Cold

THREE

Three

"Natie!" Anelia called out to her sister, who was in her bedroom. She moved about the kitchen, as she finished up preparing their supper.

The kitchen was a rather small space that consisted of, well just the basics. If you could call it that. A four-plate stove stood by one corner, just behind the door which led to the dining room.

Just opposite the stove was the sink, above which was a large window that provided a  beautiful view of their very colourful yard. Just near but not too near the sink was the kitchen unit. In the middle, stood a small table with four chairs. And that was about it.

Of course before, their kitchen and their house as a whole, were once fully furnished. Well, they sure were far much better furnished than they currently were. However, circumstances had driven her to sell some of the valuable furniture. There was no point in living comfortably, with no food on the table.

Anelia gulped the surge of pain that she felt emerge. She had never envisioned this kind of life, three years back. She had always imagined that things would play out okay. That she would grow up happily with her family right by her side.

She still could not grasp the idea of never seeing her parents again. Never hearing her mother's soft laugh and her father's animated voice whilst watching a football match on the television. The warmth they brought into their home.

Her parents were supposed to watch her graduate. Oh, how wide they would have smiled in pride. Her father was supposed to walk her down the aisle. She had not had much interest in relationships but it was surely many if not all girls' dream to wear that magical white dress.

She sighed, deeply lost in her thoughts. It felt like one big nightmare to her and how she longed to wake up.

"Are you okay?" She heard the quiet voice of Natalie.

She quickly got her feelings back in check, plastered a smile on her lips and turned to her curious little sister. Natie stood by the door, looking warily and worriedly at Anelia. Anelia was not surprised however, at her younger sister's display of worry towards her.

Pretty much nothing went past Natalie Telford unnoticed. She was a very observant and utterly intelligent young person and this was one of the other countless times that Natalie had asked her older sister if she was okay or not.

Natalie did not act her age. Period. While most girls her age would probably be too busy watching some Disney show on the television and possibly throwing a tantrum over the kind of food on the table and a multiple other things she could actually list down, Natalie was always considerate.

Never once throwing a tantrum or passing a single negative comment on the food Anelia provided for them both. She knew and accepted their life for the reality that it was. However, instead of Anelia being happy over Natalie's behaviour, she could only worry even more about her sister.

"Of course," Anelia answered cooly. "Food's ready. I hope you're hungry because I made your favourite."

Clearly Natalie was not convinced as she continued to hover by the threshold, watching her sister move about their kitchen.

"I'm fine, really. You need to stop worrying about me and more about the food, which by the way, is getting colder by the second," she smiled genuinely at Natalie.