It had just hardly been a week since Elise had come back home from the abandoned hut on the bank of river Tanya, which she called 'hers' as she believed that she was the first one to find it and settle her things in. It had just been two weeks since Elise came back from river Tanya, that now she wanted to pack up her important belongings in her 'escape-back pack' and leave the house again, right away, through her bedroom window like she always did. Because the conditions at her house were only getting worse between her parents and it only became more unbearable. 

Through the shut door of her bedroom, Elise could almost clearly hear the loud, irritated and pissed tones being exchanged between her parents. Her ears were ringing with monotonous shouts which now sounded more like her mother's screams. Elise moved her head away from the door and plopped on her bed, sighing heavily. She shut her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind the bed, trying to forget about her domestic issues and her parents arguing and disagreeing almost all the time. She tried to think of something happier, which would calm her down, so she pictured her hut and the calm, serene river Tanya. 

She pictured the yellow fiber hut with its shiny fiber board walls and the smell of liquid polish luster on them. She portrayed how cozy and small it was. Her tiny wooden book rack in a corner along with an air-tight cabinet with stored and packed foods for emergency and for whenever she came to stay there. Then she thought of the vintage oil lamp hanging from a nail above the book rack, that her grand mother gifted her on her twelfth birthday, before she passed away one year after. The comfortable, fluffy rug next to a cushioned chair with arm rests, which Ruffles, Elise's best friend's dog would always pounce up onto to curl up on and sleep, whenever Rick would bring him along to river Tanya to meet Elise, which was every time he would come.

Then her mind's focus turned to the river itself. The greenish-blue water in its dynamic equilibrium. How its depth seemed endless when looking through the water, straight. The grass- green water plants sprouting out of the soil beneath the clear water, swaying softly in the ripples and mild waves under water. Sometimes when Elise went to the riverside in the morning after dawn or in the afternoon when the sun would be out and blazing on its highest, broad beams would reach down and pass through the bluish water and like a flashlight, light the way under the water. And that would be the only time that Elise could see the fresh water fish in the river.

Just then, all these calm thoughts were interrupted and Elise opened her eyes wide and jerked up, when she heard the sound of glass objects shattering to a million pieces, followed by some more intimidating shouts and slamming of doors. The argument between Elise's parents had just become physical and violent, according to what Elise could hear through her closed door.

Just as Elise heard a door shut, all of the noises, the fighting and screaming stopped and the outside became quiet, abruptly. Elise got up from her bed, walked close to the door and strained her ears to hear anyone. But she heard nothing. The whole house was silent now.

Elise dragged herself back to her bed with a look of mixed feelings-worry, exhaustion and defeat. She sat on the bed a little away from the edge and her eyes fell on a medium-sized card board box with a semi-closed lid, filled with school test papers, home works and files. Elise bent down towards it, shuffled through its contents, took out a bunch of failed tests and stared at them with an expressionless face, eyes on her horrible test marks encircled in red pen. She shook her head, threw the test papers back in the box and closed its lid properly to avoid having the horrible test papers catching her attention again.

Pulling open her wardrobe, Elise tugged out a maroon jacket, wore it on and tied her hair up. Next, without thinking, she started collecting all of her important and usual 'escape-bag' belongings and stuffed them into a back pack. Zipping the back pack and slipping her feet into her snickers, Elise opened her window, pushing it open outwards. She stretched her arms out and reached for a tall wooden ladder resting against the wall, next to the window. She quietly and carefully pulled it closer to her, resting it on the window sill, opposite to her, making sure it was stable. She then took  a deep breath and just as Elise was about to set one foot out of the window, ready to runaway again and not see her parents and her school for days, something immediately stopped her. It wasn't a thought or a voice or a gut feeling. But a familiar sound of her father's car. Elise quickly leaned out of the window for surety and was instantly crossed by a wave of different feelings when she saw her father driving his car out of the drive way in a hurry and a suitcase lying in the backseat of the car. Just like that, without even saying goodbye to Elise, her father quietly drove away, to his sister's, after hours of quarreling with her mother, leaving his only daughter alone with her mother. Once again.  

A mixture of various confusing feelings were shooting up in Elise's body. She was shocked, disappointed and worried about her parents, but at the same time, was feeling the feeling of being used to something and was quite calm too. Because this was not something new. Elise's father had done this many times. He would sometimes abandon his family and go to live with his sister, Felicia, until the situation between him and his wife cooled down. But whenever he would come back, their fights would start again.

Even the topic of divorce had been brought up many times by Elise's parents and though they hadn't gotten divorced yet, the word had become pretty common and normal among them, but Elise still dreaded at the word and even uttering it gave her goosebumps. She wouldn't even say it, but instead call it the 'd' word!

Elise pushed the ladder back to the side of the window and closed it. She took off her back pack and dropped it at a side. Then she untied her snickers and aligned them by her wardrobe, as she stepped out of them. She pulled off her coat and hung it on a coat hanger next to her dresser.

Apparently, she had decided to stay at home for the time being. Even though her mother had been a bit ignorant towards her and had been giving her less attention and love for quite a lot of days, since serious doubts, misunderstanding and conflicts started between her and her husband. But after all, she was her mother and Elise loved her and cared about her. She didn't want  to abandon her just when her father had left them both too, indifferently. Now was the time when her mother needed her company and support the most.

Elise brushed her teeth, changed into her nightie and slid into bed, clicking her reading lamp off. She then squeezed her eyes shut, forcing herself to sleep, as she held a heavy frown and a cringed forehead.

Hey guys!! Thanks a lot for reading. This is just the first frickin' chapter of my new story. I don't know whether it was interesting or crappy, but it was just the start and the story will start to get more interesting, fun and thrilling soon in the upcoming chapters. Please help me out by commenting what you think about this first bloody chapter and please vote if it wasn't as bad as I think and if you liked it!!! :)) XD. Love you for reading! Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes and typos! (if there are any. ;))