Before the Dawn (Draft 1)

Part 10

Trifolia

Trif lifted her head and opened her eyes before the sun had started to come up and after there was a hint of light indicating that it soon would, giving a wide yawn and blinking sleep from her eyes as she looked around the house at her sleeping family. Her parents were on the same bed but not touching, and her short fur was pressed against her older sister's.

She craned her neck slightly to lick the top of Melodia's head, who stirred for a moment and then opened her eyes to look up. Trif offered her a tired smile but said nothing, knowing nothing would be said back. She sighed, an attempt at breathing out the heaviness in her chest before she stretched and got to her hooves to quietly step over to her parents' bed and nudge her mother awake.

"I'm leaving," she said quietly after she'd successfully gotten both of her parents to open their eyes. She knew they wouldn't ask where- it was the same thing every morning, and she knew that if they did it would cause problems. That knowledge didn't stop the small part of her that hoped they would, although she tried to just not care if they did or not- they had other things to worry about, and there was no purpose in feeling upset about it. She kept telling herself that while she waited for them to not ask where she was going.

"Is Melodia awake?" Molliba asked, her words slurred by drowsiness as she stretched her front legs forward before relaxing again and lifting her head. Trif answered with a nod, and tried to suppress her disappoint while she headed to the doorway to trot through the sleepy village of Dogwood while her mother told her father he could go back to sleep, no doubt getting up herself to take care of Melodia. Trif was happy- she got to watch the sunrise now, that was always a good start to her day.