In The Morning…

The morning sun was hiding behind a river of seemingly endless grey clouds, not bearing any light on the lone barn out in the middle of the grasslands. And the atmosphere was matching the tone of the interior as well. Four children were sitting inside, feeling as heavy and as menacing as the clouds, and as cold as the air.

The blonde haired boy was standing behind the barn, his eyes surrounded by grey circles. He barely slept the night before, only thinking about his brother. And he was staring at the crop field, now barren. And he regrettably never learned to farm from Phillip. A shame, since it could have been a good bonding experience for the two.

The orange haired boy walked towards the apple trees, feeling proud of that fact that he saved his family. Almost as if he did not care about his friend. But the minute he was underneath the tree, and he could see the apples ripe for the picking, he looked at how high they were. He shuddered a bit from his acrophobia, but remembered he still had his pride. And so, he simply scoffed and started walking back to the barn, still not thinking about Flippy.

And the brunette girl was just waking up. She, unlike her blonde brother, actually managed to get some sleep. Even she did not know how, her mind so evil and her heart so troubled. It was because of her that the children were all like this; her curious judgment and feelings towards the boy once called Flippy had caused her to kiss him. And she knew that another girl, the little red head, had given her heart to the same boy, which made the situation worse.

Lammy sat up in her bed, hearing the sound of the wind beating against the wall. She threw her legs over the side and stood up, then looked underneath her bed and found her day clothes. She pulled them out and proceeded to pull off her white long sleeve and drop her purple pants. Now bare, only wearing her blue panties, she threw her purple dress over her head and let it drape over her body, then did the same with her white cotton sweater.

And after she was clothed, she looked across the room.

Lying on the other side, in the bed opposite of hers, was a little girl. Her red hair was laying flat on the pillow, and her body was turned towards the wall. Her eyes were only focused outside of the barn, towards the woods, which she could see from the tiny hole in the wall. And Bailey could not see her face, which was even more pathetic; her bright green eyes were now covered in literally hundreds of tiny red squiggles, her eyebrows were bowed in sadness, and her mouth was covered by the blanket. Only the top part of her head down to her nose was free from the wool.

But what Lammy did not know was that the little girl did not even bother to sleep. Her tiny mind was only focused on the boy that was gone, and her heart was burning in pain from his departure. Neither the pain of her tired eyes, or the rumble of her empty tummy was enough to overpower the burn of her aching heart. She did not even desire to sleep, or to eat, or even to cry anymore.

She was far too broken to even care about her health.

After all, she told the very same boy that she loved that she hated him, after believing he had been playing with her emotions ever since she met him. But in reality, her feelings remained the same for him; even now, when she could not even see him anymore, she was still madly in love with the boy.

But her inactivity had caught the attention of her older sister, the brunette standing across the room and draping her white hat over her skullcap.

Lammy wanted to go and talk to the little girl, but she believed that she was the last person Flaky wanted to talk to at the moment. She remembered seeing how destroyed inside she appeared when she crawled into Flippys bed, and she remembered the little girls heartbreaking words.

Bailey heaved a sigh and walked towards the ladder, and turned to step down onto the metal rung. She gave one last glance at the depressed little girl and slowly climbed down the ladder, feeling the cold metal on her bare feet.

There was barely any sounds coming from the barn at all; the children were all too lost without their precious big brother. For even after discovering that he is a monster, neither of them, not even Handy, could forget all the good he has done for them. It was Phillip who gave them food from a seemingly endless supply from nature. It was Phillip that introduced them to each other, and formed this family.

Flippy was the one that saved them. And they tossed him aside like garbage, which was what they felt like; pure trash.

Handy was outside resting against the wall outside. Cuddles took a bite out of a carrot from their scarce food supply as he walked outside. And Lammy was sitting against the wall near the ladder in the barn, hearing if Flaky would make a sound. She had yet to hear anything.

Cuddles walked around the corner, reaching the stem of the carrot. And he gained an angry look as his eyes caught the one handed boy. His eyes of flame were dead centered on the orange haired boy, looking asleep, like he did not have a care about the fact that he doomed the group.

He stomped over and shouted in the boys face.

"Well, I hope you're happy…"

Handy snorted awake.

"Huh?"

Cuddles growled.

"This is all your fault, Jack! You and your big mouth!"

Handy arched his brows.

"What are you talking about?"

Cuddles got closer, practically pushing his nose with Handys.

"You big jerk! Why'd you have to go and kick Flippy out of here?! Did you forget what we were like before we met him?!"

