Chapter 5: Chores And The Dress

Rosette’s POV

Doing all of the chores, especially cooking, on an extremely empty stomach is something that I have done, and dealt with, many times. Though this time is completely different, seeing as I am rushing around the pack house, trying to not only do the chores assigned to me, but also cater to the pack members who ‘need me to help them’. They just wanted me to do all of their packing for them, even though I don’t know what they want, so they yell at me for making the choices of what to pack. Some got so angry that they hit me with either their open palm, fist, or any object within reach. Thankfully I was able to leave before more than one attack was thrown.

This has been going on for about two days now, me doing the chores and getting yelled at for doing something that I “shouldn’t”, occasionally getting smacked, kicked, etc. It is becoming such a routine that I now know how to dodge certain objects so that I’m not being hit when I’m helping these ungrateful people pack. One of the good things about this is that pack members will give me articles of clothing that they no longer want, telling me to throw them away. I don’t actually do as they say though, seeing as some of the pieces of cloth and fabrics that they are made out of I repurpose to create my own clothes, seeing as I am not allowed to go shopping.

When I got to my room in the basement at the end of the first day, I saw that my grandfather stuck to his word. There, on my poor excuse of a dresser laid a red dress, something that my mom used to own. Don’t know when she last wore it, but it looked extremely pristine, like it was never worn at all. While I didn’t want to do anything to it, over the past few days, getting all of the clothes from the pack members gave me an idea of what I can do to make it my own. But, I will have to wait until I finish all of my chores for the day.

***

FIVE HOURS LATER

I finally finish all of my chores for the day, allowing me to head to my room. Looking at the stack of discarded, old and torn clothes from the pack members and the red dress beside it, I decide that it is time to work on my dress. I know that it is going to be loose on my body, seeing as I’m unhealthily skinny, yet somehow still have muscles. I search through the pile of clothes, trying to see what fabrics might go well with the red dress. Seeing some black fabric, I pull the article of clothing out of the pile, seeing what can be used to enhance my mom’s old dress.

Seeing that the only thing that I want is the black see-through fabric that comes from the piece of clothing, I take my thread cutter and cut it away from the rest of the fabric that makes up the dressy and expensive clothes. I place it on the dress once all of it is off, figuring out how to make it work on the dress. I place it around the waist, seeing as the sheer fabric is long enough to cover the whole length of the skirt. That works extremely, so I pin it on the waist. I pull the dress up in front of me, trying to see what all I deem is still missing.

I look through the clothes pile again, trying to see what else could be used, but find nothing. Looking through my own clothes, I find nothing. But my eyes trail to the picture of my parents and me before they died, the picture taken when I was nine. Beside that picture is a picture of two wolves, my parents’ wolves. That is when it hits me, the missing piece of the dress.

I grab my needles and threads, picking and choosing which embroidery thread colors matched my parents’ fur colors. I also grab out a needle, and the black sewing thread, wanting to attach the thin black fabric before embroidering. Before I do anything else, I pick up a pad of paper and a pencil, knowing that I need to draw out the designs for what I want the tribute to my parents to be before I actually put a needle and thread to the dress for it. I have to make the design simple but also distinguishable to tell which wolf belongs to who.

First things first, I thread the needle with the black sewing thread, cutting and tying it together when I have an acceptable length off of the spool. I grab hold of the dress and sheer fabric, not letting any of it shift. I push the needle through the seam at the waist of the dress, easing it through the black fabric that will be going over the skirt. I continue that motion throughout the rest of the dress, taking pins out as I go. Once I make it around the dress, I do a soft tug on the black, checking to make sure that it is secure, which, thankfully, it is. Tying and cutting the thread, I take away the excess black thread and put it on a spool of leftover colors that I had used when making my other clothes.

Now comes the hard part, making sure that the design of the embroidery does not get f*cked up. I hand draw the grids for me to draw them at equal proportions, making sure that they both are the same shape. I begin to draw the wolf heads, making sure that they appear the same, but show their features perfectly, making certain traits more prominent depending on gender. Once finished, I grab my needle and threads, move the fabric that is now covering the skirt and begin to embroider my parents’ wolves’ heads into the skirt.

Finishing up, I pull the dress away from me, checking my design beside the embroidery. I smile at the resemblance that they show. While they are not with me in person, they are with me in heart and spirit. This small piece of them will keep me going. I place the dress down on the make-shift dresser, the black see-through fabric falling over the skirt once again as I move. Pulling what little clothes I have out of the drawers, I place them next to the bag that I will be using as luggage. I place the pictures of my parents beside the bag as well, not sure what will happen to me in the next few days, feeling it is better to be safe than sorry.