Rain woke me up.

Countless little droplets fell on my face. And the rest of my aching body.

They were cold. The kind of cold that told me that soon they’d be turning into snow. A few weeks from now likely.

Snow sounded good right now. Laying in it. Hiding in it.

That’s what I wanted to do. Just curl up under a bunch of snow and…

Taking a deep breath, I breathed out some of the water I had sucked in.

Opening my eyes, I glared at the pool of water forming around me.

Although the earth here soaked up water easily, absorbing it quickly… this deep hole was another story.

It had been carved out in such a way that water pooled.

But not as to collect rain water. No. not at all.

Instead it had been dug in such a way so that whoever was stuck in it, when it was raining and storming, they’d be forced to have to struggle.

I coughed as I rolled over. To lay on my back instead of my side. So that I’d not breathe in any of the water that was pooling around me.

I had a few hours at least. If the storm continued… it was inevitable, but I had time. Time before I was forced to have to swim.

The last time I had been in this pit, when it had stormed, I had almost been able to climb out of it thanks to how high the water had risen.

Actually… I probably could have gotten out at that time. Especially since I hadn’t been beaten too harshly before I had been thrown in.

I hadn’t tried of course. Escaping before your punishment was over… was stupid.

Such a thing would have only turned a punishment into a death.

This time though…

Lifting my right arm, I flinched at the sight of discoloration. All up and down my arm were blotchy bruises. Giant bruises and bumps.

I let the broken arm fall to my chest and regretted it. That had hurt. And not just my arm either.

I knew my whole body looked the same as the arm. The beating had been rough. One of the worst I’d ever gotten, actually.

The fact my mother had been the one to give it only made it hurt all the more.

A raindrop fell into my eye and I flinched. The action only made me flinch even more, since it had made me move muscles that hurt.

A month. The coming and going of a whole moon. That was how long one had endure during their punishment.

After the beating, one had to starve for a month.

Only then would I be welcomed back into the family.

I wonder how long I had been out of it. Thanks to how far the top of the hole was, and the dark clouds from the storm, I couldn’t tell what time it was. It could be the middle of the day, or the dead of night for all I knew.

Hopefully it’s at least been a day or so already. But I could tell by the feeling of some of the bruises and wounds… that…

Well…

It hadn’t been.

Even with the rain in account, I could feel the fresh blood still. Seeping from cuts and bruises.

Coughing again, I groaned as my whole body hurt.

Seriously. How did even breathing hurt? What caused it? It made no sense. Usually I didn’t even realize I was breathing at all.

I let tears well up in my eyes as I lay in the ever growing deeper puddle. The hard dirt ground beneath me luckily wasn’t getting mushy just yet. But I knew it would. It was a pain, usually. When the hole filled up with enough water to make the floor mushy enough that you could sink into it, yet not full enough of water to wade or swim. It was a pain because it made it impossible to stand or sit. You had to be careful. else you'd sink and get buried alive and then drown as the water continued to rise. Especially so when already hurt.

Hopefully the rain came and went. But something told me it wouldn’t. It’s been awhile since our last real storm. It was honestly time for one.

It just had to happen while I was down here.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Oh well. At least I’ll be able to drink a little. Going a month without food was bad enough, but no water was what really hurt.

“Stupid family,” I whined as I squeezed out tears of pain.

Why did everything hurt so much?

Why was everything so complicated?

I understood being beaten. I understood being punished…

But honestly, what had I been punished for here?

What had been my father’s point?

I had been killing the humans. Yes I might have… taken my time… but I had been cautious! And…

Sobbing, I forcefully coughed as to stop myself from crying harder.

It barely worked.

I needed to learn more.

About the world. About those humans. About my own family.

I hadn’t even realized we still had members who were like our ancestors. Nor had I even known we had more family members than those I knew, either.

The world had a lot of explaining to do.

Even more so…

“Breeding…” I whispered the word as I heard again everything my father and uncle had said. And how they had said it.

They spoke of my failures as if it was far more than just my weakness. There was more at play.

They were basically saying I wasn’t up to par. I wasn’t suitable. To continue the family line.

But… why did that warrant death…?

Why was that punishable?

Why did such a thing as that earn me such a harsh beating? Why was I in this pit because of it?

It made so little sense. I couldn’t wrap my head around it at all.

Beating me because I made a mistake. Or because I failed at something important, or brought danger or harm to our family… that I understood. I could agree with that… but this…?

I sniffed, and felt horrible as tears slid along the raindrops.

Those tears somehow validated my family’s complaints and accusations. I hated them.

“Sis…?”

Opening blurry eyes, I blinked a few times… and yes. There. At the edge of the hole. Above me near the sky.

Large ears. Fluttering.

“You’re not supposed to talk to me, Fellisee. You’ll get thrown in too,” I warned her.

“Mhm! Here…!”

She tossed something into the pit.

Frowning at her, I wondered what she was doing… until something hit me in the stomach.

It hurt. A lot. I guffawed out a yelp, and rolled over… as something large and heavy rolled off me and plopped onto the ground.

“Sorry…!” Fellisee yelped an apology as I groaned and reached out for whatever she had just tried to kill me with.

The thing was rounded and… hard and…

A rock? Had she actually just thrown a rock at me? While in the punishment pit? Seriously…?

But then I felt it. Something else had fallen with the rock.

Picking up the familiar wooden block… I took a deep, painful, breath as my eyes welled up with tears again.

“Sorry Sis! Sorry…!” Fellisee whined above me, as my heart started beating again.

She had thrown me my bowl, and the little wooden thing I used to grind them to shape.

The sight of them healed my broken heart.

“Thank you Fellisee. I love you,” I said up to her.

I saw the outline of her ears dance as she nodded, glad to hear it.

“Stay happy sis… please,” Fellisee whispered.

Crying, I smiled at her as I sat up.

Could I even grind this thing in my current state? It hurt to even breathe, let alone do such monotonous work.

But it didn’t matter.

Looking back up to the top of the hole, I was about to tell my little sister how much I loved her again… but found she was gone.

Although sad, I was glad she had left. If father or someone else had seen her talking to me…

Picking up the stuff my younger sister had given me, I sat up fully and glanced around. As if to look for a place to sit.

But there wasn’t. This pit was big, but that was all it was. A giant hole in the ground.

Crawling over to the side of the pit, I sat up against the wall.

With a sigh, I dropped my half made bowl and the tool I had used on it onto my lap.

Yes. Too exhausted and hurt to actually work on the bowl.

But it was fine.

Maybe in a few days I’d be able to.

And even if not… that was fine too.

Smiling at the things on my lap, I let the tears flow freely.

She was worth suffering for. Wasn’t she?

Sniffing, I focused on that love. That feeling. That wondrous hope and joy.

It was all I had… but it was wonderful. It was precious.

Sitting alone in the pit. Covered in wounds. Hating the world and those who lived in it…

I focused on the tiny little compassion I had just received.

Focused on it and cherished it.

Even as I pondered everything I had learned. Even as I tried to dissect and comprehend what I’d witnessed and realized.

About my family. About the world. About everything.

Beneath the blinding love that I clung to, for my own sanity… I contemplated.

I planned and schemed.

I wasn’t sure how I’d do it. Or how I’d even start… but I had time.

And nothing else to live for.

If my death was inevitable… if all this world had was pain and sorrow… If all this world had for me was death… then…

Then I simply needed to change it before it could hurt me anymore.

Squeezing the bowl, I smiled as the rain picked up. A far off rumble echoed down my tiny hole in the world, telling me that the storm had just begun.

“Yes. It has,” I agreed.

The storm has just begun indeed.