Today was a good day. Mum and Dad told me so. I wasn't sure why, but their smiling faces and giggles made me believe it.

Our house was warm and smelt of the sugary food Mum was baking. We hardly had sugar, our monies never covering the expense every week. Mum worked in the bakery and Dad worked in the markets. I wasn't sure what he did, but he rarely came home with much money. Perhaps he sold Mum's food?

We lived in a small house, with everything on one floor. The front door lead to the sofa area, which led into the kitchen. We had a small wooden table with chairs for the four of us. My sister was hardly around. Being four years older than me, she had more freedom.

I was always jealous of how Mum and Dad let her go around the town with no worries. She left late mornings and came back after dinner, and today was no different.

Sitting on the chair, my legs swung from the tall stool I sat on. My chin fell onto my hand as I grinned, watching Mum dance around the kitchen. Her brown hair tumbled down her back in soft curls, her blue eyes lit up with glee.

"Mum, why are you so happy?" I wondered.

"It's a good day, Ziana!"

"Is it?"

"Yes, Ana!"

"Oh." My head tilted as she sang.

The sun was going to sleep in the sky, filling the kitchen with so many orange colours. My fingers danced through the sunlight's rays, a soft glow on my pale skin. I giggled softly, staring at all the little white spots. I wondered if there were tiny people living on them, swirling around my house with wonder.

"Mum, do you think there are other people in this world?"

"What do you mean, Ziana?" She stopped in front of me, smiling.

I shrugged when she tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Well, we live in fairy land, right?"

"We do." She nodded.

"So, what if there are other lands?"

She laughed softly. "There are more than fae, Ziana."

"There are?" My eyes widened.

"Yes! There are shape shifters!"

"Shape shifters?" I gasped.

"Yes, Ana!" She laughed. "There are so many creatures out there! Fae, elf, wolf, bear, cat, even dragons!"

"Unicorns?"

"I've never heard of a unicorn, Ana." She smiled sadly. "But the dragons are very much real."

"Can we go see one?" My eyes widened. "What do they eat?"

Dad laughed from across the room. "You cannot feed them."

"Why not?" I frowned.

"They are half-human, Ana." Mum cooed. "Shifter types all are both animal and human. Feeding a shifter like we do the ducklings will not make them very happy. They may appear animal, but they have human emotions too."

"Oh." I frowned. "Maybe some flowers?"

She laughed softly, running her hand through my hair. "Maybe one day."

I smiled in return, watching her as she pulled the cookies from the cooling rack and placed them before me.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open. I didn't turn right away, too busy looking into my mum's eyes to notice. But they widened and her lips fell with a gasp. She looked... scared?

Her hands darted out to grab me before I could turn, pulling me right from my stool and into her arms. I huffed, about to complain about being handled up when I was twelve-years-old, but she shushed me.

"Are you the parents of this child?" A scary looking man snapped, his hair cut close to his head.

He had broken the front door.

Who breaks stranger's front doors? Rude!

"I am not a child!" My sister huffed.

"Zara..." Mum trailed.

"Officer, what seems to be the problem?" Dad wondered, stepping closer.

"We caught your daughter interfering with private matters." He stated. "This is her only warning. If she does it again, there will be consequences."

The officer threw my sister inside and left quietly. The door lay on the floor, splintered. I frowned, about to question what was happening, but Mum set me down on my feet, disturbing me.

"Ziana, go to your room."

"But-

"Ziana."

"I don't want to!" I stomped my foot. "Who was that man? What has Zara done?"

"I need to find out, but I cannot do that with you here." She shook her head. "I will tell you in due time."

Sighing, I crossed my arms but dropped my head. "Fine."

Going to my bedroom was annoying. I hated not knowing what they were going to talk about. Zara looked fine, but the man was scary.

We lived in fairy land, and he did not look like an elf to me.

