Surprises

Sonia and Petra needed to eat quickly since they were preparing to go play with their friends.

My eyes began to well up with tears. I couldn't believe I'd awoken to the realities of my life yet again.

I dashed over to the kitchen to prepare them some pancakes and some sizzling hot tea, just the way they loved it.

While I was putting the dough on the pan, I suddenly remembered the instructions Grandpa Ralph had given me before he left.

I dashed into my room and found the scroll as quickly as I could.

It was exactly where Grandpa Ralph had predicted. 

I tried to open the scroll, but I was interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps. 

It was Sonia, my stepsister. She was in the tunnel next to mine.

Quickly, I put the scroll on the chair near my bed and dashed outside to meet her, not realizing that my stepfamily had banded together against me.

"Where have you been, moron? You really ruined the pancake!" Sonia dragged me back into the kitchen, where my stepmother and stepsister, Petra, were both there.

"She never gets anything right!" Brianna, my stepmother, yelled as she held a burnt pancake in her hands.

I was certain that I had turned down the heat on the cooker before leaving. Someone had activated it.

"This is your lunch for today," my step-sister shouted, hurling the burnt food at me.

To be honest, I was relieved.

I took the pancake and placed it in a bowl next to me.

 I started to wonder about my other stepsister, Sonia. We had certainly met at the door to my room, and she had brought me to the kitchen, but where did she go after that?

I decided not to waste any more time and made another batch of pancake batter.

Speaking of the devil, Sonia raced out of the room with the scroll I had stored in my room.

I was completely taken aback. How did she discover it?

"Mother, I discovered this in Tanya's room," Sonia said to my stepmother.

My stepmother grabbed the scroll from her and opened it. It was a brand-new, huge sheet of paper.

"This is a map! So you're going to flee?" my stepmother, Brianna asked as she reached for the matchbox on the kitchen counter. She was preparing to set fire to the map.

"That is very important. Please, Ma. I plead with you. Do not set it on fire," I pleaded.

My stepmother ignored my appeal and slammed the match stick against its box, igniting the map.

My stepsisters, who were standing next to her, encouraged her. I could see the glee in their faces as they mocked me and laughed at me.

I sobbed and dashed to the backyard.

My stepfamily was determined to destroy me. Although I had no idea what the map's purpose would be, I knew it was essential and tied to my freedom. I gasp in agony.

My stepmother did nothing except wreck everything I did. I was sorry for leaving the scroll in my room carelessly.

When I looked up to my left, I noticed Grandpa Ralph standing, shaking his head, and smiling.

"What are you doing here, Grandpa Ralph?" I asked obstinately.

 "This was always something I expected to happen. Fortunately, I was well-prepared," Grandpa Ralph gloated.

I couldn't understand what he was saying. Why was he so happy? Does he find it amusing to see me in pain? Was this why he watched me but ignored my experiences all these while? 

I had misplaced what he had given me and felt he should be angry with me instead of greeting me with a grin.

Grandpa Ralph approached me, tapped my shoulders, and said, "The actual map is here in my hand, I anticipated that they would try something amusing, so I hid a fake map beneath your bed. This is the genuine article." Grandpa Ralph said this while holding the original map in his palm.

I took it and stared at it. It was, indeed, the authentic map. It appeared to be antique, as if it had been passed down through generations from one generation to the next.

"But, Grandpa Ralph, what is the map for? Where does it lead?" I asked, but before I could finish my last word, he disappeared.

My stepmother summoned me from the kitchen because she noticed I had spent a lot of time outside.

"Tanya! Come finish the dinner you began so my daughters may eat and go out to meet their friends, Evil girl!" She stated.

My mother would not let me out of her sight for even a second. I had to be at her daughters' beck and call.

As I entered the home, I quickly folded the new map and tucked it inside my skirt.

I entered the house. My stepmother instructed me to fry the entire batter quickly because my stepsisters were late for a game with their pals.

My step-sisters returned from their normal play later in the evening. I could hear them laughing and chatting.

I chose to listen in on their conversation because I was curious what they were talking about.

They were apparently discussing about me and laughing at the assumption that I was planning to flee.

"I can't believe that stupid girl wants to flee. Does she believe she is so intelligent? She will never be able to flee. She will be our servant for the rest of her life!"

I burst into tears and dashed to my room. 

Deep down, I couldn't help but wonder why Grandpa Ralph gave me the map as I prepared their dinners. I started imagining where the map might take me, hoping it wasn't somewhere worse than this.

It was starting to get dark. 

I had just finished all of the housework that my stepmother had assigned to me. My stepsisters had gone out with their friends, while my stepmother, Brianna, was asleep in her bed. It was the ideal time to start tracing the map.