Handy pushed him back.

"You should be thanking me! He could've killed us!"

"He'd never hurt us!"

"Get real, Cuddle Bu-"

And suddenly, in a fit of rage, the blonde haired boy suddenly grabbed the other boy and proceeded to drag him to the ground, and the two began throwing punch after punch at each other. One was fueled by rage, and one was filled with pride.

Cuddles was truly saddened for how he treated Flippy, especially for what he had done for them. And he could not believe that Handy did not feel the same; he was instead glad that Flippy was gone. Like Flippy had never helped him in his life.

But suddenly, Cuddles felt his body be pulled off of Handy by another set of hands behind him.

The blonde haired boy thrashed about as he felt his body be held by Lammy, who heard them fighting and finally came outside to end it. Handy held his head as he saw the rage in Cuddles' eyes, and the remorse in Lammys.

Lammy spoke, struggling to keep Cuddles steady.

"Calm down! That's enough!"

Cuddles continued to thrash about.

"Let me go, Lammy! Let me kill him!"

Handy got to his feet and gloated.

"Come on, Cuddle Bunny! Just try and kill me!"

Lammy shouted.

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!"

She let Cuddles go, both him and Handy obeying, out of fear. They both sat down on the ground, with Lammy doing the same thing. And now, they were all together, and they could begin to reminisce about their actions.

Lammy spoke.

"Look… I know you're both sad about this… So am I."

Cuddles nodded.

"Yeah."

Handy scoffed.

"Right…"

Lammy looked at the grumpy boy.

"Handy… You're seriously not a little sad?"

Handy shook his head.

"I'm glad he's gone. Never liked him anyway."

They both gained angry looks as Cuddles spoke.

"Quit lying!"

Lammy spoke again.

"You don't really think that."

Handy crossed his arms.

"He never did anything for me. Ever."

Cuddles spoke again.

"Really think about it, Jack. There's got to be one good memory you have with Flippy."

Jack scoffed once again and turned his head away from them, both becoming annoyed of his ignorance and stubbornness. Neither of them could take the fact that Handy was keeping the fact that Flippy has killed before cloud the good things he has done for the group.

There had to be at least one good memory.

Coincidentally, the wind began to blow fiercely, making both Lammy and Cuddles' hair start to flow in the breeze. And Handy grabbed his yellow cap to keep it from blowing off his head. His trademark cap was his most prized possession, as it was given to him by his father. It kept it on his head to hide his abhorred hair color.

And now, a good memory was starting to return to Handy.

"Come on, you little…"

Handy was busy searching high and low for something he had lost. His denim overalls were dirty and his bright orange hair was scuffled and messed up. And no yellow hat was on his head, which meant trouble for him.

Flippy, who was tending to the crops while seeing the one armed boy searching, suddenly stopped.

"Hey. What are you looking for?"

Handy stopped and looked at the taller boy.

"My hat, stupid!"

Handy needed that hat to cover his orange hair, or else he might face the wrath of bullies. He was always called a 'ginger' for his appearance, and he would hate for his new friends to behave the same way.

Finally, after searching for what seemed like ever, Handy finally looked up in the apple tree based off its weirdly shaped shadow, and sure enough, there it was. His hat was blowing softly while it was hanging on one of the branches.

He gave and angry grunt.

"Crap…"

But then, he heard a voice behind him.

"Found your hat."

He turned his head to see Flippy looking up in the tree as well.

"Yeah. God, this is so unfair!"

He stomped his foot.

"I can't reach it with my stupid no-hand."

He felt so angry as he knew he had to wait for the hat to fall down until he could get it back. He was not much of a runner either, so even if it fell, he would not be able to catch it. And he figured nobody would help him, either, since he was always such a jerk. But he proved to both Flippy and Flaky when he first met them that it was in his nature to be assertive.

Years of neglect and emotional pain was what caused his distrust in humanity.

But now, seeing Flippy suddenly begin climbing the tree, his faith was beginning to return. Flippy climbed up the bark quickly, and then balanced himself on the thick branch on the top. He shuffled across the branch, towards the tip, and finally lowered himself to hang on by his fingers.

Luckily, this tree was not very tall.

He shimmied across the branch to the tip, grabbed Handys hat and carefully dropped down to the ground, feeling a painful shock shoot up his back from the impact. But he shook off the pain and walked over to the boy, who was standing amazed by his noble action.

Flippy nodded and carefully placed Handys hat back on his head, positioning it so the brim was facing backwards a small tuft of orange was seen.

