Amber's Tree

Will you take me with you?

The rain began to pour down as the city stirred in anticipation of another day. In one particular house, all was quiet except for the youngest member of the family. She had been awakened not only by the rain but also the purring and wet kisses of the family cat, Hansel. Once up, they both gazed out the window to see the city, pondering what kind of adventure this rainy day would behold. Suddenly, the cat turns to look at the young one, showering her with wet kisses once more.

The little girl giggled before gently picking the cat up, "Of course, Hansel! Mom and I will be heading out today to get you a new, comfortable bed, as well as some more cat food!"

Hearing the word food, the cat purred in her arms as it gently nuzzles against her. Their moment is cut short, however, when the sound of a young boy is heard from downstairs, calling out to her.

"Amber! It's time for breakfast!" They yell,

"Coming!" Amber responds. She then puts the cat down before heading out of her room, her little footsteps being heard as she walks along the wooden halls and down the stairs. 

There, she sees two of her brothers roughhousing alongside the table while the third confronts and scolds them. In this house, it's already the norm to witness her two brothers being thick headed and always horsing around while the eldest among all of them always comes to clean their mess up. Across the table are their parents - their mother who is humming a lovely lullaby while preparing breakfast for the family and their father who is hiding his face behind a newspaper. In the eyes of a child, it's confusing to always see adult men holding up those strange bundles of paper with tons of tiny words on every page. The only thing she likes about newspapers are the crosswords, despite not having answered a single one.

She shakes her head and rids herself the thought of newspapers and rushes to an empty seat, indulging herself with the smell of their mother's delicious pancakes. After a short while, Amber is met with the sight of stacked pancaked plated right in front of her, her plate having a couple pancakes more as she's the youngest - their mother is quite fond of spoiling the little one after all. The others didn't seem to mind. A little while passed and breakfast finished, however the rain did not. In fact, it started to pour even more so than earlier. Was a storm brewing? Or was it just a sudden occurrence of rain? Amber didn't bother finding out what it was as she hurried on back to her room, crouching down under her desk to reach for a particular looking box.

Hansel laid quietly on Amber's bed, looking down at the little girl who seemed to be struggling pulling something from under the desk. She eventually got it out, tumbling backwards with the box now on her. She quickly got up and put it down, opening it to reveal goodies such as a little carriage toy and tiny characters. It was a toy box! With the toys in hand, she looks over at Hansel with a slight frown on her face,

"I'm sorry Hansel," She pouts.
"Mother said we can't go out today because of the rain. So we can have playtime instead!" Her little frown immediately beamed to a cheeky smile as she rushed over to her bed, assuming the role of a princess as she began to play with the toys. Hansel lets out a soft purr and crawled over to Amber's side, laying his furry head against the playing child's arm. A clingy pet, this one.

The day ended as usual days do - with a big and healthy family such as the Lyudmila household, each of the kids are being taken care of with delight. Alexei and Boris, the brothers who always makes the atmosphere very lively although quite messy at times. Ivan, the eldest who cleans up the two's mess and is the brightest of the bunch. And lastly, Amber, the youngest of the four kids and the heart of the family. They're all very special in their own way, and Amber's way seems to be imaginative, creative, and full of surprises!

In her sleep, while being tucked in bed by her parents, the little one mutters a couple slurred words,

"... Will you take me with you?..." A little snore following right after. What of it? Perhaps she's dreaming of something... or someone? Dreams, ever so mysterious and just as interesting...