From Rags to Riches to Rags...

Once upon a time, in a far away land lived a beautiful young princess...Well, actually that's a slight exaggertaion. In the centre of town in Birmingham, in a dingy, ancient bed-sit lived a scruffy, lonely teenage girl named Marigold. Marigold had ruined her chance of ever leading a lavish lifestyle when one day she went too far and ended up on the streets. Marigold, like all teenagers,craved attention but she often took things a step too far, like the time she dyed her hair electric blue and had the sides shaved off, or like the time she thought that taking her Mothers clapped out old vauxhall to the park for a spin would create some excitement, or like the time she put a live mouse in her sisters shoe...but the day she played a dreadful, spiteful prank was the day things went to the extreme point of being wrong. This prank changed Marigold's life for ever, it made her homeless and left her alone and frightened. This is Marigold's story;

"Muuuummm, the electricity meter has ran out again!" Marigold yelled to her Mother from the smelly old cupboard which housed the meter. Marigold was a scruffy little child who was on the brink of becoming a teenager, she shared her one-bedroom, ancient, rotting flat with her extremely bright, animal-loving sister Lily and their eccentric Bohemian Mother, Daisy. The home they shared was a far cry from being normal with their Mother's foul smelling scented candles lit in every room in the house, incense sticks wafted ghastly odours to the entrance of the flat and rainbow coloured flower motifs domineered every wall in the house. Life for Marigold and her family was painfully hard, with Daisy being a single, unemployed parent, money was very tight and the family lived on a poor diet of bread, beans, rice, the occasional Pot Noodle and the cheap juice that the woman next door always brought round on a Friday afternoon as a treat for them. However, the situation had not always been as bad.The girls' father had lived with them when they were younger, but one night he went off to work as usual and the next day he never returned home and the family have not heard from him since. Occassionally, things would begin to look up for the girls and Daisy would apply for jobs or she would take home a boyfrined who Marigold always hoped her Mother would marry and they could finally lead a normal life, but ofcourse, things never worked out and life continued as normal until one day a miracle happened.

The windows were dripping with condensation as Marigold looked out and obsereved the weather.

"What we gunna do today then?" she mumbled to her sister as she flopped onto the couch.

" Dunno! Nothing to do." Lily said in a bored tone.

The TV blared into the lounge and the girls sighed with boredom as they slouched in the old, worn sofas. Suddenly, Marigold heard a loud roaring noise and jumped up to look out of the window. To her amazement, their was a shiny, black Harley Davidson pulling into her drive and it was roaring ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

The windows were dripping with condensation as Marigold looked out and obsereved the weather.

"What we gunna do today then?" she mumbled to her sister as she flopped onto the couch.

" Dunno! Nothing to do." Lily said in a bored tone.

"Lily,a handsome man on a Harley Davidson is coming to OUR house!!" Marigold exclaimed.

"What?" replied Lily, with a confused expression on her face.

Then, a loud knock came from the front door of their flat and both girls raced to answer it.

"Hello, who are you?" Marigold said.

"Im Mikey, a long lost friend of Daisy's."

"That's my Mum!!" squealed Marigold with excitement.

"I gathered that much." he replied

"I'll go get her, she is asleep."

The girls raced off to fetch their Mum and Mikey allowed him self into the house, banging the door behind him.

As Marigold entered the lounge, she yawned and tried to fix her messy hair.

"Hi Daisy....long time no see! You look great!" said Mike as he looked Daisy up and down from head to toe.

Daisy stood and gawped at Mike and couldn't beleive what she was seeing. Mike was her first love, she hadn't seen him for atleast 10 years and now here he was standing infront of her in her lounge, looking stunning.

"Uuuumm....H.....Hi!" stuttered Daisy. Her cheeks were flushed with red and she could not stop staring at Mike.

"I want you and the girls to come away and stay with me Daisy....I never stopped loving you. What d'ya say?"

Daisy smiled with absoloute delight, she was in total shock and wasn't quite sure what to say. Deep inside Daisy knew that she wanted to scream,"YES, YES, YES!!" but for some reason she hesitated and looked at the girls. The girls were grinning from ear to ear and they obviously wanted their Mother to accept his offer.

"So...Whats the reply then?" Mikey asked.

