Only A Memory

Prologue

When you think about the beginning of happy endings, you expect them to have a happy starting because how could something happy be bad? How could my life turn into one that I did not want? Something no one wants is to be unwanted from the day you are born. The first time that you smiled but your mother frowned. Then you take your first step, and you fall. That is when your parents should help you get up. Not by yourself. Do you do these things on your own, the firsts of your life? The most significant milestones that your loved ones congratulate you on. I wished they were there for me and even had a glimpse of pride in being my parents.

But it's even worse when you know they don't love you. I could feel my tiny, fragile bones that day just trembling with fear. I felt like they would abandon me, I knew that they would. My parents just needed a reason. So when they got one. They did it like I was a filthy rabid animal. My mother grabbed my wrist with force and threw me into the car. My father sat beside her and then drove through the wild city with tons of traffic and barely any trees. I haven't been outside a lot, so it's very frightening. Cars zoomed on the street, and I saw buses with people. Tons of people. I had no idea what was going on. I was too young to understand what was going on, but I understood one thing.

They were going to toss me somewhere. Somewhere, I was alone and away from them forever. I was the cause of my baby sister's death it was me who made my little sister leave this world. This world hasn't always been the greatest, but now it's going to be even worse for me. That is what they thought. Maybe they were right. Maybe I did something to her

Six-and-half-year-old me believed she did nothing. I don't remember doing anything. I know that was bad to her, I loved my sister. Although, sometimes my mind can get messy with thoughts and memories, which are not all mine, and things can get confusing. My eyes were closing, and I was getting drowsy. I could not sleep. It's not a time like this. When I should have been keeping myself safe from my parents from where they were taking me, it was my nap time, and I could not keep an eye open. It was the perfect time for them to kidnap me and take me away from my home. Even if I wanted to stay awake, I drifted to sleep, waiting for the worst to arrive once I had woken up.

SOMETIME LATER THAT DAY

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"Are you sure that she will behave? We both know how my mother acts. She is too kind to her. There might be a chance she says something against us, and she will believe her." Helvetica warned.

"She'll say nothing about this. All we are doing is giving her a place to stay. Forever. Without us. It's not like she deserves to stay with us after what she has done." Lombardi reassured her. I was now awake by someone shaking and picking me up. My father carried me out of the car. When I glanced around, there was nothing and nobody. We left our house to go into a scary forest. I wanted to scream really loudly, but it would be of no use. There was no one in sight. My father put me down, and then I held his hand as we began walking into a forest it was very dark.

Beside me was my mother, who had a map in her hands. She was leading the way. Eventually, we came across a house in a clearing of the thick forest. I could hear a stream nearby, like a small waterfall. "Mama, where are we?" I asked, unable to figure out where we were, but my mother did not reply. I did not want to complain or anything that would just make her even more angry. For something I didn't even do. When we got closer, I could see a beautiful house, and it had flowers that made the most amazing smell. The house was made out of bricks but was also yellow and wooden. It was itsy-bitsy with moss and vines covering it. Then out came a tiny person who looked like my grandmother. Nonna Margherita, that was her name. I had never seen her in real life, only heard of her, and she looked like what a grandmother should look like. Wrinkly, small, and barely able to stand without a walker. At least, that is what I think they should be like. After all, I've never known them. I wish I had known them they seem very kind. More kind than my parents ever were to me.

I stood there when I realised that something was wrong; the warmth of my father's hand was gone. The shadow of my mother had also disappeared. I was alone now. While I was thinking, lost in my thoughts, my parents left me there. I was afraid because I was here with a stranger. I'm without the comfort of my own home. I am going to die, aren't I? This is what happens when you are lost somewhere you don't know. Or when you don't know anyone. So I started to run away and all around the forest, but all there were trees and more trees, and now I was truly lost. I sat down, put my back on a tree trunk, and began to cry. I was hoping my parents would hear and take me back so I would be safe. I was too tired to do anything right now, so I slept once again it was the only thing I wanted to do. I didn't want to think about what just happened or why it did. I did not want to because I could hear scary sounds and sounds that made me shake, but I still did it carelessly. Maybe it was a mistake, but nothing mattered at that moment except for me just crying.

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"Where did that child run off to?" Margherita asked, shocked that her granddaughter was brave enough to take off into the woods like that. She knew that she could not have gone too far, so on foot, she walked in the direction Belaflora went to. She thought that she would be close, but it took some time she looked everywhere until she found her resting on a tree that was a million years old. It was said it could change the course of history by making dreams into reality. Wishes can come true, and memories can change into different versions of time. Although only a few have the power to wield its magic. No one in this generation has even been able to touch it without getting harmed or hurt. Margherita whistled, and on her command, her Tigdoer (deer/tiger/moose ) tribrid came. Just as Tigmoer arrived, Margherita saw a small shadow disappear into the forest from the corner of her eye. She thought it was nothing since she knew there were a bunch of creatures in the forest. She spoke to her animal companion.

"Tigmoer, carry her to the cottage," demanded Margherita, and he lifted me with his antlers. Then he gently heaved me on its back and followed Margherita to her home. He placed me on the porch of the house. I opened my eyes with a start, as everything was blurry, and it took a while for my eyes to adjust to the light.

"Where am I?" I asked as I saw some weird-looking creature trotting into the dark forest.

"You are in the same forest in which you were born. This is where your real mother was raised," answered Margherita. I was even more confused now. How did I not know about this place? I did not know anything about my grandmother or that my real mother was raised here, whatever that meant.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I thought I was born in Sunrise Valley." I said, assuming where I was told I was born. "No, my dear child, you were born in Flora Hollow, Waysu," she told me. "Come on inside. There is a ton we need to talk about," my grandmother said as she took slow steps inside the place where I was supposedly born. I followed her because I had to. There was no one for me anymore, only my Nonna Margherita. Someone who I did not know but I knew I could trust and love as I slowly knew more about her.