Chapter 1: Under the shadows
Silver light from the lightning spread across the room and the noisy stormy sky continued raising the fears hidden deep down the hearts.
The sound of the raindrops slowly started and the fragrance of wet soil made the surroundings pleasant. Open windows turned the entire hotel room chilly with cold air gushing in and the waving white curtains made the scene more creepy.
A king-size bed is placed at the center of the room with a young beautiful lady dressed in see-through nightwear laid on it.
The picture looked enchanting and the contrast between the sleeping beauty and the stormy sky brought out a magical sensation.
The door to the room was opened and promptly closed. A blurry black shadow moved forward slowly towards the bed. The dark shadow came more and more closer to her with every passing second and it finally leaned towards the beauty on the bed.
--
"No..." A scream sounded in the silent room.
Isabella sat up with terror brewing in her heart, and her head aching tremendously.
Sweat dripping down from her forehead and tears forming underneath her eyes. Her palms sweaty and cold with her whole body shaking in fear.
Her heaving chest and dazed hazy eyes made her look like a pitiful bird kept bound in a hellish cage for millions of years.
"Mommy...." a little girl sleeping on the other side of the bed jolted and looked up at Isabella.
Hearing her daughter's voice, Isabella calmed down and hugged the little pie tightly close to her chest.
The little girl rubbed her mother's back with her tiny hands comforting her.
"Mommy... Don't cry. It's just a bad dream"
Isabella nodded lightly and continued holding her daughter for a long while.
"Don't worry mommy. I'm here with you" the cute little pie spoke in a sweet, cheery voice and wiped Isabella's teary face lessening her uneasiness.
The mother and daughter duo hugged each other and laid down again, drifting into sleep. A calm smile spread across both their faces.
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"Mommy...Good morning" the little pie spoke jumping on the bed and greeted her mother placing a kiss on Isabella's cheek.
Her daughter greeting her with a kiss and 'good morning' was the best thing Isabella would die to have every day.
Her fear of nightmares and lingering sleepiness were shooed right away with her daughter's kiss and with good spirits she jumped down the bed to start a new day.
Isabella rushed through a series of morning activities and finally walked into the kitchen to cook breakfast for herself and her daughter. The duo had a simple breakfast with toast, fried eggs, bacon, and milk.
Isabella had to rush to work specifically several odd-jobs only to meet their daily needs and also to keep up with the world's busy lifestyle and the rising cost of living.
Hence, she can't waste even a single minute and had to head out immediately.
Isabella picked her bag and ran towards the door.
"Mommy..." the child seated on the chair behind the coffee table in the living room shouted.
"What...?" Isabella who was almost at the door stopped in the way and turned around.
"You forgot something....." little cute pie spoke in a serious tone.
"What...? I Forgot something" Isabella started rummaging through her handbag and found everything she needed.
The child who was watching her mother's actions hurried towards the door and stood beside her mother.
She thought her mom would at least give her a goodbye kiss or a hug before leaving and she couldn't ask for one now making her mother feel guilty since Isabella already forgot about the morning kiss.
Isabella noticed her child and asked instantly "Baby... I've got everything I needed. What did I forget?"
The cutie pie opened her little hand and handed something to Isabella.
"This....." Isabella was stunned to find a string of glittering beads in her palm which looked more like a bracelet.
"Don't forget to wear this around your hand. You can look at it whenever you miss me. You'll feel better with this around"
The cutie pie tugged her mother's skirt asking her mother to lower herself and gave her mother a sweet kiss on her cheek.
Isabella didn't know what to do except to hug her daughter tightly.
A little gesture from her child was enough to move Isabella immensely. But she never once provided this kind of warmth to her child.
Isabella was immersed so deeply in her busy work and hurried daily life and didn't realize how much her baby must have missed her love.
She, a single mother had enough on her shoulders because she had to fend for money by tiring herself the whole day to gather the basic necessities namely food, clothing, and shelter.
She never had time for her child and she always found excuses to leave her child alone at the house.
Though she arranged a nanny with the utmost difficulty, a mother could never be replaced by some random person.
Isabella was always living under the shadows of darkness and had never looked for an opportunity that could drag her out into the light.
But now, for her daughter, she decided to change her way of living and also her attitude towards the world.
She couldn't keep herself buried in pits of oppression instead she had to pull herself out to stand steadily in the open world.
She had to become a strong woman who could stand on her feet, who's capable, and someone with unlimited energy and support to look after her only child.
Isabella who hugged the child, came back to her senses only after a while when her daughter kept patting her on her hand for a long time.
"Alright...baby. Help me wear it" Isabella handed back the string of beads to her daughter.
The little one tried locking the string around her mother's left arm but her little arms made her action quite clumsy and she couldn't lock the bracelet properly.
Isabella smiled looking at her daughter's face which looked disappointed. The little one was feeling down because she couldn't tie the string around her mother's hand.
The string volumed so thin with a little length and her mother's skin felt so smooth for her, she has to struggle to tie the thin string without slipping down.
Isabella felt very much delighted with her daughter's adorable actions and expression, she couldn't help but keep kissing her daughter's little face repeatedly.
Filled with her mother's little kisses, the baby calmed a little before gazing at her mother's lovely face.
"How about we do this?" Isabella picked the string from her daughter's hand and rolled the string around her fingers and tied it around her necklace tightly as though a ring of multiple stars was hanging down from the metal chain.
"Perfect...." the mother patted the ring of beads hanging down from the chain that kept rubbing across her chest.
"Wow...Mommy.... it looks so beautiful. This way you can always feel me closer to your heart" the child clapped her little hands in joy.
"Yes...my darling... you are the closest person ever to my heart" Isabella nodded and pecked her daughter's cheek.
"But daddy might feel bad if he knows about me being closer to your heart than him" Little pie spoke in a sad tone lowering her head.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
SG2905
SG2905 Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone