The Girl in the Bottle

Chapter 2: House-Not-Home

"Mother? Why are you..."

After that day, it was never the same, not after they saw her tear-ridden face.

It had been a few weeks, the sun shone bright above, and the family had finished unpacking in their new house residing in the city known as Alshire, but they were far from settled, more so unsettled. The city was quite loud, cramped, and it never once seemed that it ever slept, much to their discomfort and displeasure. It didn't help much that it was already so unfamiliar to their cozy little coast town, especially to the young lass who lacked the strength to walk past the doors for the first time.

The days and weeks quickly grew to be monotonous months, Dervin did whatever he could to lighten the mood with his humor, wanting to make the most out of those dark moments. He'd crack jokes and puns, anything to see a smile once again in this house.

"Hey, mother?" He inquired while she prepared the dishes for a meal.
"Hmm...? Whatever is it?" She questioned in return, placing down an onion she was just about to mince.
"What would you get from a pampered cow?"
"Well, what exactly?" Her curiosity spoke for her.
"Why, spoiled milk!" The boy said aloud.
As corny as the joke was, something had managed to escape her lips that he hadn't seen in years. It was a snicker, and then laughter. A wave of warmth would wash over and the place would feel more whole. 

Alas, it would always be a mixed bag, sometimes his entertainment would prove fruit, but soon rotted as the unsteady air reunited with the three's minds. As bustling as the city was, it almost became like a yard of statues at times in the Welsh household, silence filling the place like smoke from a fire, with not even the sound of the radio present. Even if neighbors took pity on them as much as they liked the twisted peace, the family didn't make much time to speak to the locals. Beyond the hot pavement born from the suns' rays and reflective glass, the furthest the young lassie ever journeyed in Alshire would be the market or a park.

The girl grew to hate the city with a burning passion accompanied by a lingering wistfulness. At first, she believed that those feelings of mournful, disdain, and smallness would subside as she'd find new meaning, her dreams still intact. Yet, they never truly fled, only morphed and evolved into new emotions that she dared not to put a finger on. Whatever would a sailor be without a crew and sea? At this point, her dreams felt like crumbling to ash for her eyes to stare upon, but that one part was all she had left, and she was not going to let them go so easily.

"I...It'll be okay, it's just like a nightmare!"
"Soon, I can wake up, and then rush over to-"
"To- home...Right?"

By her lonesome self, up in her room, she fell into the ocean of stars by nighttime, pandering just when her wish could be reality and pull her from this abyss of unspeakable tears and worry, becoming one with the city's restlessness, regardless if or if not the weary heart could see it truthfully.