In a wooden hallway inside of a small community hall, a girl sat on a chair far too large for her, her feet dangling off the ground as she held onto her doll. Her face showed no signs of distress, a blank stare into the wall across from her with her tiny mouth being stuck in a straight horizontal line. The hallway surrounding her was eerily blank; not a single painting or decoration was to be seen outside of a stuffed hanging over the door to her left. Through the thin walls, muffled voices of two adults seeped through, leaving little guesswork to as what they were quarrelling about.
"Sir, I'm not taking the girl."
"Oh, come on. Think of the girl, detective. She's out of options, to be frank with you."
The girl jumped from the sudden slam that shuddered through the building.
"Absolutely not. That look in her eyes... I lose sleep over those eyes. You haven't felt them bore into the back of your skull, so you wouldn't know. It's like she's quietly judging you for every little mistake you've ever made and it's..."
"Alright now, just calm down."
As one of the men in the other hyperventilated enough to be easily mistaken for a wild animal, the girl pulled in her doll a little tighter, with her legs creeping up towards her chest.
"She's sharp, she's smart and she's always calm. I remember you saying you always wanted another apprentice..."
"No is no. I'd appreciate it if you stopped pushing your problems onto me, mayor."
The room behind the girl went silent for a few moments, broken about twenty seconds later by some footsteps. Obviously irritated, he stomped out of the room, only stopping to turn towards the girl with an exhausted and frustrated look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do better for you."
The girl nodded once but before she had any time to respond with anything more than a head movement, the detective moved swiftly down the hall, leaving her line of sight within seconds. As he disappeared, another set of footsteps came from behind the girl. Almost immediately she forced her legs back down onto the seat, almost toppling forward as she did so, alongside placing her doll in her lap instead in her arms.
"Are you alright, sweetie?"
The mayor peeked their head around the door looking perplexed, but the girl responded with her sweetest smile that she could muster.
"I'm okay."