Prologue
A young girl draped in rags looked carefully over the corner of the wall, and saw that the door to the next apartment was ajar. Her muscles tightened as she considered going inside. She hadn't eaten for three days, the longest time yet, and she didn't think she could last any longer. She looked around again. There was no one about, she had to be alone.
Carefully stepping out into the open, the girl checked one more time to make sure no one was there. Still clear. Silently, she walked across the street towards the open door, many scraps of trash dancing in the wind around her. The dark asphalt was foreboding in the twilight, and it sent a shiver through the girl's body. The sun had barely risen above the old decaying buildings, and the girl figured that whoever lived in the apartment hadn't come home the previous night. No one left their doors open here. No one.
She made it across the street and was standing face to face with the door, which was open a good five inches. She crept closer to the crack and cautiously peeked inside. She saw one couch, one small beat-up T.V sitting on the floor in front of it, and...a fridge. Her stomach churned with hunger as she imagined what sort of delicious things could be waiting for her inside it.
Slowly, and with trembling hands, she widened the crack just enough so that her slender body could slip inside.Inside, the hard tile under her feet was ice cold, and she quickly stepped over to the fridge and grabbed the handle. The fridge door made a loud creaking noise as she pulled it open. As she looked inside, she was devastated to find only two beer bottles rolling around the white rack. Nothing to eat.
She looked around the small kitchen, looking for anything that could pass as food. She was desperate, she would eat anything. Kneeling down, she searched through all the drawers and cupboards, scanning inside them for any scraps or morsels. Then she saw it. In the corner of one of the smaller drawers, small piece of hardened bread lay forgotten. The girl didn't know how long it had been there but she didn't care. She reached her hand inside and gingerly removed the small delicacy, greedily devouring it, savoring the feeling of food going down her throat. She knew it wasn't nearly enough. But it was something, though.
Then she heard the door open fully and shut. A familiar rush of adrenaline surged though her body. She wasn't alone anymore.The girl knew what was coming, but that didn't make it any better.
"Stealing my food, you filthy girl?" came a roar from behind her. Wincing, the girl quickly got up to face the large old man who was advancing towards her.
"Please, I'm sorry," she said desperately, backing up against the fridge. The old man struck the girl across the face, and the impact shook her to the core. She collapsed on the floor, holding the side of her face with her hand. The girl didn't scream. She knew better than to scream, it would only make him angrier.
"What the hell are you doing here, eh?" he screamed. The girl just stared at the floor and let the hot tears flow. She wanted to dissapear, just to leave this stupid world. "Answer me, you piece of shit!" he yelled, and pulled her up from the floor by her rags. She only stared at the floor and started to sob, waiting for it to end.
The old man dragged her across the ground to the closed door and threw her up against it. The girl felt the pain shoot through her shoulder, and she continued to sob, not once looking up at him. "Get out!" he yelled. She didn't hesitate. The girl hurriedly grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open, trying to escape the man's grasp as fast as she could. She was almost outside. But then old man pushed her out at the last second, sending her sprawling on the hard asphalt outside.
The girl landed on her face as she heard the door slam shut, sending a deafening boom throughout the street that echoed all around her. She lifted her blackened face and felt blood on her cheek. It burned terribly. She tried to wipe the tears from her eyes as she got up, and felt her knees start to buckle. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and her hunger induced weakness returned. The girl walked back to the wall she was hiding behind before, and continued deep into the alley, until she found a corner of the wall that was still in shadows.
She sat down against the wall and finished her sobbing, wishing she hadn't listened to her stomach. After all that hell she still wasn't even close to being full, and felt weaker than ever.
As her heavy heaves dwindled down to sniffles, she looked down to the back of her left hand, where she saw the dark circle that haunted her in her nightmares.
"It's all your fault," she said, and began crying bitterly again. She found some mud to the side of her, and scooped up a pile and spread all over her left hand, until the circle was covered up. The girl looked up toward the sky, and let the oncoming sun dry her tear stained face.
She then laid on the ground, exhausted. She put her head on her right hand, and pulled her legs up to her chin, letting her left hand hang behind them, still covered with mud.
As she began to drift off to sleep, the sun shone fully, covering her in a blanket of warmth. And even though her body ached from bruises and cuts, she still felt some glimmer of hope. Drifting off to sleep, she would leave this dark, cold world behind her and enter a land of shimmering flowers and flowing golden rivers. A place where she could still find joy, even when despair threatened to drown her.
Her dreams.
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