LITTLE HUMMINGBIRD ━━ ( GILBERT BLYTHE )

FIVE ; mother dear

The many alluring and colorful smells of the food around were almost too tempting for Syd to resist.

Syd didn't think much of her old life. She didn't remember much from before her father died, and those were the only happy memories.

The last four years were spent with Chloe Salem falling in and out of sickness and depression while Sydney ran back and forth from the kitchen and her mother's room, wondering if she was laying in her deathbed.

Chloe and Cal had a love like no other. Syd's mother always told her, "for a love to be true, you must find comfort in them. You must value them as your best friend over anything else." So when Cal met his death, Chloe lost her love and her best friend.

For the first year that Syd's father was gone, Chloe put on a false front and pretended like nothing was wrong. Which was somehow worse for Syd than if she had been crying and breaking down every minute of the day. But every night, Sydney could hear her mother's shaky breaths as she held in her sobs. During the day, she plastered on a shining smile.

"Darling, please come down, I made a cake." Chloe's soft voice echoed quietly throughout the small townhouse.

Syd traveled down the stairs in a slow and droopy manner. Her mother took one look at her daughter. Syd's eyes were red and puffy as they followed her feet as they landed on each step. Chloe inhaled shakily and turned away to the kitchen to avoid weeping down at the sight of her broken baby.

They sat at the long, rosewood table. Chloe sitting at the end of the table and Syd sitting on the side. Sydney played with her fork, spinning the steel around between her fingers and Chloe sat straight up in her velvet-covered chair with a faux, cheerful smile on her pale face.

"Do you enjoy the cake?" Chloe asked. Syd shrugged with a minuscule nod. "I want to start experimenting with different cake and frosting flavors. Since your birthday is in a month. This one is dark chocolate with mint filling and frosting." She pulled her forced smile even wider.

"I don't really want to celebrate my birthday." Syd kept her eyes focused on the slice of cake sitting in front of her. Chloe had noticed how much less her daughter had eaten lately. Even when the dinner or lunch she made was burnt or slightly raw, she still shoved it in her mouth and swallowed without a doubt or complaint.

"Don't be silly dear." Chloe laughed. "You love your birthday parties."

"Not really, I just didn't have much of a choice but to attend." Syd shrugged, memories of her birthday flooding her brain.

"Nonsense! You loved when your father would s-''

''Enough mom!" Syd exclaimed loudly, slamming her hands on the table. She sharply stood up, the chair roughly scraping again the floor.

Chloe Salem watches as her daughter stormed off, stomping up the stairs. Sydney was always a source of warmth, always trying to brighten up everyone's day. Her eyes always sparkled with hope. Now they were dull and glazed over.

"Fresh collard!"

Syd snapped out of her memory and looked over to a man announcing his merchandise.

"Fresh cod!"

"There are so many things I miss about this place. Other things, I don't miss at all." Bash gazed at everything around them with a sense of deja vu and nostalgia.