Handy, feeling grateful, whispered.

"Uh… Thanks, Flippy."

Flippy nodded.

"Sure."

He began to walk back to his crops, but the stopped when he heard Handy speak.

"Wait a minute."

He turned around.

"Yeah?"

Handy mustered up some courage, and then spoke again.

"Why'd you do that? Don't you hate me?"

Flippy shook his head.

"No. You're my brother, remember?"

Handy bowed his head.

"But… I'm a little jackass… Remember? Besides… I'm a ginger… Everyone hates gingers…"

Flippy felt a bit of sorrow for the boy, as it was clear that he was hurting pretty badly from the bullying and the taunting. He walked over to Handy and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"You ain't a ginger. You ain't a jackass, neither. You're a good kid."

He patted his shoulder again and walked towards the barn, leaving Handy alone to delve in his thoughts. Nobody but Cuddles has ever treated him so kindly, even if he was not the best person back to him. Somehow, Flippy was getting under Handys skin.

Handy let out a slight smile and began walking back to the barn.

And back in reality, Jack was starting to understand why his siblings were so upset about the loss of their older brother. He felt as if Flippy was the only person who never called him a ginger, or even a jerk. Yes, he called him a 'little jackass', but Jack deserved that after what he did to Flaky.

Flippy truly did think of Handy as his brother.

And now, the shoe was on the other foot.

"What… What have I done?"

Both Lammy and Cuddles looked at him confused, as Jack bowed his head.

"What have I done? I… I'm a… Little jackass..."

Cuddles spoke.

"Bought time you saw that."

Lammy patted him.

"Hey!"

Cuddles shrugged his shoulders.

"What? He is!"

He pointed at Jack.

"It his fault Flippy left! I mean, you never even gave him a chance, Handy!"

Cuddles got up to his feet, and suddenly dropped his voice to sound like the other boy. He started reenacting the previous night, just for emphasis.

"Yeah, who needs ya? You're nothing but trouble anyway!"

Jack looked up, with Cuddles pointing at him.

"You were just scared, weren't you Handy? That's why we're alone again. 'Cause you were a coward, just like always are."

Handy arched his brows.

"No… No, we're not like this 'cause of me. Flippy's gone…"

He then got up and pointed at Lammy.

"Because of you! You just had to kiss him! Oh, he's just SO sexy, you just had to get some of that boy!"

Lammy arched her brows.

"It's not like that!"

Handy then looked at Cuddles.

"And you! If you didn't find that stupid wanted poster, this would've never happened in the first place!"

Cuddles growled again.

"Hey!"

And suddenly, all three kids started arguing about Flippy once again. No fighting, just bickering. And it was like all of them had declared war on each other, as if Phillip was so important that he could make families, and he could break them as well.

Each of them tried proving their innocence with context clues; Cuddles started the conflict, Lammy caused the heartbreak, and Handy created the tension. Neither of them were innocent, and yet none of them were guilty either.

It was all the fault of fate.

Suddenly, Lammy shouted.

"ALRIGHT!"

They all stopped as she spoke again.

"Look… We all did this… Together… And now, we have to fix this. if we don't… What's gonna happen to us? What's gonna happen to Flippy?"

And then, she looked up at the wall, seeing the hole in the wood at the top.

"What gonna happen to Flaky?"

And now all of them became sad, them just realizing that Flaky had not been seen all morning. Cuddles looked at the wall as well, and Handy did the same. They already lost their big brother; they had no intention to lose their little sister as well.

Lammy started walking inside.

"I'm gonna go see her."

Suddenly, Cuddles shouted.

"Hang on! Wait a minute!"

He ran up to her, with her revealing her eyes beginning to water.

"What?"
Cuddles took a deep breath.

"Look… I'm sorry for all of this."

Jack walked up to them.

"Yeah. Me too."

Cuddles spoke again.

"And… We need to do something."

Lammy nodded.

"Yeah. We can't just brush this off. We… We need Flippy…"

Jack nodded.

"Yeah. I… I guess we do."

Cuddles nodded.

"Let's just put this behind us, okay? Be a family again?"

Lammy thought a minute about what the boy said, and realized that what he said was true. Through all the hardships over the past month, these children had all bonded like a family. Cuddles and Handy treated each other like bickering brothers, and they all treated Lammy like she was their sister.

But what bonded them the most, even if they did not admit it, was Flippy.

His care, his open heart and his affection had led each of them to meet each other. And the best thing they could remember was they all had met a little girl that proved the most caring and lovable. Autumn had won each of their hearts with her adorable nature and innocent mind. She was truly thought as their little sister, what she always wanted to be.

