When Mia met Casper

|Chapter One| - Our ends are beginnings

| C H A P T E R O N E | Our ends are beginnings

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18TH JANUARY 1997 | 8:00 PM

your mothers dead, mia. she's dead.

haha she's dead! you'll never get to see her again. eventually you'll forget the sound of the voice that put you to sleep each night and the smell of cigarettes and lavender and the arms you used to call home. eventually you will forget.

you will forget...

forget....

STOOOOOP!

"Sweetheart are you okay?" Donna asks worriedly, rushing over towards the little girl that lay still on the cold ground. Donna gently helps.the girl to her feet and dusts off the snow that covers her back, "You must be careful where you tread on, Mia. The roads very slippery."

"Okay...."

It was immensely cold outside, was Mia Maxwell's first thought as she stepped out into the bitter January night. The cold air bit at her relentlessly, slipping into her clothes and biting every inch of skin. It stung her like a snake inflicting venom into a wound, and she welcomed it. Sometimes, she thought, sometimes it is better to feel pain, than to feel nothing at all.

It had been a year since the unfortunate death of her mother. During the first few weeks of her death, everyone walked on egg shells when it came to Mia. She was as fragile as a house of cards, they had thought. She'd end up falling apart eventually. It will all sink in, sooner or later.

Your mothers dead, Mia. She's dead.

"Should we go inside?" Mia shrugs her shoulders in response, her eyes trailing across the floor. Thick white snow coated the pavement like frosting on a cake. It felt like shaved ice under her feet, only thinner, gleaming under the light of street lamps. She kicks the snow in the air, letting it slowly drift down like fresh snowflakes falling from the sky. Suddenly, the memory of making snow angels with her father two years ago raced across her mind. She shook her head, trying to rid-off the memories that she had tried so hard to forget. She wanted to wipe out every single thing about the monster that haunted her dreams. She still had nightmares about him. She still remembered him. She tried so hard not to but he's somehow always there, always clinging onto the dark corners of her mind. Like he didn't want to leave. Doesn't want her to forget. How can you run away from the things that are in your head? That's the thing. You can't.

Warm hand reach out and give her a gentle, reassuring squeeze on her shoulder, "It'll be okay sweetheart. Everything's going to be okay."

Mia wishs that she could believe those words.

With one hand still resting on the little girls shoulders, the tired social worker gently knocks on the wooden door. Not even a second later, the door swings open, revealing a tall, honey coloured woman with huge golden curls and a smile that could melt the arctic. The young woman notices Mia staring up at her with those big green eyes and something in her chest tightens. She bends down to level herself with the little girl, reaching out for her hand to shaking it.

"You must be Mia," she beams, "I'm so glad to have finally met you. My name is Laila and I'll to be taking care of you from now on."

Mia wants to scoff. She had been promised this more often then not. The words have lost their meaning and they leave a bitter taste in her mouth.