The world that surrounded Riley was a world of glass. Each crystallized flower blossom was more beautiful than the last. The treetops were lightly coated with the winter jewels as well. But Riley felt nothing but sorrow, looking around at the sparkling wonderland. Because she knew that the beauty would be gone tomorrow.
There would be no warm, bright spring this year. Riley sighed as she looked down at her small, messy, overgrown flower beds. She put very little effort into helping the flowers grow, but she still loved them dearly. No matter how many times her flowers wilted, it never got easier to see. The garden was small, but it meant a lot to Riley. She couldn’t stand here all day, mourning the loss. She got to her feet and started back up the path towards the house. When she opened her eyes tomorrow morning, she would find the world outside her window a muddy brown color, the color of death.
She knew it was silly to cry over something so small as a garden, especially when there were so many really awful things to cry over. After all that had happened, Riley really shouldn’t care about her garden. But Riley just couldn’t change the way she felt, no matter how hard she tried to. She felt awful about all the little problems and issues that day-to-day life handed her, but she couldn’t make herself cry about the real struggles. She just wanted to forget about the real struggles and pretend as if they had never existed in the first place. Why was she like this?
With a sigh, Riley turned to leave. She paused at the edge of her garden to look into the distance at Chicago. The big cities always got hit the hardest during wars. Riley was too young to remember the 9th war, but she could see the damage that it had done. The land around the city was still charred black. The Formas had begun to rebuild parts of the city. Maybe that was where Lisa had come from.
Just the sight of the ruined city was enough to make Riley's heart ache. She turned away and headed up the path to her little house.
What was wrong with her? Riley had reached the door. No, she needed to stop acting this way. She had already cried three times that week and she didn’t want to cry in front of Miss Lisa again. Warmth rushed upon Riley as she stepped into the little house. It brought her a tiny little bit of comfort in the face of everything around her. She may not have a garden but at least she had a roaring fire.
“Good morning, Riley! Did anything in the garden make it through the freeze?” Miss Lisa was sitting next to the fire with a plate of steaming stew in her hand.
“No. It’s all dead.”
“What a shame!”
“It’s really no big deal.” Riley forced her voice to sound cheery. “How’s Sally doing?”
“Brighter and better, my dear. Here, this will warm you up." Lisa set the bowl down in front of Riley.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Thank you, Miss Lisa.”
“No problem. If I may ask, are you alright, Riley? You look a little unhappy.”
“I feel fine.” It was useless. Riley could see the wheels in Lisa’s mind turning as she searched Riley’s face. Riley really was thankful for all that Lisa had done for them. She had without a doubt saved Sally's life. But she had also gotten a job and begun to support the girls, in addition to all the work she was putting in at home. There was no telling where they’d be right now if it weren't for Lisa. Riley loved Lisa with all her heart.
But in the way that Riley couldn’t make herself feel happy or sad, she also couldn’t make herself like Miss Lisa. She disliked the questions and concerned prying eyes. She disliked the way she had to watch herself around Lisa. She disliked that she had to relinquish power to someone even she knew was better suited to be in charge.
But the one thing, the main thing, that truly made Riley dislike her was the same thing that made Riley afraid of everyone around her. It was the simple difference that she and Sally were humans, and Lisa was not. Their lives had only just begun to get better. If Riley’s secret was found out it would all fall apart, be ripped away from her grasp and shredded before her eyes.
“Are you sure you’re alright, dear?” Riley gritted her teeth. It didn’t help that Miss Lisa was always asking questions. Riley nodded.
“I’m just really hungry right now.”
“Well, dig in. Would you also feed some to your sister, please?”
“Of course, Miss. You have work soon, right?”
“Yes, I was just about to head out. But I’m glad I got to say good morning to you.”
“You know, I would be happy to get a job too. It would help. I’m finally old enough to get a small job, Miss Lisa.”
“No, no, no, you are far too young to have a job. Besides, you’re needed here. Someone really does need to be here for Sally. She’s just not well enough to take care of herself.”
“I know. But we do really need money. Right, Miss?”
“I can take care of things here; besides, you are too young.”
“But you were thirteen when you got your first job. Miss, I’m almost thirteen.” Lisa let out a long slow sigh.
“Things were very different where I grew up. You have to understand that. I was paid to watch a good friend’s pet. I wasn’t poking around, looking for work on the streets. You know how dangerous it can be around here, Riley.”
“I-I just wanted to help you out, Miss Lisa.”
“I know, dear. But you’re needed here. You really are helping plenty. You know how lonely Sally will be here without you. But maybe if things end up getting better, we’ll be able to find a good job for you if that’s what you really want.”
“Maybe I could get a job taking care of an animal like you did. I love puppies and kitties.”
“Well, this was a human. It was very young and extremely easy to care for.” At that, Riley’s stomach twisted. Suddenly she didn’t feel like eating. She fought back the urge to ask a million questions about said human and how he or she had been cared for. Riley could only nod and sit still. Now the desire for work had been burned out of her, especially work regarding anything having to do with animals.
How had the human being been treated? Had they been locked away in a tiny cage? Or was it more like what Sally had had? Either way, Riley would be happy to never see a caged animal ever again. “I should get going now. Take care of your sister, dear!” On that cheery note, Lisa left. Riley just sat there for a moment with her eyes closed and her head down, trying to drown out all the memories that had arrived to ruthlessly attack her. Riley shook herself. There were teardrops, dripping into her chicken soup. She couldn’t stand this. She pushed the bowl of soup to the ground and bolted for Sally’s room.