I think that the contrast between the bleakness of the start and the color still in the protagonist's life provides a nice contrast when viewing into the story's world.
The story is easy to read and the imagery comes across clearly. As a result, intentions are easier to grasp too. Cheers!
It's too early to review the story. Basically, nothing happened yet :D Writing quality look ok to me but I am not native so it might be misleading.
I will check it out when you release more chapters. Good luck!
Jamison_C