Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Short Story Read online

Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Short Story

  By B. Fowler

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  “Tell me a story,” whispered a small voice.

  “I’ll tell you a moral.”

  “Which one?”

  “Tonight, I will tell you about Envy; That thing which makes enemies of friends.”

  Once upon a time, there lived a lord and his lady. They were madly in love, and the lord used his riches to shower gifts on his beloved. Soon after their marriage the lady came to be with child, and the lord doted on her all the more. But she became ill, and when their baby was born, the lady passed away. In his grief and pain, the lord was unable to see his daughter without regret for his wife. Unable to care for an infant by himself, he hired all manner of staff and play mates to tend to the child.

  One such playmate was Evelyn. She was an equally beautiful child to the new lady, and when the lord saw the two children got along well he paid her mother a handsome price to move to the estate and tend to the cares of the children. With a playmate, his daughter would stay occupied and would not vie for his attentions that the lord knew he could not give her. He kept Evelyn in fashion with his daughter as well, that they might not be frowned upon as being poor, for a playmates lack of dress.

  The children became constant companions as business made the lord absent. They played around the manor; catching fireflies in the garden, and making secret pacts to steal treats from the kitchens, and other such things as friends do. One such night, as they watched for shooting stars they made another pact.

  “I wish for you to always stay, Evelyn,” whispered the young Lady.

  “Where else would I go? I’ll always be here.”

  “Promise?”

  “Of course.”

  Over time, the girls grew into young women and the lord thought it time his daughter learned how to be a proper lady; one worthy of marrying off. Slowly, but seemingly all at once, the young ladys’ day filled with new tutors, classes, and lessons; and the two friends began to see each other less and less. To fill her time, the lord sent Evelyn to the servants to fill whatever help was needed. Evelyn was shocked. She had always been treated as an equal to the lady, but here she was in the laundry room scrubbing her friends’ garments. She was pushed to tears when later that month her mother handed her a servants’ uniform.

  “How dare she cast me aside! I have always been there for her! And this is how she repays my friendship?” Evelyn cried.

  “My dear, you have always been paid to be there. We have never been as they are. It’s not our lot. I see now I should have impressed this on you more. But it really did seem as if you were friends, and I didn’t want to take that from you. I’m sorry, my dear,” her mother said, embracing her and stroking her hair.

  “I can’t work for her, Mama. It’s too humiliating.”

  “You can and you must. There isn’t work elsewhere. And I can’t afford both our quarters and food on one wage.”

  “But Mama!”

  “No buts, you can work or you can leave. Appreciate how blessed you’ve been and move on. This is what we were born to.”

  Evelyn tried to do as her mother insisted. She wore the ugly servants’ uniform and set to the tasks asked of her, but she couldn’t help but feel stung when she washed the ladys’ new clothes. Clothes that she would have been given too, if she hadn’t been tossed away like the out of season garments. She deserved fine outfits just as much as the young lady did. Evelyn imagined their roles reversed; she in the fine clothing, and her “friend” in servants clothing; the lady suffering as she did. She scrubbed the garments across the washboard until her hands were raw in her fit. To her dismay, she then ran into the young Lady as she went to hang the garments. Evelyn took one look at her friend all dressed up and her cheeks burned. She ducked her head and ran to the field to finish her task.

  That night, the young Lady sent her a balm for her hands. Evelyn threw it away. It felt too much like the young Lady was rubbing it in that she had been reduced to a servant.

  As it became appropriate for the young Lady to host tea parties and entertain guests, Evelyn felt more and more put out. She believed it should be her in the sitting room serving tea and telling quaint stories. She wondered if she were in any of the Ladys’ stories, or if she talked about her at all. It seemed she had been completely forgotten. Evelyn imagined herself sitting in the receiving room, laughing with high society friends and being coy with a handsome suitor. How could they have been raised as equals and then suddenly not be? It was so unfair. She deserved that life. If only she had been born the lady. The thoughts consumed her and she let them eat away at her as each night she’d sit at the edge of the garden looking for a shooting star to wish upon.

