The Cinder Bullies

"Cindy! Boil some water for tea! Your sister's friends are going to be here, at any moment." yelled her mother. "Hurry up!"

"Why me?" Cindy asked herself aloud, unaware that there was anyone else in the room. She placed a large kettle of water over the fire in the huge, kitchen fireplace. "Why do I always have to do all of the work around here?"

"Someone has to be designated as the scullery maid for a family this large," replied one of the young ladies, who had been invited for tea by Cindy's older sisters. She had come in by the front door, without knocking. This particular young woman was always very elegantly dressed, but she was not much of a lady at times, because of her cutting, cruel tongue. She laughed aloud and continued. "Ladies, look at the soot on Cindy's face!"

The other young women who had followed her into the room, all giggled.

Cindy was so embarrassed, she almost burst into tears.

"Soot on my face?" she asked herself, silently. "Again?"

Cindy quickly wiped her face with her white kerchief and realized that there was a huge, black smudge on it now, and that she would have to wash it. It was not easy to keep her kerchief white.

"Don't I have the right to enjoy a happy, carefree, social life, just like my sisters and their friends?" she asked herself. "How on earth did I ever get assigned the role of servant?"

Cindy stoked the fire carefully, as she waited for the water to come to a full boil. She knew that as soon as she finished making tea, she could go out to the garden and get away from all of their cruel comments. She could look at the beautiful flowers and listen to the birds chirping.

"Cindy really looks like a ragamuffin today!"

"I do?" she thought to herself. "It's no wonder! All I do is work."

Her mother always had more than enough work for Cindy to do, while all of her sisters, both older and younger, were encouraged to be social butterflies. She carried the brunt of the responsibility for all of the household chores.

"At least one of us does some honest work," she thought to herself.

"Her mother treats her just like a servant," one of the young ladies said. "It is so sad. She is always playing in the cinders."

"Sh, Cindy will hear us!" one of the young women whispered. "She is listening!"

"She does not know that we are talking about her."

"Want to bet on that?" thought Cindy, who was angry about always being ridiculed by all of the others. She decided not to remain silent this time. Her temper, just like the water, was just beginning to boil.

"You do not need to be such cinder bullies," said Cindy quietly, to the young women.

"Cinder-bullies!"

Cindy's mother had just entered the room and was shocked, as she overheard her words.

"Mother, I quit! You need to find someone else to be your scullery maid!"

Cindy's mother laughed nervously, as did the other young women and Cindy's sisters who had just come in, too.

"You can leave after you pour out tea," one of her sisters replied, haughtily. Everyone laughed.

"You are the new scullery maid now," replied Cindy, as she quietly left the room. "It is time for me to move on. I won't be back."

"Mother, do something!" hollered the sister who had just been assigned Cindy's role.

"Pour the tea, dear," her mother replied calmly.