“Wow!,” whispered Malee to herself as she squeezed her body through the wooden door. It was so thick and heavy that she doubted she could push it open herself.

Inside, the lights from the grand chandelier towering above the lobby instantly blinded her eyes. The house looked big from outside, but once inside; it took her breath away. She had never seen nor experienced such a grandness in her life. It filled her with so much wonder that she had stopped counting how many years, or lives, she would have to push the cart to afford a pair of Nike walking shoes neatly tucked in at the corner. She recognised them as the same pair of shoes that the boy everyone called the young master was wearing.

Once her eyes were used to the glitter of the lobby, she breathed in deeply to absorb the rest of the interior without making a sound. The lobby took up most of the space on the first floor with several doors closed at the sides. The floor was covered entirely with the colorful carpet softer than the ragged and torn bed at home. There were a few red leather chairs surrounding the big chocolate color wooden table with a big vase of fresh flowers on top. The stairs leading to the upper floor too was fully covered with carpet and the knobs at the base of the stairs were shinier than her eyes.

“Come. Young master room is upstairs,” The housekeeper whispered to Malee as she led the way towards the stairs. Malee followed her onto the carpets and amazed to find her foot completely sank into the carpet as the muddy roads she often pushed her cart before. She breathed in and took a few more steps before she too reached the stairs and then on the upper floor. The housekeeper took the turn to the left and stood in front of the first door.

Knock.Knock.

“Come in. I did not lock it,” replied from inside the room, and both of them went into the room. Malee could see it was both the bedroom and the study room as there were a few books lying on the floor and a large piece of papers with images drawn onto them and colored pencils.  The boy turned towards them and threw the pencil from his hand onto the floor.

“What do you think of this drawing?,” he asked while pointing to a drawing of a face on the paper in front of him.

“It is of the mistress? Beautiful, young master. Very lifelike. Mistress will be pleased,” praised the housekeeper with her sweetest voice, filled with admiration as if the gods themselves drew it.

“You?” asked the boy looking at Malee.

“The nose is big,” was all that Malee could say at that moment as she has never seen the so-called Mistress, but she could tell that there was something wrong with the face, if the mistress looked like in the drawing.

Brief moments after Malee said the words, there was completely silent in the room. Then the housekeeper made a loud gasp. Young master smiled and started laughing till he was rolling on the floor, holding his stomach with his hands. Malee remained standing still, unable to decipher what happened or why she said was wrong.