Everything felt right that day till her father came back, drunk as always.
Same arguing, same cursing, same tears.
Nina huddled in the far corner of the living room, her tiny back pressed against the wall, teddy bear clutched tightly to her chest.
The room smelled of alcohol and bitter words.
Her father's angry shouts filled the air, each word sharp and venomous, while her mother's soft sobs echoed in response.
"I told you to bring more money!" her father barked, staggering with rage. "You can never do anything right!" Her mother's quiet voice trembled, trying to reason, to calm him, but it was useless. Nina didn't understand why the shouting never ended, why her father's anger always found her mother.
She only knew her mother's pain, the way her small body shook with each blow, and the helplessness that weighed heavy on Nina's tiny shoulders. She hugged her teddy closer, wishing she could make the world stop, wishing she could take the blows herself, wishing somehow the pain would vanish. But she could do nothing. She was just a four-year-old girl in a house where no one noticed her fear or her tears.
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HER DREAM
That night, Nina clutched her teddy bear tightly as she lay in bed. The darkness of her room no longer felt as heavy, because in her mind, she could fly far away. She imagined a garden bathed in golden sunlight, where flowers of every color swayed gently in the breeze.
Butterflies danced gracefully above the blossoms, their wings sparkling like tiny rainbows. In this garden, her mother's laugh echoed freely, soft and warm, not weighed down by pain or fear.
Nina smiled, imagining herself as a small butterfly, flitting beside her mother, safe from the world's cruelty. The crashing anger of her father, the shouting, the fear it all faded into the background. In her dreams, she could hug her mother without trembling, speak to her without fear, and fly together, high and free.
The garden became her secret refuge, a place where love and safety existed, where she could be just a child again, and where hope had room to grow..