19The sky was dark; the dull light of the sun almost transparent as it sank lower on the horizon. A girl of no more than eight was sitting outside her house, her fingers buried in the garden as she watched the sun slowly disappear.
She found herself wondering where her mum went — why there'd been yelling in the house. Her mother had asked her to wait outside in the garden and play with the flowers, but it had been a few hours and she hadn't yet come to retrieve her. There was a niggling feeling in her stomach that something was wrong, and when the yelling had finally stopped, she was tempted to go inside.
"Mommy said to wait," she whispered to herself fiercely, fingers curling around a flower. She glanced towards the door, a piece of mousy brown hair falling in front of her dark blue eyes, before she forced herself to look away.
A bird came down and sat beside her, pecking at the ground. Tentatively she reached out a finger and touched it, and the bird crooned against her hand. It glanced up at her, tilting its head slightly before turning away and beginning to pick at the ground again with its orange beak.
"Felicity!" She flinched — it was her father, and soon the door slammed open and he walked outside. He looked furious, his dark eyes venomous in a way that made her shrivel up in fear. The bird stepped closer to her, but when her father reached the ground beside her it flew away.
"You're just like her, aren't you?" he spat, grabbing her around the wrist and tugging her up.
"Where's mommy?" she asked, but he only seemed more angered at her words. "Daddy, what are you doing?"
He began to drag her, her wrist beginning to hurt under his tight grip, and she let out a slight cry when he pulled her inside the house. "Sitting in the garden," he said fiercely, glancing down at her in hatred. "Just like your mother, aren't you? A freak like her."
"Daddy," she whispered, having never seen him so angry.
"Be quiet," he snarled, looking down at her though he wasn't seeing his child. "You're not living under my roof anymore. You can get out — just like your mother."
The girl began to cry, becoming panicked at his words. "Don't, daddy. I'll be good. I love you."
He let out a bitter laugh. "Exactly the same," he muttered furiously under his breath. "Married into a bunch of loons."
They reached the front door and he pulled it open, grabbing her shirt and pushing her outside. When he looked down at her it was with such hatred that she knew that his words were the truth. "Never come back, Felicity. You are no child of mine."
He gave her one last look before the door slammed shut.
She began to cry. Began to knock on the door, begging for forgiveness though she had done nothing wrong. Eventually it grew dark, the moon rising on the skyline and eliciting a silvery glow. She sat down on the front step, burying her head on her hands as she rubbed at her eyes.
Morning came. A possum crawled down beside her, glancing up at her briefly before going on about its way. It became clear that her father's words had been true, and with a heavy heart she began to walk down the road aimlessly, not sure where to go.
She wanted her mother. Maybe she would come and get her and take her away, and she'd explain why her father was acting so strange. Everything would be normal again. Her mother just had to come and get her.
Hours passed. Eventually it became clear that her mother wasn't returning. She wondered what she should do — whether she should go and wait outside the house again or whether she should knock on someone's door and ask for help. Glancing towards the woods, she decided to go for a walk, hoping that it would help to clear her thoughts.
She was deep into the woods by the time the sun began to set. The girl let out a yawn, rubbing at her eyes as she glanced around her. Maybe it was time to rest; just for a little bit. She almost felt safe, surrounded by the animals and the woods. She could faintly hear the sound of rushing water in the distance, and she walked until she found a river. Leaning down, she lifted the water to her lips.
After she was finished drinking, she sat down by the river, glancing out around her. A rabbit crept towards her, nudging at her shin before lowering itself down beside her. Bit by bit, she laid herself down on the dirt, stretching her arms above her head and closing her eyes. She could hear the rushing of the water and the sound of the wind in the trees, and she let out a quiet yawn.
"Maybe tomorrow," she whispered.
And then she abruptly fell asleep.
For anyone who doesn't read my other stories (which is a lot of people lawl... kudos to you for opening this one!) I've spent the last few days going through my old laptop and looking at stories that I wrote years ago and never posted. This is one that I wrote when I was going through my werewolf phase. It's completely planned out and the first few chapters are written so updating shouldn't be too hard.
Excuse the crappy writing please. Lots of love!