Chapter 1
Hazel trudged through the fields under the blistering sun, her body aching from the relentless labor. Day in, day out, she toiled like a slave for her stepmom. The fields stretched out like an endless sea of work, and Hazel was a tiny boat tossed in the waves of her stepmom's cruelty.
Hazel's hands throbbed like they'd been pummeled by hammers. Blisters had blisters on her palms from griping tools too tight, trying to keep up with the backbreaking pace her stepmom demanded. Her limbs trembled like weak reeds in the wind. Every step was a struggle, every movement a battle against the pain. But Hazel didn't stop. She couldn't stop. Her stepmom'd whip her if she slowed down.
When Hazel stumbled back to the farmhouse at dusk, her stepmom was waiting in the doorway like a dark shadow. Stepsisters Ava and Mia lounged behind her, smirking at Hazel's misery. "Useless girl," her stepmom sneered. "Can't even do the work right. Look at you, a mess." Hazel hung her head, knowing better than to talk back.
Ava snickered, "She's like a broken animal." Mia chimed in, "We don't need animals around here." Hazel bit her lip hard, trying not to let tears fall. Her stepmom snapped, "Get in, do the chores. Don't make me tell you twice." Hazel nodded quick, shuffling past them to do more work.
In the tiny, cramped kitchen, Hazel scrubbed pots till they shone. Stepsisters mocked her clumsy hands while stepmom checked every dish. One wrong move and Hazel'd get a slap. The air was thick with tension. Hazel thought of breaking something, of screaming... but she'd pay for it later.
As night fell, Hazel curled on her thin pallet, body screamin' in pain. Stepmom's words echoed in her head: "Useless." "Broken." "Worthless." Hazel whispered to the darkness, "I won't break." But the shadows seemed to laugh at her.
Hazel drifted into a hurtful sleep, dreams twisted with fields and pain and stepmom's cruel face. The night swallowed her whole.