Satzu - reliable

prologue

Small, tapping footsteps were audible. In every little jump between the steps there was silent excitement but mostly nervousness.

The little girl with her dark hair worn in two adorable braids and a white dress that seemed to happily bounce with every step made an effort to not step on the gaps between the tiles on the white, grey marble floor.

Her hopping brought the little girl purposely towards a huge, dark wooden door which would confidently lead towards a large living room encircled by glass windows which would grant a glance at cute, little snowflakes dancing in the glow of vintage lanterns, covered with snow. Also the carefully trimmed lawn would be tucked in by a visibly untouched, twinkling blanket made out of snow. The living room would be literally glooming because of a huge, palatially decorated Christmas tree, surrounded by dozens of prettily wrapped Christmas presents.

All of that was not visible for the little girl even though she tried to concentratedly peek through the keyhole. Without wanting it to, she felt the excitement rising within her. That kind of excitement that only children are able to feel.

Careful not to make a noise, the little girl leaned her head against the warm, wooden door, holding her breath to be able to hear her parents voices. As not even a silent whispering reached her ear, the little girl stepped a little away from the door, not really caring anymore that her glossy polished, little shoes touched the gap between two tiles.

Both of her tiny hands were holding onto each other, squeezing tightly while she was closing her eyes in desperate hope, she would enter the living room, being welcomed by her parents smiling at her. She was too young to seriously remember how it had been the year before but suddenly such an overwhelming loneliness reached her heart that she flinched towards the big door, finally opening it.

Her big, deerlike eyes scanned the room carefully, feeling her heart drop with every second. She was alone with tons of presents in a luxurious established living room. But the only word that counted was "alone". It was also the only feeling that counted.

With a rising feeling of bitter disappointed that only children are able to feel, she sat down on the light brown parquet floor which her white dress was absurdly perfectly matching with and didn't even try to stop the tears that started floating out of her eyes like small waterfalls. Everything felt so upsettingly unfair. How could everything around her look so perfect when she herself felt like the opposite. She didn't even want to look at the presents.

After a while of silent tears individually dropping on the tulle of her dress, the little girl noticed a little whimpering coming from a small package underneath the Christmas tree. As she slowly removed the gift wrapping paper, a little puppy which was sitting in a small box looked at her pleadingly.

While shaking her head about how someone could have dared to put such an adorable creature into such a small cage, the little girl released the tiny dog and looked at him with her head slightly tilted. Carefully, she pulled him on her lap, silently hugging him while noticing that the dog felt less tensed with her presence and started cuddling towards her.

Her tears hadn't completely stopped streaming but her lips formed a little, sad smile while sitting on the parquet floor, hugging her little dog for the following hours.