hen the pain became too much. I used strips torn from my hospital gown to clean and re-bandage my infected wounds. T

arged myself. No one

n life. I had a little bit of money saved, a secret account from

ed straight to the children's section. I bought boxes of crayons, stacks of noteb

gifts. The thought was a small, warm light in the darkness of my heart. For the first time in five

few remaining belongings. I carefully arra

, and when I came back,

floor. Crayons were snapped in half, notebooks r

dle of the wreckage, a

nce. "You can't buy me off. You can't just show up after fi

toy car. I snatched it out of h

you," I said, my v

ed. "What? Who else wo

e of your

he wall. "You are evil! Just like Scarlett said! You killed her flowers to get back a

her words, a perf

than life itself, and I felt nothing but a vast

cern. "Ethan, darling, what's wrong?" She rushed to his side, pulli

r, his little body shaking with sobs

of the room, whispe

ir the broken gifts. I taped the ripped pages of the noteboo

to the mansion. She was alone, and she l

in the hall. "

yes darted around nervously