Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

Memory Fragment - Heart of Aspiration

"Daddy! Welcome home!" A young girl yells as she jumps into the arms of an older man.

"Hahaha! Hello my little angel! How are you doing today?" The man ruffles the young girl's hair as she giggles. "Guess what? I have a present for you today!" The man reaches inside his bag, before pulling out an adorable stuffed animal that was almost the size of the little girl.

"Aaah! It's so fluffy and cute!" The small girl attached herself to the gigantic plush.

"It took me a while to make. But seeing you like this, it made all those hours worth it!" The man fondly looks on as the girl gushes over her new friend. But then, he noticed the girl's fingers were wrapped in band-aids. "Angel! What happened to your hands!?"

"She was practicing sewing." A voice calls out from the doorway.

"Mommy! Mommy! Look at Mr. Fluffles! She's so big and fluffy!" The girl excitedly runs up to her mother.

"Hehe. Yes, she's very big, isn't she? Why don't you take her up to your room to play, hmm?" The woman smiles at the child.

"Okay!" The mother and father smile as they watched their bundle of sunshine run up the stairs.

"So our little girl has taken up sewing, eh?"

"Yes, she says she wants to be like you when she grows up. I'm jealous, she doesn't seem interested in my job at all!" The mother playfully punches her husband in the arm.

"Well that's your fault for being boring. I make children's toys and stuffed animals, that's like a dream job for little kids! No wonder she aspires to be like me!" The father proudly puffs out his chest.

"Being a biologist isn't "boring". It's a very delicate and important job, isn't that right darling."

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Alright, dear! I give, I give! Your job is not boring! Please stop pinching my cheek!" The two parents let out hearty laughs. The little girl watches on with a bright smile.

"I love my mommy and daddy! I wish we could stay like this forever!" The girl wishes while tightly hugging her new friend.

A woman sobs in front of the portrait of her late husband, as her young daughter cries next to her. Both their hearts forever fractured. A piece of their hearts are missing.

Where are the missing pieces of their hearts?

Well...they're dead. Laid to rest with another. A broken heart.

The little girl approaches her mother, in her hands...a stuffed bear. It wasn't a very good one, as it was made by an amateur. But the little girl felt the need to do something to fill in the empty space inside them.

"Mommy...I made this. It's not as good as what daddy could make...but I'll keep practicing. So one day...I can be as good as he was!"

When grieving, a person is in a very heightened emotional state. Even the most well intentioned actions may feel like a painful attack while in that state.

"...You'll never be as good as him."

A single statement that the mother regretted saying immediately. A statement that made the mother apologize profusely while hugging the only family member she had left. A statement that never should have been said. A statement that created another permanent wound in the daughter's heart.

A wound so deep that it causes her body to give up. To slowly break down.

So, how did the young girl continue to live with this pain?

Well, she knitted her own heart back together.

She covered it with a layer of fabric, before threading the needle in and out to cover the gaping hole in her heart. But it will never be as strong as it was before. It's only a cheap replacement. Occasionally, her heart would ache because of a desperate need to love. The pain threatening to rip the thin fabric she used to repair it.

When that happens...she makes a stuffed animal.

And she puts a little bit of her love into it.

She has made a lot of stuffed animals. So many...to the point that she honed her technique to near perfection. Meaning she's given a lot of love to them. So much love, that she's starting to run out of it. Her heart is slowly falling apart.

What will happen when her heart finally disintegrates?

Nobody knows.

This is just a story after all.

The story of a young girl who likes to knit.