The first day

I looked and I saw fear. It was a nameless fear, something I couldn't understand. But the fear in her eyes was real. It made me scared.

"Mummy, what's wrong?"

A straightforward, direct question. As I expected a straightforward, direct answer. Fear always has a reason.

"Shh. It's going to be okay, honey."

A direct answer indeed. Now I truly was scared. When your mother tells you that its going to be alright, you can be sure that something terrible is imminent.

My lip trembled.

"Is Daddy coming home soon?"

Things were always better when daddy was around. Even though daddy never says that everything was going to be okay.

But Mummy didn't answer. She just continued to stuff things into a large sack. I don't know why she did that. She even stuffed Damien's Tutu into the sack. Damien wasn't going to like that. I opened my mouth to tell her that but she cut me off before I could say anything.

"Go play outside, sweetie."

Hmpf. That could only mean that she didn't want me bothering her. Which could only mean that something "adultsy" was going on. And nobody ever tells a big girl anything "adultsy".

I stomped off towards the front door.

It was hot outside. Very hot. Mummy said that it was the hottest summer in a decade. That means that it has only ever been this hot during the summer that I was born. Strange. That means I'm a summer girl, I guess. A very hot summer girl.

I wandered off in search of Gana. Gana might let me water the plants for him. He does, sometimes. But only when he's happy. I don't like it when Gana is sad.

But something suddenly caught my eye. Something strange. A little black cloud had formed on the horizon. And as I watched, it grew bigger. And bigger. And bigger. It looked like a raincloud. What Daddy called a "cu-mu-lo-nim-bus". But it was funny for a raincloud. It just kept getting bigger.

Then the gate behind me creaked, and I turned.

And then I was really scared.