The Girl and The Tiger

Venice

There is a place where magic caresses your cheek as you fall into dreams of beauty or darkness.  Where winged lions watch over the people and angels sing songs late into the dark and crisp November nights.  Where roads of water make up a pattern so that you can trace lines on a map and yet never dare trace the back roads for fear of getting lost in its puzzling design.  In this city are roads and paths that lead to nothing and no one - not even the oldest of the old and the wisest of the wise know all the nooks and crannies of the alley ways that make up the maze of Venice.  Then, one day in the town square, a young man and woman fell in love.

As much as couples were brought together in this city, whether it be the singing angels or winged lions, a romances foundation cannot always promise to hold.  The young man and woman got married in the town square of their new home town, soon bringing with them a baby girl they gave the name Lavi. They raised their child and lived a pleasant 5 years with her, until sadly their loves foundation began to crumble.  They grew distant, claiming they needed space, when what they really needed was to be brave; brave enough to address eachother and the problems they refused to acknowledge they had.  In the end you could consider them cowards.

The young girl, once stuck observing from the sidelines, seemed to have been pushed out of her parents minds and replaced with grief and frustration. 
Lavi soon realized she had to fend for herself. 
Her mother, who had chosen to stay in Venice after their divorce, would occasionally buy groceries and the girl would eat what there was to eat. She went to school, as legally required, and learned with open eyes and a bright smile.  Lavi loved to learn, even if her favourite time of day was lunch in the cafeteria, when she need not worry about whether or not she would be fed.

Although poorly looked after in her home life, Lavi had also been given a strong sense of freedom.  After 4 years of freely exploring Venice, she was able to easily navigate to her three favorite destinations at the age of nine and a half.  As the nine year old saw it, the half was undeniably essential when asked how old she was by others.

Her number one favourite place to visit was the park where she would laugh as she swung from trees and launch herself down the slides.
Her second favorite spot was the market place, where she could see all the different people and sights that they had brought with them from around the world.  And last but not least, her third favourite location was located at the docks near her home. Her mother wasn't the biggest fan of water, afraid of it even, and only had the desire to stay there due to her ex-huaband's love of the city.  Having no other place to go after the separation, she didnt have the will to seek housing any place else. Lavi, seeing her mothers disliking of the waters, spent as much time as she could there too prove to her mother the beauty of it all.

Not that it helped much.

Although her attempts seemed like they might work, her mother never payed enough attention to her daughter to acknowledge her passion, and instead slept away her life, forgetting the world.

Oh, how Lavi loved them though. The swirling waves and deep depths of water that seemed to hold the cities secrets - she longed to some day swim in them.  She longed to, but sadly didn't know how.

Lavi wasn't sad though, far from it. As lonely as she seemed, she was not effected by her lack of attention.
She had the shadows.  Lavi, growing up unnoticed, was a master of concealing her emotions, appearance, and even existence, allowing her to sneak pieces of bread and fruit from shop keepers unnoticed more often than not.

She didn't know any better.

She was only a child.

Correction: She did know better. She was a clever girl; an innocent, little, dark haired clever girl with the mind of a thief.

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Hi!
If you got to reading this then thank you, I appreciate it! 

Anyway, I started writing this around 2 or so years ago,(age 13), and have recently been combing my way back through the chapters in order to fix my past writing mistakes and oh boy... are there a lot of them.  Not spelling mistakes per say, but more the wording I used and have decided I'm unhappy with.  The next few chapters will still be in the editing process, so if you're just starting this now please be patient with me.  Thanks.

-Jax

Word Count: 823
Date: March 30th, 2019