"This flower blooms only once a year," The pretty lady in a maid outfit touches a green plant among the bunch. "and when it does," She continues. "it's usually so bright, shiny, and very beautiful." She opens her arms to highlight the effect.

I exclaim as I gape at the dull flower. "Really? That's so cool!"

She sends me a warm smile, agreeing, "Yes, it is very cool."

I squat, and with my hands on my knees, I study the flower. No matter how I see it, it's just green, green, and green. To think something as plain as this, could be beautiful, totally baffles me.

"Come," She extends her hand. "There's something I want you to see."

I take her hand and I stand. I straighten my floral gown with my other hand, dusting way any particle that might have fallen on it. It wasn't everyday I got a new dress, so I took great care of it.

"Is there something wrong?" Her sugary voice pierces my thoughts. "You've been holding your dress for awhile now,"   

"Really?" I let it go almost immediately. "It's nothing."

"If you say so. May we go now?"

I nod.

We pass a fountain in the middle of the garden, I touch several flowers surrounding it as I follow her. She leads me to a place called a greenhouse.

"More flowers!" I exclaim. "Are you a florist?" I inquire, peering at her.

"Not at all," She shakes her head. "But the master is." She added.

"Who is the master?"

She pulls me closer. "You'll know him soon." Then she smiles so wide, her lips almost hits her ear. 

I flinched a bit, startled, before asking, "Know him? Who's him?" 

Rather than answering, she points to a cluster of red flowers. They all had some sort of purple and white buds in the middle. She says the name, but I tune out her voice. A bad feeling suddenly invades me. I give her a cheeky grin and a nod though as if I was listening.

In that moment, a strong, gush of wind floods in, distorting my hair and dress. I tuck my hair behind my ears with both hands as I turn. A man stood at the door holding a big fan, he has a farm hat on top of his head, so I don't see his face clearly, but the stubble on his chin is visible.

"What are you doing here?" The pretty lady questions harshly. "Can't you see I'm busy?" She signals to me.

The man bows while muttering apologies and flees.

She places a hand on my back. "Just ignore him. Now, where were we? Right, the anemone coronaria."

As I avert my gaze to the cluster of flowers, I quickly took notice of the two silhouettes passing by outside.

They were my parents, and without another thought, I chase after them.

The lady shouts my name from behind, but I ignore her. I suddenly wondered how she knew it, I never told her. Everything about the place suddenly felt weird. It was strange. Too strange! My heart beat speeds up and my legs followed suit.

I reach my mom first, and I grab her shirt. "Mom are we going home now?" I managed to ask while panting.

She halts, and throwing me a ferocious look, she says, "Home? What home?"

Letting out a nervous laugh I answer, "What do you mean? Our home."

She scoffs, raising her brow as if in disbelief, "Our home? Our?"

"You, me, and Daddy," I state matter-of-factly.

"Daddy? Do you still have the right to call him that? You wench!" And she slaps me hard making me lose my balance. I grace the stony floor with my rear end, and a welp escapes my mouth when I land.

Holding my stinging cheek, I watch my mother with wide eyes. "Mom?"

"Mom?" She chuckles, then glares at me. "Call me that one more time and I'll show you the other side of me."

Standing up on my feet, I hold her shirt again. "Mom?"

She slaps my hand away and grabs my hair. "I told you not to call me that didn't I?"

Tapping her hand, I beg, "Please let go! You're hurting me!" She flings me down and I graze my elbow on the floor when my body drops.

Before I could recover, she stomps over and hits me again. And again. And again. Over and over. I was being ripped apart. 

My father hurries to restrain her. "Ruka enough! We've already come this far, don't lose your composure and hurt the merchandise!" He scolds her. "We're going to gain a lot from this, and she'll learn her lesson here for the rest of her life."

Hearing that, my mom stops. "That's true. I'm sorry."

Seated on the floor, I watch the scene unfold, wondering what was going on. Mom said she was going to visit a friend and she brought us along, now they were talking about leaving me here? Did I do something wrong? If I did, I better apologize.

Not given the chance to speak, my father picks dishevelled me off the floor, and still in a daze, I blurt out, "Dad?"

"Come with me." He starts to walk and he drags me along. I try my best to catch up with his pace, "Dad, where are we going? The front gate is over there." I point backward.

"That's none of your business!" He snaps, and as we reach the front door, he opens it. "You'll live here from now on."

I stare at him, confused, "What do you mean?"

"It is as exactly as you heard."

"B-b-but why? What happened to where we used to live before?" My voice crept out as a sob. "I want to go home with you and Mommy!"

"But we don't want to go home with you," he lets go of my hand.

I quickly grasp his arm and with tears already falling, I plead, "Please take me home with you! Please! If I did anything bad, I'm sorry. I promise to listen and obey your every command. I'm still keeping the promise I made to you, so Dad please convince mom to let me go home," I was almost on my knees. "I promise to be a good girl from now on, I won't--"

"It's no use," He interrupts. "There's no place for you in our house." He gently removes his hand from my hold. "It is no longer your home."

'No longer your home' the words hit my heart like arrows, and it plummeted down to the pit of my stomach. Reality is starting to overwhelm me, my head is spinning.

"Why?" I clench my fists, feigning strength. "Why?"

"Why? No reason." He smiles all of a sudden. "Simply because," He shoves me inside as he closes the door. "We don't want you."

They don't want me?

My pupils widen, almost as if I couldn't believe the statement, my chest starts to hurt, almost as if the words came with blows. My stomach churns, I'm unable to digest it.

They don't want me?

My pupils starts to flow again. My heartbeat is so loud that my father's receding footsteps and the click of the door shutting sounded so far away.

They don't want me?

Recollections of our little but comforting outings flashes through my mind. The 'I-love-you's and the hugs sounded like lies. Even the care and affection I enjoyed over the years, seemed so false and distant.

'We don't want you.' I hear his voice in my head a number of times. I begin to pound the door, screaming. "Mom! Dad! Wait for me. Please, don't leave me. Please!"

I can't remember how long I kept at banging and yelling, but no one came. No one, I tell you. Not my parents. Not the pretty lady. Not the gardener.

They left.

They all left me.

I find it quite difficult to write in present tense but it was needed for this chapter. If there are mistakes however, or sentences that do not flow please highlight them for me. Thank you.

🌼Vicky🌼