Kira shivered in the harsh wind. Her tattered gray clothes brought no warmth to her small body. The door in front of her opened and her father stepped through. He towered above her with a frown on his face. His metallic arms thrashed wildly behind him. Kira cowered farther up against the wall. The man grabbed her arm and dragged her into the building. She tried to keep up as best she could, but his great strides outdistanced her own and she stumbled. He was almost carrying her now by her arm. She dangled helplessly above the cement floor. Kira was thrown down hard on it and scooted back away from the monster that was her father. He turned to look at her with his loveless eyes that brought only fear. The girl tried to stand and at last found balance on her numb legs.
“I hope you have learned your lesson.” His voice was as cold as the wind howling outside. Then he left her. Alone. All alone without so much as a second glance behind. Kira buried her face in her hands and cried, her sobs sending tremors through her thin frame. She cried herself to sleep.
Flaming pain ripped across Kira’s back. She screamed and hugged herself to ward off another blow. It came down on her arms slashing through the skin with merciless shards of glass.
“Stop! Stop!” she cried. “NO! STOP!!” The lashings halted. She was lifted and flung through a doorway. There Kira crumpled in a heap, sobbing again. Why does he hate me? What did I do wrong?
The door was shut again. The girl sniffed and glanced around. She was in the bathroom. She had never been allowed in here before. It had only one window above a small mirror. Desperate, Kira scrambled up on the sink and pulled the mirror off the wall. With the metal end, she drove it through the window with all her might and ducked as patterned glass flew into oblivion. Outside was still dark, but there was enough light to see the ally with abandoned cars and old trash cans. Soundlessly, Kira slipped off into the night.