[DISCONTINUED] I've Never Met You

Chapter One 🌿 Bread

     You sat alone in the corner of the dark room. Your thin dress barely covered your knees as you hugged them, resting your chin on them. A little black thing crawled around at your feet. There's a lot of you down here. You thought. The thing crawled on your toe. It tickled. You laughed.
     The brown stuff that was the floor got all over you when you were down here. Dirt. Brother said it was called dirt. You remembered the day Brother left. He was always so nice to you. He never raised his voice like mother and father. His touch was always so gentle, and his voice so calming. You missed Brother.
     You heard the same creaking noise  you always did around this time. A soft light glittered in and illuminated the room. You looked toward it's source. There was Father. He stood in a rectangle of light, holding something that smelled good. Bread. You slowly got to your feet and walked to him. Dirt covered your small body all over.
     When you reached Father, you looked up at him for a moment before he crouched down in front of you. "Eat," he said, extending the bread to you. You took it and brought it to your lips, but hesitated. You forgot something.
     You took a step closer to Father and wrapped your arms around his neck. He pulled you close to him in return. "Good girl," he said to you in a calm voice. "Good girl. Eat now. I love you." With those words, Father stood and left the room, taking the light with him. You missed the light.
     You walked back to your corner and sat down. You thought about Brother as you ate the bread. You really missed Brother. You thought of the times Brother would play chase with you in the grass. Grass. Grass is green. I miss grass. And the times Brother let you sit on May the horse. May was a big horse. She was Brother's horse. You missed May. And you missed Brother.
     After you ate your bread, you sat quietly. You watched the dirt. You waited for it to talk. It didn't. After a while came the creaking sound again, and the light. You looked towards the light and saw Father again. He walked toward you, so you stood.
     When Father reached you, he crouched again. "Mother is already asleep, so I came instead. Mother had a bad day today. Do you have something to make her feel better?" Father asked. You looked around, but couldn't find anything. Then you remembered. Mother liked gold. Like your hair. You took a single piece and plucked it from your head, handing it to Father. He smiled. "Good girl. Mother will be happy when she wakes up. Hug," he said. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and he pulled you close. Father was being nice today. Strange, but nice.
     When Father released you, he looked at you sternly. "Quiet time now, okay? No sound. Sleep." You nodded your head and laid down in your corner. Father stayed where he was until you closed your eyes. You pretended to sleep. You weren't tired.
     Father, who was standing now, sighed. "I wish Daniel was here. He took such good care of her. She loved him, too. I wish he didn't leave." Father spoke softly when he said these things. He sounded sad. He always sounded sad. He gently pressed his lips to your forehead, then left with the light.
     You heard Mother and Father talk about Daniel a lot. They would usually talk about him very loudly. You didn't know who he was, but Mother and Father sure liked to talk about him. He sounded nice. Like Brother. Nice.
     Slowly, you felt yourself slip away from the dark room to an even darker place. Sleep.