Once upon a time, there lived a diligent young girl named Sasha. At seventeen, she found herself orphaned, her yellow-reddish hair shined as bright as her spirit.
Sasha did laundry services door to door for a living, ‘Knock! Knock! Laundry Services - Washing and Drying for 7 pennies.’ she then said warmly with a smile.
Then you had two types of people who answered: You had the angry kind, ‘It’s 6 o’clock! Get some sleep, girl!’ and you had the other type of angry, ‘It’s 6 o’clock, I want them back by 6 in the evening, girl!’ They said and then shoved a pile of dirty laundry in her hands.
Sasha accepted the work with a smile and walked with some piles of clothes towards the river bank. There she diligently started scrubbing on the stones, slamming the clothes on the stones and rinsing them in the water.

Afterwards she hung them on the trees of the forest nearby. Around twelve o’clock she had hung all the clothes and her stomach was now rumbling like thunder itself.
Sasha was kind hearted but she didn’t have a lot of money herself, so she took a stroll a little deeper in the forest to search for some wild nuts and fruits.
After eating she tied her hair in a knot and went back to town, where she hopped towards the bakery. There she entered the shop and greeted the baker who always seemed to get her name wrong with a smile only to get an apron thrown in her face. ‘Get kneading Samantha!’ the baker shouted as he marched towards the oven. ‘It’s Sasha.’ she then said and walked to the kitchen.

Sasha worked the entire afternoon and when it was five o’clock she swept the bakery and closed the windows. There were some leftovers, so Sasha packed them.
The baker then shouted, ‘Sarah, what are you doing?’ while placing his hands on his hips.
‘Mr Baker, I was going to take them home with me, since they didn’t sell.’
The baker was angry, ‘No, put them back! IF I let you do that, next thing I know I have everyone waiting for leftovers. If you want something, you need to pay for it!’
Sasha nodded, she didn’t want to sleep hungry, so she placed four pennies on the counter as she took the left overs with her.
As she closed up the bakery she rushed towards the riverbank and quickly took the clothes off the branches of the trees and tied them in white pieces of cloth. Carrying one on her head and three on her side she walked to the town again.
As she reached her first customer she handed over the clothes only to get shouted in the face, ‘You didn’t iron them! You get two pennies then.’ the woman said and shoved the money in Sasha’s hand and slammed the door in her face.
Sasha muttered, ‘Ironing is not included, it’s washing and drying only.’ She minded but still walked with a smile on her face to the next customer.
‘Here are your clothes madam,’ she said. ‘It’s ten minutes over six! You get two pennies then.’ And slam the door in her face again.
After delivering more clothes, she came to her last client. As she reached the house of that woman, she saw her scolding her son, ‘You are such a lost cause, I pay for school for you and you can’t even calculate nor read. Go to bed!’
Sasha felt bad for the ten year old as she handed the clothes over to his mother. ‘Hey, do you have problems at school?’ she asked the boy. He nodded and said, ‘I’m dyslexic, but my mother doesn’t want to accept that.’
Sasha wanted to say something when the mother interrupted, ‘Hey! Mind your own business, girl. I don’t have change, so I’ll pay you tomorrow,’
Sasha then said, ‘Miss you said that the last three weeks already. I really need the money.’ ‘I said I’ll pay tomorrow, right? Now, scooch! Off you go.’
‘Meet me at the riverbank tomorrow,’ Sasha whispered to the young boy and walked to her house.
As Sasha reached her house on top of the hill, she walked into her shabby cottage, which she called “home” for almost ten years now. She placed some hot water on the stove and then walked up the squeaky stairs to the one room that there was.
She brushed her long locks in front of the mirror and placed her savings in a jam jar which was not even half full. There was a label on it written “My Dream Tower” She always dreamed of living in a high tower from which she could see the entire town and the beautiful sea.
She looked out the window from her bedroom to the beautiful blue sky. Her window was patched with sharp pieces of chicken wire which had pointy edges. Ever since Sasha lived in this place, the window had been like that.
Nevertheless, Sasha went to sleep after finishing her cinnamon tea.
The next morning Sasha met the young boy near the river bank. As she finished washing the clothes she walked with him through the forest. There she helped him with maths and tried to help him with his dyslexia.
For the next few months she helped him in secret with his homework explaining certain difficult subjects to him. Using apples and wild nuts as subjects to explain hard maths problems, his grades got better eventually and after a while he didn’t need her help anymore.
One day as she brought the laundry for his mother, his mother said, ‘Here you are 5 pennies, my son went from an E- to a C+ for Maths! This is worth a celebration.’ Sasha smiled softly and said, ‘Congratulations.’
Another time an old lady asked for her help to paint her house. Sasha knew she would not make any money that day then and sleep on an empty stomach, but despite her financial struggles she still accepted. As she cancelled her second job at the bakery she strolled to the old woman's house. As a result she listened to the scolding of the baker for at least ten minutes.
She was already painting for half an hour when the old lady came to her with a glass of water. Sasha came down from the ladder and drank the water. ‘Thank you for the help, dear. You see, my husband passed away recently, or else he would’ve painted the house himself.’ ‘Oh, I didn’t know that. I’m sorry.’ She said to the old lady, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll make sure your house is painted by tomorrow. It won’t be as great as your husband would do it, but I hope it’ll be nice enough.’
That night Sasha placed her tea on the stove and walked up to her room. Exhausted she lay in bed, her stomach rumbled with hunger. She turned and tossed in her bed trying to fall asleep. After counting a hundred sheeps she finally fell asleep.
After a while Sasha awoke from heavy smoke which entered her lungs while breathing. She quickly jumped up only to find her entire kitchen on fire and her staircase. ‘No, the tea!’ she screamed as she pressed herself against the wooden wall. She quickly tried to wave her blanket to suppress the fire from spreading, but in vain it only became bigger and bigger.
Sasha found herself trapped on the upper floor. Her only escape was her window which was covered in prickly chicken wire. The chicken wire was going to ruin her skin and she would never make it out alive with that jump. She threw her mattress to the ground and was taking a leap to jump on it. And just as she was about to make a run, her hair got stuck on the chicken wire.
She tried pulling on it in order to make it loose, but in vain. Her scissors lay in the kitchen which was now devoured by the fire along with all her sharp things.
She tried to call for help, but she lived on top of a hill away from the town, so no one would hear her. She watched with fear for her life and tears in her eyes as the fire came nearer and nearer, who is going to save Rapunzel?
~~~
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