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Chapter 1- The Unloved (Prologues)

Prologue

The perspective of Lila Manning; child.

I knelt down and picked a daisy on my way home from school, it was the first one I'd seen all year.

Who should I give this to?

The answer came right away.Mommy!

God gave me the best mommy in the whole world. And I was thankful to Him for it. She was really pretty, and really nice. And she made the best cookies. I knew she loved me a lot. Every night when I'd say " I love you!" She'd say,  "I love you more!" Then I'd say, "No, I love YOU more!" And I meant It. I loved her more than anything in the whole world. So I decided that the daisy should go to her. When I got home and showed it to her, she seemed really excited. I asked her if she was going to put it in a vase, but she didn't. She didn't say anything. She pulled a big black book off the table and smashed the flower in the middle of it's pages!

"Mommy! Don't hurt it!"

She laughed."Honey, I'm putting it in this special book so I can keep it forever. And I'll think of you every time I see it for the rest of my life ." I liked that Idea.  My mommy was so great.

But over the next summer she seemed to get sadder. And she didn't always have time for me. I knew she was sad because I saw her crying on the couch one day.

She and my daddy started fighting a lot. Soon Daddy was never around. He would leave for work before I woke up in the morning, and wouldn't get back until after I went to sleep.

I think that's what made mommy so sad.

I tried to cheer her up. I asked her to play games with me and read me stories , things that used to make her happy. But she never wanted to.  She hardly ever paid attention to me or my big brother Tommy. She started fighting with Tommy. 

When it was time for the leaves to fall she started being nice again.

It felt good to have my mommy back.

She even started playing with me again.

But then , in the winter, Daddy left with a suitcase. Mommy was crying and telling Him not to go. Then she was screaming at him to leave. I was very confused. I didn't want him to go.  

The next night mommy was still sad. Still crying. Tommy got tired of it and went to his friends house to spend the night.  I wanted to cheer her up.

"Mommy, do you want to watch the Little mermaid?"

" No Lila."

" but mommy, don't you like that movie?"

"Go to bed Lila "

I felt sad. Mommy wasn't being very nice. I was going to my room, but stopped by the  trash can. 

The Book! Mommy's big black book was in the trash can. I opened the book and My flower was gone. Good, I thought. She took it out.

But then I noticed it laying in the bottom of the trash can, all dried up. 

"Mommy! You threw away my daisy!" I ran to her with the flower, but she wouldn't even look at it.

" I said go to bed Lila!"

"But mommy!" I held the daisy to her face. She took it out of my hand and crumpled it up into little flakes, then threw what was left on the ground.

" No!" I cried. Then she picked me up and took me to the front door. I was afraid. Was she going to spank me?

She opened the door and shoved me outside into the snow.  In my bare feet and night gown. then she slammed the door shut. I ran back to it and tried to open it, but it was locked.