Be Brave

Diner Time

The little girl was crying again. 

Huddled in a ball in a dark, cramped space in a room that no one knows is there and she can't get out. The door in the back of the closet is stuck, trapping her inside. Her breaths are shallow, the tears causing her to hiccup, making her breaths even shorter. Her head hurt, badly, not because she hit it, but because of all the crying and sporadic breathing. 

She just wants her mommy. She wants the game of hide and seek to be over. She didn't care if she lost, she had to get out because she couldn't breathe right in the stuffy room. 

She sat up and reached for the secret door hiding in the back of a cramped closet and tried to throw her weight at it. It finally popped open and she crawled out. Gasping and gulping in fresh air into her tiny lungs. 

But the crying didn't stop. She walked around the house calling for her mommy, her voice getting louder every time her calls went unanswered. Several minutes go by until she's finally screeching at the top of her lungs.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMMMMY WHERE ARE YOU!" she kept screaming until her voice finally broke and no sound came. 

Her crying turned into voiceless sobs that shook her whole tiny frame. Her headache got worse, and she'd never felt pain like this. She just wanted her mom to make the pain go away, to make everything better again, to hold her and soothe away her tears. 

She walked into the kitchen and slipped on a strange, thick red oozing something that was on the floor and fell, starting her screaming cries all over again. She was covered in the something, a sticky crimson stuff that seeped into her clothes and squelched between her hands and toes as she tried to stand again. 

She walked around the little kitchen island and finally, she found her mommy, but mommy wasn't moving. The girl fell to her knees, fresh tears starting anew as she tried to get her mothers attention, shaking her with all her little strength. But the cold body wouldn't budge. 

She started screaming again, but every time she did her voice cracked, preventing her shouts from carrying out. The girl let out one final cry before the pain in her head took over and she fell unconscious, landing on top of her mother's lifeless body.

Amara was still caught up in her dreams but she could hear the knocking just outside of her consciousness, pulling her back to reality. She sat up suddenly, feeling disoriented, and feeling wet. Her hands felt the pillows and then touched her face, she had been crying in her sleep and her head hurt from it. She looked out the windows and saw the sun setting over the horizon. 

She'd overslept.

The knocking at the door became more persistent. Jumping up, she quickly wiped her face on the sleeves of her dress, trying desperately to make them stop, the last thing she wanted was to let a bunch of strangers see her crying, again. 

She made one last sniffle, wiped away one more tear and cleared her throat before unlocking the door and swinging it open.

Heath stood in front of her, arm resting against the door frame, his shaggy hair falling over his eyes, looking bored and slightly irritated. Maybehe's been knocking for a while?

"It's about damn time, I must've been knocking for five minutes. The Captain wants you to join us for dinner, your royal highness. So, if you would be so kind as to grace us with your appearance," he mocked her by taking a dramatically low bow and she wanted to knee him in the face, "come on, let's go eat. I'm starving." His tone turned playful in a flash. 

He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving her to have to jog just keep up with him. He led her into the galley, two long tables sat in the middle of the dining room, with long benches lining the sides of them and a chair sat at the head of one of them. Although 'chair' doesn't quite do it justice, it was almost like a small throne with its ornate detailing and armrests and high back tufted seat.