The Mother's Heart

Chapter 1

My child walks out of the oddly small building and moves towards me. Her light brown hair is being thrown around by the wind. Her freckled face has a bright smile and she is seemingly, glowing. We start walking towards the gate, which is next to the entrance (also known as the exit). I decide to stop her mind from wondering.

"Hey, Zo how was school?" I question my almost ten-year-old daughter whilst she slips her hand into mine.

"Well mummy, I had a lot of work. I did Maths, English and Science. It was hard. I also-" She moves her hand out of mine to list what else she has done in school. She struggles in school due to her lack of friends. They dislike her because she is a naturally smart girl. It's not like she does revision at home or anything, she's just smart, it's in her genes.

My daughter is capable of many things. She is very creative as well as smart. She can sing, it isn't the best because she hasn't learnt how to sing properly. It's raw talent. 

Even though she is such an amazing girl, the other kids, they pick on her. They're scared of what she is capable of, especially because she is a girl. She soon finishes talking leaving room for me to pick up the conversation.

"So did anyone say or do anything to you today?" I speak in a slow manner so that she won't start crying. She looks over in my direction as her beautiful brown eyes glaze over. "Awww sweetie what happened?" I question over dramatically.

She stops instantly and turns towards me, opening her arms for me to move towards her. I place my hands under her armpits and lift her with very little force. Pulling her towards me, I carry on walking. I talk to her as I move onwards down the path.

After a few minutes, I sit down on a red painted bench. "Hey, babe, look wer-" She lifts her head and looks over her shoulders at either side. Realising where we are, she jumps off my lap and enters the building opposite us.

It's a small and red bricked with a sign in the window. The sign has a cute cupcake design. The cake in the window is small and has an overenthusiastic expression. A white speech bubble that leads from its mouth has the text 'Welcome to dastardly deserts' printed on the inside. The building is so small that if I hadn't lived here before it was added. I would never have noticed it even existed. However, I was lucky.

Entering the quaint building I let my eyes dart about till they land on my little Zora. "Hey, baby girl, what do ya' want?" I speak in a calm and soothing voice. Over the years I have learnt that it helps to stop the little worriers. It also helps to calm me down.

"Mummy, can I please have this?" She points towards a small cake with decorative icing on it. Beside it, there is a small sign that says 'ONE FREE SCOOP OF ICECREAM WITH EACH CUPCAKE'. She looks at me with pleading eyes, without even needing to.

I smile my most genuine smile and look towards the employee. She is wearing a pink polo-shirt with a bright white apron and has one of the biggest smiles I've seen in such a long time. She understands what my daughter wants and is happy to hand the cake to Zora.

"Hello Darling would you like some ice cream with that?" the employee sweetly asks. Zora slowly nods and aims her pointer finger at the green ice cream that has chocolate chips. The employee grabs the scoop and collects some ice cream on it. She places it on a plate and hands it to Zora.

"That will be three - twenty," She says as she I let my hand rummage through my handbag for my purse. When I can make out its distinct shape I lift my hand and unzip the purse. I reach in and grab four pounds, twenty pence.

"Here you go-" I drag out the - 'o' within the sentence.

"Baily." She speaks and points towards the name tag I had not noticed earlier.