Chapter 3: Early Memories

"Mommy, mommy look what I made!" Proudly Lyra holds up a colorful crayon drawing of the

entire family as she’s running inside the kitchen.

"What’s this?" The woman asks her daughter in a rather harsh tone.

"It’s us mommy."

Suddenly the drawing is ripped away from the little girl’s hands and shredded to pieces. Ocean

blue cold eyes meets soft tear-filled, grey/blue eyes.

"Why did you do that mommy?"

"It was an ugly drawing. Ugly just like you." the woman sneers. " And what have I told you

about calling me mommy? You will call me Tiana and nothing else." she spits out in disgust.

SLAP!

Lyra falls to the floor with a harsh thud, elbow smashed into the hard floor. Silent tears fall

down her cheeks.

"You little vomit mongrel! Filthy little rat!"

Another slap.

"You dare lay your filthy fingers on your siblings’ things then have the audacity to draw an even

filthier picture and include yourself in it! Have we not taught you anything?"

Lyra starts to shake on the floor. Tears are pooling like a broken faucet down her cheeks and her

little heart hurts with every word. She can't understand why things like that is said to her and

something inside her says not to ask about it. A few more hard slaps are delivered to her already

swollen cheek.

"No dinner for you."

Tiana grabs her daughter by the hair and drags her towards the basement and flings the door

open before giving a good kick in the back making her tumble down the stairs. With a sick smile

on her lips Tiana watches as her own daughter fall down the stair and painfully land at the

bottom with a scream and loud crying.

"It hurts..." Lyra whimpers, cradling her left arm.

"Should have thought of that before you decided to steal your sibling’s crayons."

"I'm sorry, please, don't leave me. I will be good. Promise." Lyra stutters out weakly through the

obvious pain.

God, you are pathetic." Tiana sighs. "If you shut up and stop with that whiny noise, I might let

you out earlier than I planned."

The last thing she heard before the darkness took over was her mother laughing then slamming

the door shut, locking it and walking away. All alone in the cold basement she tries her best

to re-position herself while not moving the aching arm too much. Like previous times down here

Lyra can't understand why she ends up in the darkness of the basement, all alone and hurt. The

slaps were harder this time and more than one. It was also first time getting kicked. Fat tears

still leaks down her cheeks and she do her best to not make any sounds in hope of getting out

faster.

"Maybe mommy will smile if I'm good." she whispers quietly to herself