed, and cooked the eggs for 103 seconds.

      "Grrr…" Renaline had made Glenda mad. This was, unfortunately, not the first time that this had happened. "You cooked my eggs for a half-second too long!" Glenda threw the eggs into the garbage can. "Cook me some new ones!"

      Renaline sighed and cooked the eggs for exactly 102 and a half seconds- she was sure of it this time. Although she had not made a mistake, Glenda seemed to be disgusted by Renaline's cooking.

      "I am sorry to let you down, Miss," said Renaline. "I don't know what I have done to make your breakfast less delightful. Please forgive me."

      "I don't care," Glenda shouted. "Now groom my mane and put on my makeup! NOW!"

      Glenda and Renaline proceeded to the bathroom. The blue Uni who was not very pretty at all (no questioning why she always wore makeup) sat down in front of a large mirror with lights around it. Renaline stood behind Glenda and did her mane and makeup. While she was overloading Glenda's eyes with gold eyeshadow, she accidentally smudged some on Glenda's cheek.

      "Oops…I'm sorry," Renaline said nervously.

      "Sorry isn't enough," Glenda yelled. "Wash that ugly smudge off at this instant! Don't forget, not too much soap or I'll get pimples!"

      Renaline sighed again and washed off the smudged makeup with exactly as much soap as Glenda wanted.

      "Thank you, Renaline," said Glenda. "You now have two minutes of rest time in the attic. You could have had five minutes of rest if you hadn't overcooked my eggs this morning!"

      Renaline proceeded up the stairs into the attic. As she lay down in her cardboard box, she spotted a little ball of yellow light floating in the air. Bigger and bigger it grew, until a tall and beautiful Light Faerie appeared in front of Renaline's eyes.

      "Greetings, dear Renaline," the Light Faerie said. "I'm Naleena, you Faerie godmother. I have come here to grant all of your wishes."

      "Are you serious?" Renaline asked, not believing Naleena.

      "No," said Naleena. "I'm just an ordinary Light Faerie, going around helping people in need. No time to rest, not even for a minute. Us Light Faeries are always on the go 24/7."

      "Wow, that sounds a bit like my life," said Renaline. "Hey, since you help people in need, why don't you give me a hand with my work?"

      "Sorry, I can't," said Naleena. "But I can use some special magic to predict what will happen to you in the future."

      "You never said that you were a fortune teller!" said Renaline.

      "Okay, so I quit fortune-telling lessons after only three days, but I did learn something simple," said Naleena. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a rubber ball, a yo-yo, a stamp ripped in half, a string, some dirt, a rock, 7 Neopoints, a dirty sock that had been stretched to almost twice its size, and a deck of pink shiny cards. All of these she threw outside, except for the deck of cards. She held then in her hands like a fan.

      "Ask a yes or no question, then pick a card," said Naleena.

      "Okay…" said Renaline. "Will I ever get free from Glenda?" She took a card from the fan. It read:

      Ask again

      "Well, ask again!" said Naleena.

      Renaline picked another card. This time, it read:

      It might happen, or it might not

      "What does it take to get a straight answer out of these things?" Renaline asked.

      "Keep asking," said Naleena.

      Renaline asked the same question over and over, but she never did get an answer that didn't mean the same as "maybe". Soon, there was only one card left in Naleena's hands.

      "I don't need to guess what this one says," said Renaline.

      "Try it," said Naleena.

      Renaline took the last card. To her surprise, it read:

      The good days are coming

      "What does this mean?" Renaline asked.

      "This is a definite yes," said Naleena. "This means that all your dreams and wishes will come true as soon as possible without a doubt. There will be no more bad days for you. Welcome to the good days!"

      "Wow!" exclaimed Renaline. "What else can you tell me?"

      "Nothing," said Naleena. "There's a Kacheek in Meridell who is stuck to the wall. He needs help right away! See ya!"

      "Bye!" said Renaline.

      Naleena disappeared in a flash of yellow light. It was at that moment that Renaline realized that over two minutes had passed and she still hadn't heard Glenda screaming to clean the house. Curious, she stepped carefully downstairs.

      "Glenda?" Renaline said nervously. Her voice echoed throughout the mansion, but there was no answer. She walked to a different floor of the mansion and called again.

      "Glenda!?" Again, there was no answer. The only thing she could do now was call from the bottom floor. If there was no answer there, then Glenda was not in the house.

      "Glenda!?!?" That time, her call was followed by knock on the door. Glenda always said that it was rude to greet guests with an ugly Grey Faerie, but since she was nowhere to be found, Renaline had to answer the door.

      "Good afternoon," said a Quiggle in an expensive-looking tuxedo. "You must be that ugly slave that Glenda keeps talking about. What is your name?"

      "My name is Renaline," said Renaline.

      "Nice to meet you, Roline," the Quiggle said. "I'm Carcosan. Where is Glenda at this moment?"

      "It's Renaline, not Roline," said Renaline with a touch of attitude. "And I don't know where Glenda is. She seems to be missing."

      "She's WHAT???" Carcosan gasped. "Have you searched the mansion?"

      "I've searched everywhere, inside and out," said Renaline.

      "Oh my GOSH!!!" Carcosan shouted. "I have to get some help! I'll be right back, dear Roline!"

      "It's RENALINE!" the Grey Faerie yelled as Carcosan ran out to find the police.

***

Minutes later, Carcosan came running back to the mansion. He was followed by a large group of stampeding Chias in uniforms. They quickly surrounded Renaline and began to ask her more questions than she could handle.

      "Now Miss Roline…" the first Chia began.

      "Oh, that silly Quiggle!" Renaline interrupted. "He got my name wrong again, didn't he? It's Renaline, not Roline."

      "Okay then, Miss Renaline," the Chia began again, "when was the last time you saw Glenda?"

      "This morning," said Renaline. "I did her work, then she gave me a two minute break, and when it was over, she was gone."

      For the next short time (which seemed like and hour to Renaline), the Chias bombarded Renaline with questions, most of which were pointless and would not help find Glenda.

      "We're going to form a search party," said one of the Chias. "Would you like to join us?"

      "Sorry, I can't," said Renaline. "I'm not allowed out of the house. Glenda's rule."

      "Then I will leave you here until Glenda is found," said the Chia. "If we found her, she would not be pleased to see you out."

      "I will stay here," said Renaline.

      And so, after that, Renaline stayed at home by herself. Her place of rest remained in the attic, but she did roam around the house all the time. After one week, the Chias returned to the mansion.

      "We've lost hope," said one of the Chias. "Glenda is gone for good."

      "But what about the jewels, the riches and the expensive clothing?" Renaline asked. "They have to go to someone."

      "Those will have to go to someone," said the Chia. "And, since you're the only other member of this household, those will go to you."

      Renaline's face lightened up. As the Chia left, she ran inside the mansion screaming "It's mine! All mine!" Never had she had a moment this happy. The good days had come.

 To be continued...