I blinked up at her, feeling the sting of her words. It wasn’t like her to be so... distant. So cold. But I nodded, swallowing back my hurt. “I’m just glad you’re home.”
From that day on, Gloria was never the same. She stopped calling me Sunshine, stopped laughing with me. Her smiles were scarce, and when they did come, they were thin and strained, lacking the warmth they once had. I couldn’t understand it. I thought maybe she was mad at me for not going with her that day, for not being there when she needed me.
So I tried everything to make it up to her. I made her little gifts—hand-carved trinkets from wood, braided bracelets, anything I thought might bring back her smile. I even learned to cook her favorite meals, spending hours in the kitchen until my hands were blistered and my feet ached. But no matter what I did, her eyes remained distant, her voice cold.
I’d wait for her to say it again, to call me Sunshine, but she never did. I lost count of the times I stayed up late, listening to her move around in the room next to mine, wanting to knock on her door and ask, "What happened to you?" But the words always got stuck in my throat.
End of Flashback
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