Morning arrived quietly, the pale sunlight slipping through the thin curtains. Nina slowly opened her eyes, still hugging her teddy bear close to her chest. For a moment, she stayed still, waiting. Every morning after nights like that, her mother would come back. Bruised, tired, but smiling softly as if nothing had happened.
But this morning was different.
The apartment was silent.
Nina climbed out of bed and walked through the small rooms. "Mummy?" she called softly. No answer came. The kitchen was empty. The living room was still scattered with the remains of last night's chaos. Her tiny heart began to pound.
"Mummy?" she called again.
Still nothing.
Clutching her teddy bear tightly, Nina stepped outside barefoot. The cold ground pressed against her wounded feet, but she didn't stop. She wandered through the narrow streets, peeking around corners, looking down every road she could see.
"Mummy!"
Mummy where are you.
Her small voice echoed through the quiet neighborhood. People passed by, busy with their own lives, barely noticing the tiny girl searching desperately.
She walked and walked, her little legs growing tired, her eyes red and swollen from crying. She looked behind houses, near shops, down the empty street corners.
But her mum was gone.
Passerby looked at her wondering what a little girl was doing all alone outside.
Some came up to her asking if she was looking for something.
Nina cried!"
"I'm looking for my mummy"
Some people gathered to understand the situation.
Then a neighbor said
It seems like the mother of the child has left
"It's so sad because I knew how the woman cried every night while being beaten by her husband."
They woman said.
People signed consoled her and went to their various work.
---------------
They night Nina was scolded by her mum
She couldn't endure anymore she left that night with her stuffs.
Promise to never return again.
Nina cried heavily.
No warm hands to comb her hair.
No mummy to hold her.
Not even a Dad to console her.
No quiet stories about butterflies in faraway gardens.
Just silence.
Tears fell from her eyes silently because she knew her life would never become the same again.
She would stay alone forever without someone who loves her.
And that was how a four-year-old child's dream died.
She was just a girl.
A little girl who had expected the world to be kind.
But the world flew far beyond her reach, like a butterfly she could never catch.