Chapter Three

The breakfast table was typical to her. She knew how to hold her knife and fork in the "proper way" according to the Sisters and England. If it wasn't done in that way, they would be upset, and no one ever wanted to make them upset. Anna sat near Sister Mari-Anne for every meal. To Anna, Mari-Anne wasn't just a twenty-four-year-old nun. She was her only friend and the only one who cared about her there. She begrudgingly picked at the food in front of her, attempting not to hear the conversation of two of her loud inmates as she did.

Once she was done, she brought the plate into the kitchen and retreated to the backyard garden of this beautiful prison. A lovely white rose graced her fingertips as she tried her best not to disrupt its growth as she embraced it and its memory.

"I remember when life was as simple as this...." She whispered to herself.

"Mommy! I want a pretty flower!" Anna yelled, stretching towards her mother. It was daybreak and the duo had made their way instantly to their favorite spot at home to plant seeds. "Anne, wait. Let me plant this last seed then you can pick flowers". She drew a seed from her brown paper bag and gave her mother swiftly out of her young impatience. She watched as her mother dug the dirt and gently lowered the seed in it then covered the seed with dirt as its blanket. "Alright, now let's get my little pumpkin a beautiful flower", she exclaimed as she rose from her squatting position and dusted her hands together.

They explored the garden, searching for the perfect flower and when found they rejoiced. It was a white rose and her mother stared at it in awe. "The white rose...such a symbol of purity and absolute freedom. Promise me you'll always want to be free and as pure as this white rose, Anne", her mother whispered to her as she placed the newly picked flower in Anna's hair.

"I'm sorry I broke your promise, mom...."