"Yes, definitely, ofcourse the girls and I will come with you!" Marigold hugged Mikey and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "But before I do anything, can I ask what you do for a job now? Are you still in the band?"

"I am in the famous rock band 'Cross Bones', we are really big now, haven't you heard of us?"

The girls couldn't beleive their ears, their Mum's new boyfriend was famous and rich and he could spoil them and buy them everything they wanted, this was like a fairytale! A dream come true!

A few hours later, the girls had packed and Mikey arranged for Harley Davidsons to pick up Daisy and the girls and drive them to his Gothic Mansion. He was a true rocker, with leather trousers, tattoos and long jet-black hair but his personality seemed too good to be true and he was the most generous person that Marigold had ever met. Finally, things were going right for her and no longer would she be the outcast at school, this was a miracle!

The love grew stronger every day between Daisy and Mikey, but not everyone was as happy. Marigold was noticing this growing bond between her Mother and Mikey and she became very jealous. The lifestyle that Mikey gave the girls was fantastic and Marigold loved it but she was beginning to hate Mikey and she was determined to get rid of him forever and redeem the relationship that she and her Mother once shared, but her Mother had given up her Bohemian lifestyle and changed into a Rockstar's wife, wearing diamonds and buying clothes from expensive shops and having a wardrobe full of Gucci dresses and Armani handbags. This was not the Mother that Marigold knew and loved and she was determined to get her Mother back. So, she was plotting a cunning plan to get Mikey out of the picture, but how was she going to do it?

Finally, the chance came and the night had come that Marigold was to get rid of Mikey. Nerves and excitement built up inside of her. Loud music blasted from the speakers, balloons and banners decorated the large hall, hundreds of swaying bodies danced around the room laughing and cheering and sipping champagne. Marigold approached Mikey with a smile and a kiss, wishing him Happy Birthday. The two chatted for a while and Marigold slyly swapped Mikeys crystal champagne glass with another, tricking him into drinking the contaminated one. Marigold watched in awe as Mikey sipped away at the beautiful champagne, little did he know that this was poison and he was going to suffer the consequences of drinking it. The night went well and Marigold began to sweat and tremble with fear as the night drew to an end. The symptoms of the poison would soon begin to show and she felt extremely guilty, but things couldn't change now.

Throughout the night Mikey made no signs of being ill and slept soundly as usual. Marigold was confused. What had gone wrong? Why wasn't it working? Had she done something wrong? In the morning, Mikey received a phone call from one of his close friends announcing that his wife had died....as a consequence of being poisoned. Slowly, Mikey put down the receiver and turned to Daisy and the girls. He usually had a glowing look on his face but now he had turned completely white and he seemed choked and couldn't get any words to come out of his mouth.

"What's wrong Mikey?" asked Lily. "Are you ok?"

"No. Its Bons wife. She died last night. She was poisoned!" Mikey announced.

"WHAT!? You must be kidding?" exclaimed Daisy. "Who would poison her?"

Marigold shook with absoloute fear, she knew what she had done. Tears began to roll down her cheeks and she broke into floods of tears, collapsing to the floor, and to Mikey's delight, she smashed her Westlife mug in the process!

"What is the matter? What's wrong? Marigold?" screamed Daisy.

Marigold lay on th floor wth her head in her hands. She was devastated but she had to tell the truth.

The room froze and everything was silent with all eyes focusing on Marigold. Her family could not beleive what she had just told them. Little Marigold had always been a bit of a rebel but this was too much, she wasn't this evil. Marigold wasn't a murderer!? Was she? Yes, she was! Daisy glared at Marigold, then let out a piercing shriek. Her daughter was a nasty, vindictive person and Daisy did not want her in the house. Mikey shouted at Marigold telling her that she was a murderer and that she deserved to be in prison for the rest of her life. Marigold was not wanted in Mikey's home and her family had as good as deserted her.

Within an hour, Marigold's belongings had been packed into a small case and she had been thrown out of Mikey's gothic mansion. What was she going to do? Where was she going to go? Marigold pulled out hr pockets and looked at the little amount of money she had. Once again, tears rolled down her cheeks, dropping off, landing onto her chest. Reality began to sink in as Marigold climbed aboard a train headed to her old hometown, Birmingham. She had no idea what she was going to do when she got there but she had to get as far away as possible......

THE END.