Athika is a very, very small place near some small places that are still too small to be called a town, but at least you can find a few basic things without having to travel further to get your fridge full and your house well kept.
My house is the first one you would notice at the top of the hill, actually is not the most beautiful, well arranged or nice one in Athika.
From the eight households, mine is the number six, and the number seven is the only one apart from ours that have permanent users. I surely see them out of their building sometimes when we, the young ones, have to take the school bus.
Like my age, in a few months will be six. I am not very extroverted myself and spend most of the time with my mother when I don't have to go to school. She works out of schedule sometimes but not for long hours, so if I entertain myself out of my father's way, she will be back before I get to miss her.
This year, the weather is horrible, that horrible, that I have to spend all my free time at home. My mother does all the possible to find out how to distract me and, if possible, to learn something new in the process.
She always says that it will be easier if she could teach me how to read properly instead of waiting for another year to learn and be like the other kids that have cero attention at home to be teached anything out from the school building.
I am just frustrated because I can't even play a game properly without knowing how to read, and it's frustrating to her to leave me ignorant because of the discussion she had in the school with my teacher. We have to be systematically ignorant to be able to make my teacher's job easier. If I dare to know more than I am supposed to acknowledge, then my family will be called to hear about my inconvenient behavior and bored status to the slow rithm of my learning progress there where I should get all the correct answers from people trained to teach me.
But my mother promised me that she would respect the treat she made with the school for now. On my summer break, I was free to be teached whatever she wanted, and nobody would be able to restrict my knowledge anymore.
I'm not worried about that. As long as she is with me, there is nothing I should be worried about, not even the terrifying humongous big dogs of my neighbors who decided to break their chains to run behind me as I left the bus, my mother was close waiting for me, still eating something. She moved quickly to take me, her baby, before those scared me more.
- Don't run. That makes them excited to chase you.-
Unfortunately, they are always chained to not scare visitors, but they are big, bark horribly, making me feel chills and are way taller than me.
So, excuse me if I keep running to my mother's arms any time they aren't on their designated places.
- They want to play, that's all, but if you are scared don't worry, that I will stop them as many times as you want.
My mother let's me be... she doesn't just talk as my father's do. She lifts me up and send them away until I am fine enough to talk on my own again. Fortunately, nobody might mind my business apart from my family, I don't know how other families are, but I can be pretty sure that mine is the best because the only loud noises are our laughters.
