sunflower daydream || b. ruggie

𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕦𝕖

"Mama, that little boy is selling quiches!" Came a little girl's voice as she dragged her mother's left arm with all her might. She could see the abhorrence in her mother's eyes alone, not even her lips that were sealed could define how remorseful the older woman felt for taking her own daughter to such a poor environment. Her daughter didn't seem to mind, her scintillating amber eyes shimmering in the daylight as she witnessed the bustling streets of people dressed in rags. In comparison to the rags, her daughter's rich, long and smooth dark green hair with faded celeste ends and her little clean dress said otherwise.

Her mother sighed and withdrew her arm from her daughter's embrace before criticising her. "Come on, Mira, you've seen almost everything here — Gosh, I shouldn't have taken you to such a place. Wouldn't it have been better for you to see the local market?"

"Local market, we've been there so many times I even memorised the products in each store," Mira groaned as a little pout surfaced on her lips. "In fact, we've been to so many local markets where we live that I need to rest my eyes on something new."

The older woman bit her lip as her eyes went sharp. Since when was she this cunning? I'm sure the genes didn't come from me or him.

Mira took a deep breath to allow the environment to seep into her mind. Although it was true that where they were wasn't sanitary at all, she wanted to embrace the fact that everyone was different — that perhaps even different people from different environments had something in common. She didn't want to get used to the Afterglow Savannah because something she was not intimate with was something that she would remember the plentifullest. Mira was lucky that her mother allowed her to travel, especially because her father was a stubborn man who did not understand her free will. Unlike her father, her mother related the most due to her yearning for freedom, yet she was not able to attain it due to their arranged marriage.

Yet Mira had a much more dangerous goal in mind besides free will within her family ties.

She wanted to flee; flee to the other side of the world where everyone wouldn't know who she was. Instead of being remembered as 'that couple's daughter' or 'that rich kid', she wanted someone to at least once — call her by her own given name. She felt herself feeling morose, her heart contracting in the customary fashion of being depressed before she dashed over to the little boy who sold the quiches. Mira discerned the food, the scent that could send her to heaven right at that single moment.

Smells like cheap bacon, but it's cooked really well to the fact that it can barely be recognised as cheap. The parsley is super fresh and green inside the filling. Did this kid really make the food himself?

"Four of these, please!" She childishly grinned, a missing tooth noticeable. The boy beamed before instantly taking the tongs that were left on the little stool resting on the single layer of tissue, taking the four stacked in front of him and placing it blandly inside a bag. Mira recognised the two little bumps on his head, ears, before curiosity got to her.

"That'd be 500 madol—"

"Hey, can I touch your ears?" She asked in enthusiasm, sparkles radiating around her. The male seemed taken aback, his eyes widening and confused as his ears twitched on cue. A cunning little smirk formed on her features, even her eyes looked as if they were smiling, as she placed a 1000 note of madol. "Of course, it's not for free."

Her mother intercepted to her, the stomping of her heels interrupting them, a fierce grasp on Mira's wrist awoke her of her curiosity. "What are you doing, Mama?"

"You're paying this little kid just to touch his ears? I've tolerated you too much, Mira Ebony, we're heading back!" The woman's voice got more strident as Mira stood there with a little exhausted expression. The grasp on her wrist already caused a bruise, she was sure of it, yet it wasn't just pain that she couldn't tolerate. Despite her parents caring very much for her, their love was suffocating. She couldn't remember the first time she felt this dejected, the feeling definitely wasn't anything new. If it was an emotion that she had felt every single time, even she got fatigued from feeling that way.