Part 1: My Home

"Umm... Is my brother not here?"

Just waking up, the first thing I find is that the bed on the other side of the room is empty... Seriously, Luty, it's always the same when you wake up before me; you leave the bed a mess. At least you should tidy up the sheets.

I decided it would be best to get ready, I took off my one-piece pajamas and took out the clothes I would wear from one of the drawers in our closet. Today I want to go out for a walk with Luty, so it's better if I put on something comfortable. I put on a red dress, with white pants and my favorite boots. They're suuuper comfy and soft! A brown color similar to the hot chocolate mom makes every winter day.

After getting dressed and making sure I was ready in front of the mirror, I excitedly opened the door and then jumped down the stairs two at a time. When I was halfway down the stairs, I saw my mom, who was wearing a beautiful green dress, looking at me as if she was about to scold me...

"Freyja? Be careful please! You could get hurt."

And yes, she scolded me... I pouted and calmly went down the remaining stairs.

"Well..."

I went through the whole house looking for Luty; I passed through the kitchen which consisted of a stone table, which I could barely peek over to see what was on it, and a stone oven, where mom and dad cooked the things that needed fire. But Luty wasn't there... Thinking that maybe he was in the living room, I ran there, I looked behind the couch where mom sat to read us books, whenever she did that, we would listen on the rug while enjoying the warmth provided by the fireplace... Where are you Luty...?

"If you're looking for your brother, he should be outside with your father."

I turned around with a huge smile to see my mom, she always had a warm look... Or at least when she wasn't scolding us, but even then she was very kind to us the rest of the time!

"Thanks, Ma'!"

I ran past her, it's not fair that my brother started playing with dad while I was still asleep! I went out the main entrance, he wasn't in the front yard... They couldn't have gone to the woods behind the house as the fence was still closed, so they hadn't gone to the village... After checking behind the tree, I confirmed they weren't there either, and I was starting to feel annoyed.

Where could they have gone? Could it be that they left without me...? Maybe it would be best to go back inside... But mom was at the main door with a huge smile, pointing at the shed in the backyard while winking at me...

Why would she...? Aaah!! They're hiding!!! I ran to the shed and opened the door with all my might, slightly hurting my hand in the process, but I decided to ignore it thinking it was just a scrape. That's when I saw them, dad was laughing while my brother seemed a bit upset that I had found them.

"Dad, don't laugh!! She must have cheated!"

"Come on, now, Lutero, your sister found us fair and square."

"But you said I could visit the market alone, if she didn't find us before break-..."

Luty fell silent while staring at me...

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Pa'... Frey's hand..."

My hand?

I opened both my hands to look at them, realizing that the hand I had used to open the door was bleeding, the wound turned out to be deeper than I thought...

It stings, I hadn't noticed before, but now that I see it while blood comes out of the cut, it stings a lot... I started crying, it hurts a lot and I don't like seeing the blood...

"Daughter, calm down, it's just a small cut."

Dad got up calmly and, as I watched him, I felt the tears running down my face as the cold breeze chilled my cheeks... He picked me up, without stopping smiling, to take me inside, while firmly holding my hand, applying pressure to the wound the whole way.

It's not fair... It hurts, dad! You can't put on that face when I feel so bad. Although I have to admit that it helped calm me down a little...

"What happened to our daughter??" Mom asked, worried.

"She's okay, it's just a cut, look."

Dad laid me down on the living room couch and lifted my hand to show mom the cut which, for some reason, was no longer bleeding as much as before...

"I applied some pressure to the wound, we just need to clean it and cover it with a cloth... So everything will be fine, right my girl?"

He turned to look at me after saying that last part, I had calmed down a bit after seeing that I wasn't bleeding anymore, but my eyes were stinging... I nodded a bit uncomfortably, I don't like being seen crying.

"I see... Stay with her, dear, I'm going to get the medicine."

Ma' left the living room, leaving me with Pa' and Luty... Luty was sitting on the rug, alternating his gaze between dad and me...

"So can I go out and play alone...?"

"Hey! Lutero! Now is not the time. Your sister is not well."

Dad looked at him very seriously... I don't understand why he's upset, he just wants to go out and play...

"If she can't, let me go out alone!"

"LUTERO!"

I got scared for a moment, dad was really upset... I looked at my brother, he had also gotten scared. His eyes seemed to tremble, but when he saw me his expression changed to one similar to dad's...

"... It's always about her!"

After saying this, he ran off, I could hear the wooden steps creaking. He must have gone to our room...

