The Lies We Sow

Part 1

The suns rays streamed into the room and landed on a small desk where an even smaller clock rested. The clock struck 6:00 AM and the sound of an alarm blared through the room, shattering the silence that engulfed it. A loud groan was emitted from beneath a pile of blankets as the alarm continued to drone through the room.  The blankets moved slightly before falling to the ground to reveal a young girl with glazed eyes and messy hair. The girl yawned softly before sitting up straight and beginning her task of finding the horrendous beeping that had disturbed her fitful sleep. After a moment of looking her eyes rested upon the small clock and her hand shot out in annoyance. In seconds the sound had ended and the girl collapsed back on her bed, waited for the sleep to claim her, but the sleep never came. Instead the blurriness cleared from her eyes and she became more aware of her surroundings, her eyes finally coming to rest on the small clock that now read 6:25 AM.

Gradually, she clambered out of her bed and went about her morning routine. Showering, dressing herself, and as she was leaving her room, she picked up her charm bracelet. It was a peculiar thing; with its simple chain, strange charms, and single broken loop from where a charm, long since lost, used to hang. The girl smiled to herself before carefully fastening it to her wrist.
    Most people of course would throw the old thing out, but not her. The missing charm served as a strange reminder of the events of last summer, when she had deliberately pulled it off and chucked it at the reddened ground. It was a strange charm, one she had found at a garage sale years before. The charm itself was a small locked box no bigger than your average charm, but when unlocked was large enough to hold a small piece of paper. A piece of paper, which if ever discovered, would completely ruin her.
    The girl gently smiled to herself, remembering the memory fondly, before heading downstairs to where her family was waiting. She bounced off the last step and bounded towards the kitchen where she was met with kind, but rather blank stares from her parents.
    "Ready to go?" Her mother asked flatly and without a hint of emotion.
    "Everyone is already in the car." Her father added in a monotonous voice.
    "Sure, let's get going." Was her cheerful reply as she bounded out the door. A large smile plastered across her face as the family's car pulled out of the driveway and onto the empty road ahead.

That smile never once left her face during the long trip from her home to her family's destination and it continued to stay there as the car pulled up alongside the large hole in the ground known as the Grand canyon, and why would the smile fade? The young girl had many fond memories of the place, as her family visited there often.
    "Go on and take a look." The mother said in her signature flat voice.
    "Your mother’s right." The girl's father agreed. "Go be kids for  awhile."
    The children happily exited the car and raced to the lookout point. The girl and her three siblings were quite pleased to be at their favorite vacation sight and the children danced around and took pictures while their parents removed something that resembled a rolled up carpet from the trunk of the car. If the kids had been paying attention they might have noticed the look their mother cast over her shoulder as she quickly adjusted the fabric and hid the small trace of a boot that was peeking out from beneath the carpet, but as with most people who are uninterested the children paid them no mind and continued to giggle amongst themselves. Of course, as most tragic stories go, their fun was not to last.
    A gentle sound, like the shaking of a rattle, suddenly filled the dusty air and the girl glanced about, wondering what could be the cause of such a strange noise. She didn't have to look long.
    "Snake!" The girl shrieked, but it was too late. The snake had already sunk its fangs into the soft flesh of her younger sister’s leg and suddenly a shout of pain arose from the mouth of the small child.