Dark clouds painted the sky, illuminated by magnificent arcs of golden lightning. A flash lit up a room where a little girl was tightly clutching her toy hammer.
Her teeth gritted. Her fingers sank into the plush fabric. Her eyes stared at the brass knob of the door just an arm's reach away, the source of a quarrel so loud it suppressed even the rolling thunder.
"I'm leaving! And I will never return here ever again! You couldn't give me the life that I wanted!" a woman's voice shrieked. "I was promised a life in the capital! Not this pathetic little village!"
The girl's heart jumped as she took a trembling step back.
"Then leave!" a man's voice roared back. "Leave and don't turn back! I will raise Anthierin on my own!"
"Good! Because I don't want to have anything to do with that child!" the woman shouted.
M-Mama...? The little girl reached out for the handle and pressed it down, but it wouldn't unlock.
