It was Monday, again. The trees were swaying slightly in the breeze; the sun was giving this home a warm glow. And that, the fourteen year old girl decided, was definitely something. Sarii jerked out of her daydream, gave a tremendous sigh, and began to gather the wood from the forest. She loved the woods and seldom spent time there anymore. Ever since her mother died, things took a turn, for the worse. The girl shook her head, trying to rid herself of those memories and began to trudge back her home. Her father was cruel and hardheaded, a horrible combination. Sarii gave a humorless laugh at the thought. There was no such thing as joy when that man was around. What she wouldn't give to get away from him. Then suddenly, her foot was caught by something and her balance was lost.

Throwing an arm out to break her fall, the twigs slipped from her other cradled arm to the rocky ground. Gagging on a mouthful of dirt, Sarii looked to see what she had tripped on. A large rock protruding from the soil seemed to be the culprit. How could she be so careless? She tried to empty her mouth of the soil as much as she could, giving a look of dismay.

"Clumsy aren't you?'' A cold, amused voice said, "Did you find something amusing back there?"

Sarii closed her eyes in disgust. She should have known it was Mais, her eldest brother. Who was she expecting? Who else would deliberately cause trouble for her?

"Anyway," Mais continued, "What do you think Father will do when he sees you dawdling out here? Remember," He put on a cooing sort of tone, "Mommy's not here to save you." His voice had a mocking ring to it. Sarii's eyes stung from the pain in her bleeding hand and the nasty remark her brother had said. She silently willed herself not to cry or make any caustic remark.

Mais had almost always hated his sister; he felt he was too good for her to be in his presence, he was cocky and almost as menacing as his father. They were both full of anger, and Sarii was always the one who felt the consequences of that. She knew the reason why they both despised her, but it brought back dark memories.

"What, are you going to cry now?" Mais laughed, his cold, cruel eyes glinting maliciously. "Go ahead and cry. It's not like anyone will come to comfort you." He paused for a moment and watched Sarii take unsteady, shallow breaths, fighting back her tears. Her resistance wasn't lasting long. Then he swore loudly.

"You'll never survive in the real world." Survive? What was that supposed to mean?

Their Mother had died from a plague about three years before, while Sarii just barely survived. Her father never had accepted her as part of the family and blamed her for her mother's death. and many other things. Mais, her brother, saw it the same way. Sarii believed that this was the result of Mais always looking up to him as a role model. What a joke.

" you." Sarii slowly turned to her brother and looked him in the eye. She started to shake with fear and anger. She realized just how much she couldn't stand him.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

As she watched the glint in his eye get brighter, her vow to hold back got weaker, and there was nothing she could do about it. After these three long years of pain and heartache, she decided that she had nothing to lose. This home meant nothing to her anymore, and neither did her family. She couldn't go back. There was no starting over for her.

"I HATE YOU!"

Mais' nasty sneer was forced into a cruel look. He backhanded her angrily. Sarii could taste blood as she fell to the ground again.

"Shut up! You're forgetting your place! It's not like Mother even loved you," He shouted, his face red in fury. "She only felt sorry for you, don't ask me why. And look what happened to her. You as good as killed her. I should have killed you when I had the chance! Just like you did with-" He broke off suddenly and glanced around, almost nervously. Sarii could understand why. Father had forbidden the children to speak the name. And they never did.

Sarii struggled to get off the ground. Her wrist and face ached.

Mais turned his intense glare back and told her, "Just go away and never come back. You are not worthy of this family."

Sarii took a shaky breath "How dare you? Just look at you! You did not deserve mother and yet you mock her existence. All she ever did was love." She was trying as hard as she could to control her fury. But she couldn't prevent the tears from flowing.

She earned another hit from her brother, but this time was different, she didn't fall, nor stumble. She glanced at him, for the last time, and fled into the woods. Mais looked dumbstruck for a split second, then gave a cry of immense exasperation.

"Where are you going? Where do you think you're going?!" He ran back to the hut and shouted for Father to come out. But Sarii didn't care, she needed out, and this was the only way she could accomplish it.

As she ran, the sky grew darker and darker. Each tree she passed seemed to look exactly the same, no matter the shape or size. She couldn't hear the twigs breaking beneath her feet or anything from her family's clearing. How long had she been running, two hours, three hours, ten minutes perhaps? She finally stopped and leaned against an ancient oak to catch her breath. The thought of what her brother had said came back to her and she felt choked up again. She buried her face in her hands and slid down the tree to the forest floor. Why did she react to this so strongly? Why did he have to bring up that "incident" again? She just couldn't understand it.

She thought this over as much as she could, yet, she couldn't grasp the concept. As she studied the forest floor, she realized it was all her fault and wished to think no more of it. After a while, Sarii lifted her eyes to the midnight sky. She searched it, longing for a glimpse at a bright star. As she waited a couple of minutes, something brought her attention to it. A flash of light had shot across the sky. She could almost hear the trees whispering, *A star is hope, wish upon a star and your dreams will come true.* Somehow, she thought that Mother would have said the same.

She had never made a wish before, but she felt this would be a good time to start. She closed her eyes and said in the softest voice, "I need someone who can help me." A moment later, Sarii opened her eyes, smiling at the thought of her wish. Still looking upward, she slumped against that same great oak and leaned her head back. Within a moment, she fell into a deep slumber.

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It's not the best. Constructive criticism is very welcome, however, empty flames are not. Review please!

Yes, yes. I revised it. Cheers!