But now, they could lose her as well if they were not careful.

Lammy smiled.

"Yeah. We… We are a family…"

They all shared a smile as Lammy finally walked into the barn. She kept her words, about the group being so close, yet so easily separable by a tragic event, as she reached the ladder. But then she dropped her smile as she thought about the little girl on the upper floor.

For as much as she cared about Flippy, she knew that Flaky cared about the boy even more. Yet she did not know why, other than when Flaky told her what he had done for her. The little girl did not go into detail about her past, which must have had something to do with her feelings for the boy.

There must have been a reason for her love for the boy.

Lammy slowly climbed up the ladder, higher and higher towards the upper floor. And once her head reached the top, she could see that the girl had not moved; she was still lying on her side in Flippys bed, looking out the hole in the wall.

Lammy bowed her brows and climbed up onto the floor, then carefully spoke.

"Flaky? How long are you gonna be in bed?"

There was silence. And Lammy started walking towards the bed.

"I know you're still made at me… But I'm sorry…"

She finally reached the bed, and Flaky had yet to move. But Lammy could see the blanket rising up and down, signaling that the girl was still alive. Physically, yes, but mentally, she was broken.

Lammy looked down at the little girl.

"Come on, Flaky. Talk to me. I'm sorry. Really."

And the whole time, Flaky did not even dare to share a glance at the other girl. She was far too ashamed to show her face to her big sister. For now, even when Lammy was to blame, she felt so horrible and guilty. She kept everything that happened the previous night, every word and every action, burned in her brain. And the images and sounds would not leave her, no matter how much she wanted to forget them.

But worst of all, she replayed what she said to the boy, over and over again.

I NEVER WANNA SEE YOU AGAIN, FLIPPY! GO NOW! I HATE YOU!

She never felt so low before, especially after hearing what he said to her afterwards.

Just so you know, I still love you, Flaky…

And the dreaded shame began to weigh down upon her, creating a heavy ball in her gut and a burning sensation in her shattered heart. It was almost like a small, imaginary cloud was formed above her, and it was pouring down upon her little head. That boy truly did not mind if she had no feelings for him any longer; his heart still belonged to her.

And that was why she was in so much pain.

Lammy carefully sat down on the bed, as Flaky finally moved. All she did, though, was turn her body around so she could lie on her belly. But her head was still facing the wall. And Lammy spoke softly to the little girl.

"Flaky… Please… I can't tell you how bad I feel. I'm sorry for kissing Flippy. I forgot that you loved him too. It's just… He and I have something in common. And well… I got carried away. But I never meant to hurt anybody…"

Wanting her to go away, Flaky reached down and pulled the remainder of the blanket of her head. Now there was no sight of her, which made Lammy even sadder. And now, trying her best to comfort her, she started to gently rub the little girls back, letting her know that everything was going to be alright.

"Come on, Flaky, don't be like that. Look, I get that you miss him, but you can't just do nothing. You'll be okay. You still have me, and your brothers. We're still here. But…"

Lammy bowed her head.

"It's not the same without Flippy, is it? He's pretty special, isn't he? So what if he's done some bad things before. He's still good. At least, I think so. You think so too, right?"

And while she was talking, all Flaky could do was think about what she said to Flippy, and to the very same girl. She felt like she was evil. She felt heartless. She felt like a monster. And that was when she understood her harsh past.

And she now understood the motivation of her evil father.

Suddenly, Flaky finally spoke. And it was the same as the last thing she had said.

"I'm a bad girl…"

Lammy shook her head in shock from her sister finally talking.

"Huh? What did you say?"

And at that, Flaky finally turned around onto her back and pulled the blanket down, and now she was staring at the ceiling. And Lammy could see that her eyes were starting to cry once again. She could see from the look on her face that the girl was in deep, emotional pain. But worst of all, she was guilty.

Why, Lammy did not know.

But Flaky spoke silently as she sobbed.

"It's… All my fault… I told him to go… I said I never wanted to see him again… I said… I hate him… And… I said… I hate you…"

Lammy felt sorry for her as she continued.

"But… I don't… I don't hate you… Or Flippy… I said a mean thing… I'm… A bad girl, Lammy… My… My daddy was right…"

Suddenly, she started weeping louder and louder at the feeling of her father running his evil hands up her legs and suddenly rubbing her private. She remembered how dirty she felt the first time it happened, and how sick she felt when it happened over and over again.

