The Lost Little Starlet

Chapter One: The Warning

((WARNING: THIS STORY IS FOR MATURE AUDIENCES AND CONTAINS ELEMENTS SUCH AS HEAVY ADULT LANGUAGE, DRUG USE, AND POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING ADULT SCENARIOS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.))

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The sound of smooth jazz that came from the radio sent the girl into her own little world as she doodled away in silence. Her desk was positioned near one of her windows where she could see the neighbors houses from across the street and sometimes she would glance up from her drawing to watch the milkman drive by or wave at the paper boy who came on his bicycle to toss the daily newspaper in their front yard. She swung her small feet back and forth and hummed along to the cheerful tune as her ink pen glided across the parchment effortlessly, not realizing that her mother downstairs had been calling her for dinner;

"Hope!! Supper is ready! Please come down before the food gets cold, your uncle Sammy is going to be here any minute to join us!"

At the mention of her uncle's name, Hope immediately stopped her doodling and placed her ink pen back into its small container before quickly racing down stairs as fast as her feet could carry her with a bright smile decorating her face. It wasn't very often that her uncle came over to their home for dinner with how busy his work schedule was, so the news greatly excited the young girl. She practically skipped down the staircase and swung herself around the bottom banister before darting into the kitchen, alerting her mother of her presence. Juliette let out a low chuckle at her daughter's sudden enthusiasm and approached the table with a large casserole dish in hand alongside a bowl of mixed greens and fresh homemade potato salad.

"Well someone sure is hungry all of a sudden! My homemade chicken casserole is irresistible after all so please hold your applause."

"Haha! To be honest, I really want to show Uncle Sammy those ink drawings that I've been working extra hard on for my art project! He works with people that draw with ink all the time and I wanna see if my art is just as good as theirs!"

"I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to ask him all about it my little canary, I think I just saw his car pull up in the driveway-"

"I'll go get the door then!!"

Before Juliette could stop her daughter from getting up from her place at the table, Hope was already out of her chair and making a beeline towards the front door. The moment she heard the sound of a car door slamming shut and distant footfalls getting louder and closer, the girl unlocked and opened the door while holding her arms out real wide;

"Uncle Sammy!! I missed you so much today!"

"Today? What about yesterday? And the day before that?"

"I'm just kidding! You know I miss you all the time! Now, hugs please! It's required before you are allowed to come inside."

"Oh is that so? I guess I have no other choice but to pay the fee then, come here kiddo."

Hope was soon lifted off of the ground by the musician who then gave her an affectionately tight squeeze as she threw her arms around his neck in return. He looked like how he always did every other time she saw him, tired, heavy blue eyes and unkempt blonde hair going almost every which way with his ink stained clothes in a similar disheveled fashion. Sammy enjoyed wearing suspenders and his favorite pair of black leather slacks and there was never a time Hope didn't see him without a cigarette in his mouth. Her uncle always smelled of them and printer paper with just a dash of his cologne but it was an oddly comforting mix of scents that Hope had grown to be quite accustomed to. After their hug, Sammy set his niece back down and cracked his lower back before letting out a loud sigh and shed off his jacket with ease.