Keiko was four years old. The youngest of three kids and the only adopted one. Keiko didn't understand why she was different. Keiko could barely remember the time when she was happy. She was an only child with a mother. Now, she had two other kids she had to deal with, and a mother [iand[/i and a father.
Ritsuko liked to pick on Keiko. Keiko was smaller and younger than Ritsuko. Ritsuko knew Keiko was different. She also knew Keiko wasn't her real sister like Takara was. Takara was Ritsuko's older sister. Since Keiko was different, Ritsuko picked on her.
Takara was the oldest of the three kids. As Ritsuko's older sister, she protected Ritsuko, but she ignored Keiko. Takara liked to take her anger out on Keiko though. Keiko never fought back like Ritsuko did. Also, whenever Takara did something she wasn't supposed too, and got caught, she blamed it on Keiko. Takara's mother and father always believed Takara. They never believed Keiko.
Keiko was quite miserable. She missed her mother, even though she was unsure if she had one or not. Keiko wanted to go back to her old life. She hated where she was now. Plus, Keiko's most hated memory was also her earliest.
It was a sunny day. The whole family was at a park to have a good time. Keiko was off by herself watching the other children play. Ritsuko noticed this, and decided to go mess with Keiko. Keiko saw Ritsuko coming towards her. Keiko knew that Ritsuko was going to do something Keiko wouldn't like. Keiko prepared herself for the worse.
"Hey, Keiko. Wanna come play in the sandbox with me?" Ritsuko asked nicely. Keiko knew something was up. She didn't know what it was though. Keiko didn't want to upset Ritsuko, so she nodded yes. Ritsuko grabbed Keiko's hand and dragged her off to the sandbox.
Keiko sat down next to Ritsuko in the sandbox. Keiko didn't know what Ritsuko was planning to do, but she knew it wasn't going to be good. Ritsuko shared all her toys with Keiko. Ritsuko wanted to act as nice as she could to Keiko while her parents were watching.
As soon as Ritsuko's parents looked away from Keiko and Ritsuko and towards Takara, Ritsuko started to cause trouble. She grabbed a handful of sand and threw it into Keiko's eyes. Keiko didn't know what was happening to her. She started to get really scared. In her defense, Keiko blindly tried to attack Ritsuko. She must have got her, because the next thing Keiko heard was Ritsuko cry out in pain. Then Keiko heard Ritsuko's parent's running up to find out what happened. Ritsuko's mother picked up Ritsuko and Ritsuko's father picked up Keiko.
"Ritsuko, what happened? Did you get hurt?" Ritsuko's mother, Mrs. Watanabe, asked sweetly. Ritsuko was crying really hard. She didn't expect Keiko to attack her after she threw sand at Keiko. Mrs. Watanabe was trying to calm Ritsuko down when Takara walked up.
"Mom, I saw everything that happened," Takara explained. Keiko knew that Takara was going to lie about what happened, so Keiko started to whine and cry. "Mom, Keiko followed Ritsuko to the sandbox and started throwing sand at her. Then when Ritsuko told Keiko to stop, Keiko attacked her." This made Keiko really upset.
"Ritsuko, is this what happened?" Mrs. Watanabe asked Ritsuko.
"Yeah, Keiko hurt me," Ritsuko pouted.
"Well, someone is going to be in big trouble," concluded Mr. Watanabe, looking at Keiko. "Keiko, why can't you behave like Takara and Ritsuko? They never cause trouble. Every time Mommy or I turn around, you're always getting in some sort of trouble. Now, Keiko, apologize to Ritsuko."
Keiko didn't want to apologize. She didn't do anything wrong. Ritsuko was the one who started the fight. Keiko started to squirm in Mr. Watanabe's arms, but she did apologize. Mr. Watanabe was satisfied with Keiko's apology, so after that little incident, they went home.
From that day on though, Keiko's life with the Watanabe's was miserable. Keiko didn't like thinking about her time there. Especially that day. That was the day of Keiko's earliest memory and the day her life started to go downhill when she lived with the Watanabe's.