  Evelyn lived for the days when her old friend failed to look her best. She made sure to always take care of her hair and makeup. Let no one say she wasn’t fashionable with what little she hadn’t been stripped of. After all, it wasn’t unheard of for a suitor to run off and elope with the help were they attractive enough. And if Evelyn could stick it to the Lady in that way, she would. But her attempts to appeal to the visitors went largely unnoticed; except by the stable boy, whom she had no interest in. He could never give her what she deserved.

  When the head housekeeper told everyone that the Lady had been proposed to, Evelyn cried. She pretended they were tears of joy for her childhood friend, but inside she was miserable. With the Lady married off she would surely be dismissed; every chance for happiness gone with her. When the housekeeper informed her that Evelyn and a few others would be seen by the master in the morning, she knew it was for certain.

  That evening, Evelyn packed a bag with her few belongings and slipped out unnoticed. She headed for the next town, determined not to stay where she wasn’t wanted. It was a short distance; only two or three hours by foot. She had left a note for her mother and followed the trail into the woods. Evelyn remembered the stars they’d wished on as children and felt sorrow that they couldn’t have stayed in that moment.

  The woods soon became very dark around Evelyn as the sun went down. Leaves blocked out the moonlight and Evelyn was forced to rely solely on her lantern. She wasn’t sure how far she’d gone or how much farther she had to go when the flame began to sputter and die. Suddenly, Evelyn was thrown into complete darkness. She counted to ten as panic rose in her chest. She hadn’t planned on stopping until she was out of the woods. She wasn’t prepared for this. To die alone, in the dark in the woods by some wild animal or because she’d gotten lost from the trail. Evelyn sat down and cried. If only she had waited until morning to leave. Or left earlier. If only her friend had acknowledged her. Or kept her. Evelyn opened her eyes and in a rare glimpse through the trees, spotted a shooting star.

  “I wish I were her instead,” Evelyn cried out, and began sobbing anew.

  “Why do you cry, child?” a voice interrupted.

  Startled, Evelyn looked up to find a glowing, golden woman no bigge
r than her hand floating in front of her.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  “I’m a wish. You called me down. I am here to fulfill it.”

  “A wish?”

  “Yes. But please, consider the possible repercussions of your wish, so that you may make one that will allow for true happiness.”

  “I would be happy if I were her instead,” Evelyn replied shortly.

  “That is still your wish, then?”

  “Yes, that is my wish,” she said, raising her chin.

  The Wish frowned and nodded, “Very well. Close your eyes. When you open them again, you will have switched places with your friend.”

  Evelyn closed her eyes. She shivered in anticipation as she felt the Wishs’ magic wash over her.

  “Things are not always how they seem, Evelyn. Do not say you weren’t warned.”

  Evelyn opened her eyes to glare at the wish only to find herself back in the manor. She was standing in the lords’ study, and he was yelling at her.

  “I’ll not have it. You are my child and you will listen to me! She is not going and that’s final,” the lord yelled, some of his words slurring.

  Evelyn was in shock. It had worked! She was really the lady now! She was free and high and important.

  “I’ve had enough!” The lord continued yelling as he grabbed Evelyn by the arm, bringing her out of her trance, “You’ve been nothing but a conniving little tart. You show no respect for me. For what I had to give up for you! I tell you I’ve made a match for you and you think you can tell me no! But you will! I tell you to leave that servant filth to her job and you try to reach out to her like she’ll ever be one of us-“

  “She’s not filth, you are!” Evelyn yelled back angrily, realizing the lord was talking about her.

  Faster than she could anticipate, the lord reached out and smacked her, sending her sprawling to the floor. He pulled her up and got right in her face. She could smell the spirits on his breath as he continued.

  “You back talk me! You lie to me! You shame me!”

  He pushed her back again, and she fell into the mirror, knocking it over. Glass shattered all around her. She tried to stand up as he walked towards her but only managed to cut herself.

  “I gave up everything for you! It’s no wonder your mother died to have you. How could someone so good live with something so wicked,” he sneered at her.

  “But you’re my father,” Evelyn choked out, “You’re supposed to love me!”

  ”I hate you,” he growled and rushed over to her. He grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her as he yelled over and over and over, “You! Took! Everything! From! Me!” until he had shaken the life right out of her.

  “For regardless of intentions, the wages of sin are death.”

  Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this short story please take a minute to leave a review, and make sure to check out the other shorts that are out and part of this collection!

  ~B