And she felt that she deserved it.

"I… I made him go… I lost… My sissy… And the best boy in the whole wide world… He's… He's gonna get shot… He's gonna die… And it's all my fault…"

She pulled the blanket over her eyes as she sobbed louder.

"I… I'm sorry… I'm so so sorry…"

Lammy, trying to hold back tears, bent down and started rubbing the girls head.

"Flaky, please don't cry. It's gonna be okay. I'm not mad at you. Look, can you come out of there?"

There was silence, other than Flakys sniffling.

"Well, then can I come under there?"

Flaky sniffled once more, and then spoke.

"Oh… Okay, Lammy…"

Lammy nodded, with her expression sorrowful for the little girl. She kneeled down on the side of the bed and crawled under the blanket, and turned her body so she was looking right into Flakys eyes. Now Lammy was truly trying to be a comforting big sister, like she was not the previous night.

She spoke.

"Hi, Flaky…"

Flaky spoke back.

"Hi…"

Lammy draped her arm over and started petting the little girls hair as she spoke.

"Look, I know you're sad. I am too. But… I don't get it. Why do you love him so much?"

Flaky looked down in thought, and then spoke with her heart once again.

"He saved me from my daddy… My daddy hit me a lot… And touched my giney a whole lot… And Flippy is so nice. He's smart too… And he… Never called me a boy… That's why…"

Lammy bowed her brows again from the thought of Flaky being molested, but then spoke again.

"But… Aren't you scared of him? Didn't you know he was a killer?"

Flaky nodded, still with a sad look.

"He isn't scary… He loves me… He told me still loves me…"

She looked at her sister so mournfully.

"I… I miss him…"

Lammy nodded.

"I miss him too, but we can't just lay in bed and do nothing. Listen, let's get out of bed, okay?"

Flaky thought a minute, and then nodded.

"Okay, Lammy."

Finally, the two little girls finally got out of bed, though while Lammy got off the bed, Flaky just sat up, out of the blanket. She still felt so down inside, even after her sister was being so comforting and careful with her.

Lammy sat on her knees and looked at Flaky in the face.

"Listen, Flaky. I'm sorry for everything. But I don't want to be sad anymore. You're all nice guys. And you…"

She carefully reached over and took Flakys hands into her own.

"You're my little sister. And… I need to be a better big sister to you. But, I need to let you keep whoever you want to be your best friend."

Flaky shuffled her body to the side of the bed, with her legs still underneath the blanket, as Lammy continued.

"You… Need him, don't you?"

Flaky bowed her head.

"I… Do… I need him… I… I love him… So much…"

Finally, with a bit of confidence, she raised her head.

"Lammy, I gotta find him. I gotta bring him back home. I… Gotta tell him I'm sorry…"

Lammy took her hands back and placed them on Flakys cheeks, so she could pay attention.

"WE have to find him, Flaky. All of us together. We can find him if we look for him all together."

Flaky dropped her jaw as Lammy continued.

"He's alive, I know it. And I love him. He's my brother. You love him more than I do. And all I want now is to make you happy, sissy. And to bring him back home, where he belongs. What do you say? Wanna go and look for him with us?"

Flaky, feeling better after hearing that Lammy was planning to go and look for her beloved, was starting to cheer up. It just warmed her heart to know that even in her darkest hour, she was still cared about by her sister. Even if she was not blood related, Lammy truly felt like a sister to the little red head.

But could they find Flippy, even if they tried?

Flaky looked at the wall, then crawled over to the hole and looked at the woods from afar.

"He's out there…"

She finally arched her brows in determination.

"And I'm gonna find him."

She turned her head to Lammy.

"Okay. Let's go look for him."

Lammy nodded.

"Alright. Good. I'll go get your clothes. Just stay up here, okay?"

And as she started to leave, Lammy felt her body suddenly snap back, as her arm was grabbed by the little girl.

"Lammy?"

Lammy tilted her head.

"Yes, Flaky?"

And with a caring look, and a sudden smile, Flaky finally shuffled out of the bed and let her feet touch the floor. And gently pressed herself into Lammy and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her affectionately.

"I… Forgive you… Flaky loves you, sissy…"

Lammy, shocked that she had been forgiven so quickly, suddenly smiled too. And she wrapped her own arms around the little girl, letting her feel the love that she needed this very moment. And now, they were true sisters; their love for each other has becoming affection.

Lammy spoke as she rocked the little girl gently.

"I'm so glad you forgive me, Flaky. I love you too."