The Game

As the sun set behind the sprawling manor, a young boy and his sister eagerly prepared for their favorite game - hide and seek.

The boy, named Eden, was always the seeker, while his younger sister, Daphne, was the hider. Daphne was especially good at finding the most obscure places to hide, much to Eden's frustration.

As the game began, Eden counted to 100 while Daphne ran off to find a good hiding spot. When he finished counting, he began his search.

He looked in all the usual places - under the beds, in the closets, and even in the empty fireplace. But Daphne was nowhere to be found.

As he continued his search, he began to hear strange noises coming from the attic. He slowly climbed the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. When he reached the attic, he was surprised to find Daphne and their two year old sister Astoria huddled together behind an old armchair, giggling together.

"Gotcha!" he exclaimed, relieved to have finally found her.

Daphne laughed and Eden picked up Astoria. They walked down to the ballroom to restart their game while cooing at Astoria. As the evening wore on, they played round after round of hide and seek, laughing and having the time of their lives.

Finally, as the darkness took ahold of the evening they sat in the dining room of the wealthy family's mansion. It was a grand, lavish space, with a long mahogany table that could seat at least twenty people. At one end of the table sat their father, Walter, a successful business man and Lord with a stern look on his face. Across from him sat their mother, Marlène, a beautiful woman with perfectly coiffed hair and a designer dress.

At the side of the table beside their mom sat Astoria in her baby chair with Eden beside and Daphne across her. Astoria was being a picky eater and Eden could feel his father grow more irritated as his mother failed to feed their two year old daughter her food.

"I don't like," she said, clumsily pushing the spoon of food away from her face.

Their mother, who was trying to get her to at least eat one bite of the food, sighed in frustration. "Astoria, you need to eat your broccoli. It's good for you."

Eden, who was trying to hide a smile, chimed in. "Come on, Astoria. Just one bite. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat any more."

Astoria looked at her brother and then back at the spoon. She thought for a moment and then picked up a floret, bringing it to her mouth hesitantly. She took a bite and then made a face.

"Yuck!" she exclaimed, spitting out the bite. "I told you, I don't like it."

Their father slammed his fist on the table, causing everyone to jump. "That's enough, Astoria," he said, his voice stern. "You will eat what is put in front of you, and you will do it without complaining. Do you understand?"

Astoria nodded, her eyes wide with tears and full of fear as she unconsciously tried to get closer to Eden who was looking at his father like he was mad. Eden turned to his mom only to see her go back to her dinner, the tension at the table palpable. He then looked at Daphne who caught his gaze and gave him a look as to say 'leave it be'.

He looked to Astoria who was silently crying and patted her head to give some kind of comfort.

As the family finished their dinner in silence, the only sound in the room was the clinking of silver against porcelain. It was clear that this was not a family that enjoyed meals together.