**'A lost bud, born without love and warmth.'**
In a small cottage in a remote village, there lived a little girl with her mother. Every night, her mother would leave for work, leaving the girl alone in the small house. Most of the time, the mother would bring a man home and kick the poor girl out. Tonight was one of those nights.
"Hey, you! Get out of the house now. Don't come back until we leave, do you understand?" the mother said, shoving the girl out of the house.
"Yes, Mommy..." the girl answered timidly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Don't call me Mommy! I'm not your mom! You don't have a mother, remember?" the mother yelled, pushing the girl so hard she almost fell.
The child said nothing, knowing that if she spoke another word, her mother would hit her. She nodded silently, stepped outside, and sat on the cold stairs of the porch. While her mother stayed inside the warm house with a man who wasn't her father, the girl sat alone in the cold, dark night, wearing only a thin piece of cloth.
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**'Lacking in both water and sunlight.'**
The little girl's stomach rumbled as she sat on the porch. Her mother had forgotten to leave her any food, and the only meals she ever had were the leftovers her mother brought home. As a result, the child was thin and malnourished.
But it wasn't always like this. Sometimes, when her mother wasn't home, a kind widow from across the street would give her food. The girl never mentioned it to her mother, fearing it might cause trouble for the kind lady.
"Did your mom bring another guy inside?" the lady asked, sitting beside the girl and handing her a lunchbox.
"Hmm..." The girl hummed a soft yes, already wolfing down the food.
"Slow down, or you'll choke. Here, have some water. Aren't you cold? Your clothes are too thin." The lady removed her jacket and draped it over the girl.
Gulping down the water, the girl looked up and smiled. "You're really kind, Miss. I wish my mom were as kind as you!"
The lady was stunned by the girl's words and the warm, innocent smile that radiated from her. She thought, *This child deserves so much more love than what she's getting. She's too young to endure this, especially from her own mother.*
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**'A bud that hasn't bloomed yet—is its fate always unknown?'**
After finishing the meal, the girl thanked the lady for the food and the jacket.
"Miss, can you tell me your name? I don't know what to call you," the girl said cheerfully, smiling.
"Oh, my name's Iris. You can call me that. And what about you?" The lady couldn't help but smile back.
"I don't know. Mommy says I don't have a name," the girl replied, as if the question were strange.
"What?! You don't have a name? Then how old are you?" Iris asked, shocked. How could a child her age not have a name?
"I'm seven. Tomorrow's my birthday. Before, when Mommy had a boyfriend and was happy, we celebrated my birthday at home. That's why I want Mommy to be happy again—because she's always nice to me when she's happy," the girl said, a flicker of hope in her eyes.
The girl smiled brightly—a smile that hadn't graced her face in a long time. Little did they know, her mother was watching them from the window.
---
**'Beaten by the wind, seeking protection.'**
Cries and screams of pain echoed through the small cottage, and anyone who heard them would pity the child.
"What do you think you're doing with that woman, huh? Are you asking for her pity? Did you really think I wouldn't find out? What will people think? That I'm a worthless mother who can't even feed her child?" the mother yelled, beating the girl relentlessly.
"I-I'm sorry, M-Mommy... M-Miss Iris was o-only being n-nice because she h—" The girl couldn't finish her sentence before her mother struck her face, causing her to fall to her knees.
The child could do nothing but cry out in pain, apologizing repeatedly for something that didn't warrant an apology. The only thought in her mind was that her mother was all that mattered. The pain would eventually pass, and one day, her mother would be happy and kind again.
"I only kept you so your father would give me money, but now even he doesn't want you. You're a curse—that's why no one wants you! Stay in your room, and you'll never see that woman again!" After one final kick, the mother left the room, locking the bruised and battered girl inside, alone in the dark.
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**'Will the bud ever see sunlight again?'**