A Different Life
1094 Words
"We are about to dock in a few minutes. Prepare to disembark in a few."
Norrie can hear the voice of the ship captain on the intercom. Lifting her head from Elsa's lap, she can feel that her condition got better after sleeping for a while.
"Thanks Elsa," she said and smiled at her. She sees her like an older sister who pampers her all the time.
Elsa smiled warmly. She is used to treat her like this. Even in the Grande mansion, she would come to her and ask her to be her "older" sister. She gave in all the time. Of course, she cannot say no to her boss.
A few minutes later, they disembarked successfully. Upon reaching the beach, Norrie ran to the white sand like a small girl, unmindful of the people looking at her. Lifting her head to the sky and both of her hands on the air, she spun around with joy. Ah, the feeling of freedom is good. She feels so alive in this place!
After that, she took off her shoes and ran back and forth on the sand then sat down on the sand. At this point, anyone who would see her would think that she is crazy but honestly, this is the first time she has been out from home and the first time she feels so alive.
Her classmates who saw what she did looked at each other and exchanged glances. Some rolled their eyes and glared at her. Her professor just looked at her and shook her head, not wanting to scold her. Who is she to do that?
"Little Miss! Little Miss!" Elsa called.
She lifted her eyes and saw Elsa carrying their luggage.
"Hmmm?" she said while looking at her.
"Let's go. The group has already gone ahead. We will still walk for a bit so that we can go to the community where you will have your immersion."
"Walk?" she asked and frowned. "Is this not the place where we camp? I like it here!" she said stubbornly.
"No," Elsa answered patiently. The community is twenty minutes away from here. We have to walk to get there."
"Twenty minutes?!" she asked in surprise. How can she walk for twenty minutes in the woods?
"Yes," Elsa simply answered. "They don't have any means of transportation to get there unless you want some men to carry you there."
"What?!" she asked angrily. "I don't need some men to touch my body."
"Then let's start to walk, Little Miss."
She rolled her eyes and stood up. It seems that this is out of her control. She did not bring any car here, not to mention that this island is not developed. She can see that there are no roads here.
She walked past Elsa and followed the group. She can see her classmates' back from afar. She frowned. How did they do that? They walked very fast and left her and Elsa behind. They didn't even care to call for her when they passed by.
What normally took twenty minutes took her and Elsa over forty minutes before they were able to see the entrance of a place that seems so different from what she has been used to in the city. She can't stand the long time of waking without resting so she rested every five minutes. It's a good thing that Elsa is good with directions so they were able to follow the group to the small village.
She gasped upon looking at the small structures on the village.
"What are those?" she asked Elsa, her forehead creased while staring at the little structures filled with dried leaves.
"Those are the houses of the people in this village," Elsa answered.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"H-houses?!" she covered her mouth to avoid shouting.
"Yes," Elsa answered calmly. She has already foreseen a reaction like this. "These are what we call nipa hut."
Her jaw dropped, unable to believe what she heard. Shaking her head, she cannot imagine how people would live in this kind of grass house.
"A-are we going to live in this house?" she asked after realizing something.
"Miss Grande, you are twenty minutes late!" someone shouted from afar.
She spotted the owner of that voice and walked faster towards her. It's her professor.
"Sorry, professor," she said apologetically. Honestly, she cannot misbehave in front of other people. She can act like a brat in front of the Grande staff but she can't in front of outsiders for fear of tainting her parents' reputation.
"Your quarters with your companion would be there," the professor said and pointed to a hut.
"Yes, professor," she nodded and looked at the hut. Her heart sank. Is she really going to live there? How can she survive in that kind of house?
"Thank you, ma'am," Elsa said and proceeded to the hut with Norrie.
The professor looked at Norrie and Elsa's back who proceeded to the direction she pointed and shook her head. This girl has a lot to learn in life. She has been so pampered to the point of acting like a child, not to mention that's she even brought a personal assistant with her in this community immersion. If not for the fact that her parents called days before, she would not have allowed her to bring an "outsider" in this immersion. After all, the purpose of this is for them as students to experience the reality of life away from the city. How can Norrie learn that if she is still treated like a princess in this place? She sighed and turned her back to return to her own quarters. After all, she only stayed at this entrance to wait for Norrie and make sure that all her students arrived to this place.
Elsa pushed the door and opened it wide for Norrie to walk in.
"There, Little Miss, enter in," she said as she allowed her to go first.
Norrie walked inside and looked around with a surprised expression.
"Elsa, it's not as bad as it seems!" she said excitedly.
Elsa smiled. Not as bad as it seems. What does she mean? There's even no light in this place. How can she live with that? Anyway, she already knows that her life revolves around electricity so she brought a small solar device for her sake.
"I will prepare your bed and set the whole place up for you, Little Miss," she said and started opening the bags she packed. "Please sit down and take a rest first."
- Writer
