Two Prayers in Winter

I hurried into the front yard. I already tried very hard to be quiet, but Grandma still had a stormy expression on her face when she woke up. "So much noise this early in the morning. Are you jealous of Mia and trying to keep her from having a good sleep when she is home for a change?"

She kept her voice low, but her eyes were full of spite. When she saw that I hadn't finished making breakfast, she grabbed my hair in anger. "And you slacked off? What time did you even get up this morning?"

I endured the pain and whispered an apology. "I'm sorry, Grandma. I'm sorry. I'll finish right away..."

I didn't dare give the two strangers too much food with her watching me. Even so, her hand still slapped me across my face. "You lazy and greedy good-for-nothing. Go back to the shed and stop wandering around in front of your sister."

I lowered my head and left quickly, terrified that the next strike would be even more painful.

Back in the shed, Emma stood up as soon as she saw me, and her eyes fixed on the fading red mark on my face. "Someone hit you?"

Zayne didn't speak, but his expression darkened.

I pretended I didn't hear it as I brought in a small stool from outside, then set a bowl of oats on it. "Breakfast. Split it. I have work to do."

Emma grabbed my wrist quickly. "Then what about you? You're not eating?"

"I ate." But the moment I lied, my stomach started to growl.

"She didn't eat last night either," Zayne said suddenly, his dark eyes fixed on me.

"They abuse you?" Emma frowned.

They were about to say more when Grandma shrieked from outside, "Hazel Sand! Where did you run off to?! Get over here and get to work!"

I rushed out as I said, "Eat it all. If you waste it, I'll get scolded again."

In the courtyard, Grandma had already grabbed two chickens with her bare hands.

On normal days, she would count every egg and hide them, afraid I would steal even one. Now that Mia was back, she casually decided to kill two chickens for her.

"Chicken soup is nutritious and especially good for a growing girl. We can eat one, and you can take the other one back to the city," she said as she smiled warmly at my parents, almost as though she had forgotten I was a growing girl, too.

"Go, slaughter the chicken." She shoved the knife into my hand. The cold metal against my skin made me flinch on instinct.

"What are you standing there for? Getting lazy again?!" Grandma kicked me in the back. I stumbled, and the blade of the knife sliced my hand and tore across the chicken's throat. Blood sprayed up and covered my face.

Blood poured from my hand, too, but I had not even considered treating it yet when my grandma saw my bleeding hand and screamed, "Go away! You can't even do something like this right. Your blood is so filthy... You did that on purpose, didn't you?! Forget about lunch today!"

I was shoved back into the shed in a daze, shivering all the way.

Emma had already heard everything that happened outside, and she had been watching through the crack in the door. She scrambled over to bandage me, and when she held my wrist, she froze.

My arm was so thin it was almost all bone. My hands were dark and rough, covered in hard skin and cracks from frostbite.

Outside, I heard my parents and Mia's voices.

"The snow on the mountain is so pretty! I want to take pictures!"

"Okay, but you have to dress warmly, or you'll catch a cold."

"Where is Big Sis? She's always up the mountain. Let her guide us."

"What's the point? That kid isn't close to us. Bringing her along just makes things awkward."

Emma's face sank.

"Are they really your parents?"

"Probably," I muttered as I walked out again mechanically.

After I finished the day's work, I snuck a little food out for the two people in the shed.

That night, Emma refused to sleep on the bed with Zayne. She lay on the floor with me instead.

She touched my forehead, and her face went pale. I was burning up. She quickly took off her jacket and wrapped me in it.

Warmth and a clean scent I had never known enveloped me whole.

I froze for a second, but the tears came first.

I wanted to call out 'Mom', but I forced it back down.

Maybe it was the fever, but even my heart felt warm that night.

When I woke up the next day, the sky was already bright.

Grandma was cursing in the courtyard, and I jolted upright in reflex. "I overslept! No, I..."

Emma and Zayne heard it too and reached for me, but I was already stumbling outside. I fell hard at Grandma's feet. "You filthy little thing! You're getting lazier by the day! Oh, were you busy taking care of that trouble in the shed? You would rather take care of that outsider instead of your own family?!"

She grabbed my hair as she laughed with anger and dragged me away. With her other hand, she snatched up the iron shovel nearby and slammed it into my back. I curled into a ball from the pain, gasping even as I shook.

"It's so boring, Grandma. I want to build a snowman," Mia said, speaking as though she didn't see Grandma beating me. Her eyes shifted, and she then pointed at me. "Let Big Sis be the snowman!"

She scooped up a ball of snow and smeared it across my face, then called sweetly toward my parents. "Mom, Dad, come play too!"

My parents walked over, ignoring me on the ground where I was dying, and gently helped Mia put on her gloves. "Be careful. Don't catch a cold."

Mia giggled and shoveled snow onto me. Ice slid down my collar as I shook uncontrollably, my face turning gray from the cold, but all I could hear was the scolding from my parents. "It's simply a little snow. Can't you just play along with your sister for once?"

Then a voice cut in. "You don't want to raise the girl, right? I will. How much? Name a price."