Somewhere in the past...
It was seemingly an average day.
I was 10 years old at the time and despite everything, we still tried to keep ourselves afloat.
My mom had her stomach swollen with Mallow, so she didn't come out much at that time. And our dad was working in the mines.
To keep our spirits up, me and my older sister - Sylvie, were playing with each other. It didn't matter what game we were playing, be it something more boy-ish like cops and robbers or girl-ish like moms and daughters - what mattered most was the moment of respite that we had, the escape from reality. My sister would often help our mom, and I would often help my dad - so it was pretty stressful being there.
She wasn't keen on playing, but she always obliged. After all, I'm her family.
"Come on, sis, let's play!"
"Urgh... Fine. You'll be washing the dishes then."
... Though it would've been accurate that I sought the escape. She always had this expression of utter contempt and nihility. Our mom... Wasn't the best person around. She would often have "breakdowns" where she would break down crying and Sylvie had to hear all of it. She would even lash out on us and beat Sylvie before apologizing to her, but by then, the apologies rang hollow to us. And having to listen to the young brother's whims must've been too much.
Yet I kept bothering her, just because I wanted an escape.
It was selfish of me to not be curious about how she truly felt inside all those years.
"Alright, we'll be playing hide and seek. You seek, I hide - got it?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Geez, stop doing that. It's genuinely annoying."
Why did I agree to this?
Why did I want to play hide and seek specifically?
"Alright! I'm closing my eyes! One..."
We weren't supposed to be alone in the forest.
"Two..."
Our parents... No, every adult told us to stay away from it.
"Three..."
Yet we didn't listen, we never did.
"Four..."
We assumed it was just a scary tale to scare children off. We assumed that the forest was safe.
"Five..."
And it was. Nothing bad happened the first time we went here.
"Six..."
So we came back here.
"Seven..."
Again.
"Eight..."
Again
"Nine..."
And again.
"Ten!"
But we should have listened.
"Alright, I'm seeking you, Sylvie!"
At first I didn't assume anything. I thought I would easily find her as always. She wasn't good at hiding... Usually.
"Sylvie, whe-re a-re you?
But the forest was eerily silent. Not even a single rustle was heard.
Eventually I gave up searching and shouted.
"Sylvie, it isn't funny! I lose!"
Yet despite my loud declaration, nobody came. I started to panic.
"S-Sylvie?! W-Where are you?!"
I started to run around the forest, trying to find anything that could lead to Sylvie.
"Sylvieeeeseee!!!! Where are you?!?!?! Come on out, please!!!"
But I couldn't find anything. The thought of Sylvie going missing started to creep in. The thought I was dreading the most.
"Sylvie!!! Please!!! Come on out!!!"
I don't know how much I ran, how desperately I was trying to find her. To reassure myself that she was just pulling a prank on me.
"SYLVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! AAAAAAAARGHH!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! COME TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! UWAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE JUST COME ON OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Yet despite everything, I couldn't. I couldn't find her. I was crying loudly at that point. I just wanted to have my sister back. To reassure me. To say that she's there. To say that she went too far with her "prank". To say that we're going home together.
"S... S-Sy-Syl-v-vieeeee... P-Pl-Pleaaaaase... I'm sorryyyyyyyyyyy... I've been a-a-a ba-a-ad br-b-brothe-eee-eerr..."
Unfortunately, I will soon find out what happened to her.
I ended up returning home, bringing awful news to our household. My dad was understandably angry and ended up beating me black and blue for losing my sister. While mom... She was in stupor. She couldn't move an inch. She just stared blankly at the floor, not averting her gaze from it in the slightest.
The missing posters went up in the village and the search party was conducted. I was praying for the better. Thinking that she might've got stuck somewhere and good adults would return her to us.
But they only returned with a black bag.
"I'm... Sorry for your loss."
They wouldn't let us see her body. They said what had happened to her was too gruesome to show, especially to a child and a pregnant woman. All I knew is that all of her vital organs were gone and her corpse was defaced, and just like that, she was discarded deep in the forest, naked.
After that, I blamed myself for what happened to Sylvie. I wished that whoever did this to Sylvie could've claimed me instead. I was crying out loud, why wasn't I targeted?! Why she of all people was claimed?! What did she do to deserve any of this?! I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep at all after this. I always slept with Sylvie together in bed, so without her by my side, it felt extraordinarily empty. I tried to convince myself that it was all just a bad dream and I would wake up with Sylvie by my side, looking as grumpy, yet loving as ever... Yet I never woke up.
After that, I finally understood what Sylvie was going through all this time. Now I became the recipient of constant abuse and yelling. I hated this. I hated everything. Why were we born in this awful place?
Me and Sylvie could've been just average peasant children who nevertheless still had their family to rely on. Me and Sylvie could've lived the lavish lives of aristocrats who could've had all sweets in the world. Me and Sylvie just could've lived a normal life!
But it wasn't meant to be. Now Sylvie is dead.
And now Mallow was going to be born in this awful household.
I swore to myself to never look away from reality ever again.