A new… Home?

The hand stops right before my face and then... starts to wave at me. A face shows up in the hole on my left.

"Hey there. Oh... Mia? Is that you? What are you doing here and why are you crying. Is everything alright?"

It was my class teacher Mr. Anderson. He was a little chubby and in his mid 40s but generally a very friendly person. It was quite a surprise for me to see him there.

"H-hello Mr. Anderson... I-I..."

I wasn't sure what to say, especially after the incident with my neighbors. I was scared my teacher would take me to the police station so I've tried to make something up instead.

"I... Mom and dad they... I didn't want to stay there anymore so I ran away and came here."

Mr. Anderson was shocked at first but answered quickly.

"Okay. I will bring you back to your parents come here."

He took my hand and gently pulled me out of my hut. I grabbed my teddy in the last second and looked at him.

"No! There's no way I'm going back home! I don't want to see them... not again."

My teacher stopped and looked at me as I started to tear up in front of him. He noticed the blood over my face and on my clothes when I stood up, walking out of the cabin.

"Oh... I see. You can't stay here, Mia. I will bring you to my house for this night and tomorrow we will find a solution with your parents... okay?"

I nodded and stayed silent while he walked me to his house. My teacher wasn't living far from the school so he always went there to pick up the post. Especially now that the lessons were cancelled, due to the blizzard, he went there almost daily.

As we were walking Mr. Anderson told me that he's living alone with his daughter and she's in my age. Maybe we could make friends. When we reached his front door, he put the key in, unlocked it and then turned to me again for a second.

"We've arrived. I think you can get new clothes from my daughter, Emily. Her room is upstairs. She will be happy to play with someone. But please take care, she fell over very hard 2 days ago and has bruises all over her body. She wasn't looking at the stairs and then... flop. At least she didn't break anything. But anyways let's go in."

He opened the door and we went in. The house was very big and bright, with the living room downstairs, connected to an office room and the kitchen. Upstairs was the bedroom, Emily's room and a guest room. Mr. Anderson showed me around and gave me some juice to drink.

"You must be thirsty. Drink up and when you're done you can use the bathroom to wash yourself. I will go and talk to Emily to tell her about our new guest."

I drank the orange juice slowly as my teacher pointed to the room and went upstairs to his daughter. After I finished I put the glass down on the table in the living room and went to the bathroom. I washed my face and then prepared to take a shower. But when I was about to take off my pants, the gun fell out and hit the floor.

Mr. Anderson heard the sound and knocked the door.

"Is everything alright in there? I brought you some fresh clothes. I don't know your sizes but I assume they will fit."

I hid the gun behind the door and pulled up my pants to open the bathroom.

"Thank you..."

I took the clothes and put them on the counter. Suddenly my teacher opened the door a little more and tried to step in.

"Let me explain you fast how the shower works. It's a little weird but once you know it's easy."

I held him back and stumbled some words.

"N-no no. We had the same shower at home I know how to use it but thank you."

He stopped pushing the door and let go.

"I thought you may get a bit confused, because it's one of the newer modern models. Enjoy your shower I will leave you alone. When you're done bring me the dirty clothes to wash. Oh yeah... towels are in the drawer at the bottom"

He pointed at the drawer and then closed the door behind him. I locked it quickly afterwards and went to take a shower. After I finished I changed to the clothes Mr. Anderson gave me. It wasn't much but a long sleeve white top with some jeans and fresh socks. They fitted me pretty well.

Just when I wanted to leave the bathroom I saw the gun still laying there and picked it up. Looking through the counters and searching for something to hide it in, but there wasn't anything I could use. So I hid it in my pants again and unlocked the door.

"Mr. Anderson, I left the dirty clothes on the counter to wash. Could you please tell me where my room will be? I would like to bring my teddy there."

My teacher stood up from the couch in the living room and walked to the entry. He picked up my teddy. I left him there when we entered the house.

"You can sleep in the guest room next to Emily's. It's upstairs and to the left. Here, your plushie."

He gave me my teddy bear and I walked up. I entered my room and closed the door behind me. It wasn't big but it had everything you need. I had a small mirror with a bed and a wardrobe. I sat down my teddy on the small shelf next to my bed and took the gun out of my pants as suddenly... someone rushed my door open and I tried to hide the gun fast under the pillow.

"Hey, hey! I'm Emily. My clothes seem to fit you pretty well. Do you want to play together?!"

I sat down on the bed and looked at her.

"Hello. My name is Mia. Thank you for the clothes."

Then from downstairs the voice of Mr. Anderson.

"Emily! Don't scare our visitor away, could you both please come to the living room when you're done?"

Emily rolled her eyes and smiled at me, she grabbed my hand and took me with her. On her arms I saw the bruises, her dad told me about, it didn't look too bad but she must've fallen pretty hard.

We went downstairs to the living room and sat on the couch. Mr. Anderson came from the kitchen to bring us some hot cacao to drink and took place on my right.

"So, Mia. What happened to you?"

Emily to my left.

"Yes! Tell us the story!"