"Co- Come back! You have to apologize!"

Pa' was about to go after Luty... He was surely going to scold him again, I don't want that... I took dad's arm with my good hand before he left.

"Don't scold him please..."

He looked at me for a few seconds in silence, and then sat down on the rug without saying a word.

Shortly after, mom arrived; she cleaned my wound with water, applied a gray cream that they always used when my brother or I got hurt, after spreading it well over the wound she covered it with a piece of white cloth which applied pressure to my hand... When they were done, they told me they needed to talk, so they left leaving me alone on the living room couch.

I should see how Luty is doing... I get up to go to the stairs, my hand no longer hurts like before so I'm fine. When I tried to open the bedroom door, I found it was locked... I knocked on the door a couple of times.

"Luty...? Can I come in?"

"..."

He doesn't answer... Sometimes it's hard being the older one, even though we're only two years apart I feel responsible for him and I'm sure he's upset with me because I ruined his day of exploration, he could only do it when I was with him and that's because where we explore is the market, which is at the other end of the village. I sat down on the floor, leaning my back against the wall next to the door.

"Don't be like that... You know dad only got upset by how you talked to him..."

"... It's always the same... Why won't they let me go out without you? I can take care of myself just fine."

"Maybe, but, you know? I would feel very sad if you left me behind... We're siblings, right...?"

"..."

I don't know what to do to make him feel better, I'm really worried. But dad also went too far, why did he have to get so upset? There should be something that makes him feel better... Luty loves exploring and our parents only let him go that far when he's with me, so...

"L-Luty... What if we go to the market today?"

"Dad won't let us go, he'll surely punish me..."

"I'll talk to him! That's why I'm the older one!"

"Can we really go out...?"

"Yep."

"Promise me??"

You could already start to feel some excitement in his voice, he didn't sound so sad anymore. Good! I have to make sure we go out so he's not sad!

"Trust me!"

I got up with a little jump and went down the stairs until I was outside the house. Mom and dad were talking in the garden... They seemed a bit serious.

"...And I'm telling you they shouldn't keep going there until they're older, it's dangerous!"

Dad realized I was there and put his hand on mom's shoulder, interrupting what she was saying while pointing at me.

"Oh sorry dear... Is something wrong?"

Mom turned her attention to me while dad remained silent.

"I want to go to the market with Luty! I promised him we would go..."

Ma' turned around to look at my dad, he just sighed and crouched down to be at my height.

"Listen, Frey... Mom and I were talking and... It's best if you stop going there until you're older, okay? It's dangerous for you to go without us..."

"..."

Huh...? Until now there had never been a problem... I don't want to disobey them, but, but...

"It's not fair! Luty and I are always careful when we go! If we're together there's no problem!!"

Pa' looked at mom again, as if he was asking her something mentally and, to my surprise, mom seemed to hear his non-existent question and just shook her head side to side in denial...

"I'm sorry, dear... But dad and I have already made the decision..."

After looking at them for a few seconds in silence, I just turned around and went into the house. As I went up the stairs, all I could think about was what I would tell Luty...

It saddens me that we can't go to the market anymore, but if I tell him that he's going to get really upset with me... I told him to trust me.

As those thoughts flooded me, I found myself face to face with the door to our room. I have to prepare... I sighed wearily and knocked on the door.

"Um... Luty?"

The door opened abruptly and I could see my brother's face smiling from ear to ear, he was very happy... How am I supposed to tell him that not only can we not go today, but also that we can never go again?

"Are we leaving already?? Look, I prepared everything!"

He was carrying his favorite backpack pretty full, it looked a bit heavy... He must have stored fruits from the kitchen so we could eat on the way... No, there's no way I can tell him. Sorry mom, dad, I'll take whatever punishment you decide for not listening to you when we get back...

"Y Yes! We're leaving! Just... Hmm... We have to wait a little!"

"Okay!"

Luty was still very happy. For us to be able to leave, we would have to wait for dad and mom to go up to their room, but I don't know how long they might take... So Luty wouldn't suspect anything, I pretended to check that nothing was missing from the backpack while we waited, I even put in extra coats "just in case", telling my brother that maybe we'll need them... And then I heard them, they were talking as they went up the stairs, they passed in front of our room and went to the master bedroom at the end of the hallway... Okay! Now is when we should leave!

"Well! Everything is ready, let's go Luty!"

Before they could suspect anything, I gave him the backpack to carry and took his hand to hurry him up, we went down the stairs, went out the main door and removed the doorknob on the house fence to open it. We were on our way to the market.