They made me to stay in my room for the next few hours, eventually falling asleep and waking the next day annoyed that I had done so. Mum better not have iced the biscuits whilst I slept!

I got dressed as always and left my room, finding only Dad in the kitchen. His light brown hair shook as he stirred something in a mug. The front door had been fixed, kind of; a curtain blocking the breeze. Lucky it was spring time!

"Where's Mum?" I wondered, sliding onto my stool.

"Markets." He stated, sipping his drink. "Selling bread."

I pouted. "I wanted to go."

"Not today, Ziana." He sighed, his brown eyes sad. "What do you want to eat?"

My eyes brightened at the idea of breakfast, and I was quick to ask for jam on toast. Dad made it for me, and I ate it with glee, drinking some juice from my breakfast beaker.

By the time Mum came back, it was the afternoon, and I greeted her happily at the door. She seemed worried, her hair crazy and eyes all red. I wondered what happened at work today.

"How were the markets today, Mum?" I asked, pulling on her hand for her to sit beside me.

She glanced at Dad, the two of them doing their weird silent language. I couldn't make out what her expression meant, but eventually she sighed and sat beside me.

"It was okay."

"Good!" I grinned, finishing my dinner. "I saved the biscuits for when you got home. I thought we could do them together?"

"That sounds like a great idea. Let me go freshen up and we can do them together." She kissed my temple before leaving the kitchen.

I was fast to finish my dinner and wash my hands, with time to spare, before Mum arrived.

"Ready to ice them?" She smiled.

"Yes!" I clapped.

Together we made some icing; a rarity for us. We paired water with sugar and it was so sweet I couldn't help but eat some when Mum turned around. We had a pale pink and a bright red, the sticky substance sticking all over my fingers. Grabbing the sugary goodness, I decorated mine super awesomely. It was super stringy and kept on falling off the spoon, but it still looked good.

"Oh, Ana." Mum tutted, grabbing a wash cloth.

I grinned, but before I could comment, the replacement front door flew open. Zara stumbled in, covered in cuts and blood all over her arms. I screamed at the sight of her, and she fell to the floor.

"Zara!" Mum shouted.

She left me behind the kitchen stools as she and Dad went rushing over to her. My sister weakly gasped, and I watched with wide-eyes as the three of them whispered to each other. Mum was crying, and I was so confused when Zara rested her head to sleep on the floor.

Why was she not in her bed? Was she up all night being naughty?

"Come on, we need to go," Dad mumbled, picking her up and setting her sleeping body on the sofa.

"What's going on?" I asked, moving around the kitchen.

"Grab your emergency bag, Ziana. We have to go to Auntie Aimi's house." Dad ordered, running his hand through my sister's hair.

He left Mum with Zara and ushered me out of the room. Blinking out of the daze, I grabbed my emergency bag and ran back into the living room. Mum was wrapping Zara in a blanket, her tears dried now Zara was warm.

"Clara, we have to go." Dad ushered her out of the room.

Mum nodded, frantic and took my hand. Together we ran, and I wasn't sure where we were going. Mum was nervous, Dad was angry, and we left Zara sleeping at home.

"What about Zara?" I asked.

"She'll be okay." Dad muttered.

I frowned, but if he said she was fine; she was fine. My feet started hurting, and I voiced my complaints. Dad sighed, and we slowed down to a walk instead.

"Where are we going?" I groaned. "My feet hurt, and I want to sit down!"

"Just through here. We have to go to Auntie Aimi's house." Mum answered me, gesturing to a forest.

If I only knew those were the last moments I would spend with my family, perhaps I wouldn't have complained so much.

But as we entered the trees, a much darker fate awaited us. As two enormous creatures took Dad away, Mum told me to run fast. Their shouts and screams of desperation terrified me. But Mum's blue eyes were stern, and so I ran away, just like she told me to.

I never made it far before something grabbed me and the rest, shall I say, was forgotten like dust to a breeze.

***
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