1 "Mia"

"Uh-huh"

"Are you awake?"

"Uh-huh"

"Do you think mommy will be home soon?"

"Nope"

"Oh.....do you think she'll be alone?"

"Nope"

"Oh...ok"

"Lizzy"

"Yep"

"Go to sleep munchkin"

"Ok Mia"

Liz yawned and curled up to her sister. She was soon fast asleep, dreaming of dolphins and sunsets. Maria, however, lay awake, distressed by her younger sisters innocent questions. It had always been this way. Liz was born 3 hours after Maria and yet she felt like Liz's mum- not the mother who went out every night, using money that should have been used to buy food, always coming home with a new "friend". Their father had left when they were born...when he learned about Liz. Liz is...special. She has selective memory and a tumour in her brain the size of a pea. The doctor said she should have died years ago. And yet, here they were. Nearly 16 and she's still alive; only thinking like a 5year old. Maria could still remember the day her father left. He didn't (not couldn't, didn't) want to deal, so he left. Just left. She could remember because Antarians have the best memory. Apart from Liz. It broke her heart to have to explain to her all over again about how they didn't have a daddy, and all mummies usually hit their children the way she hit them. It's normal. Then she'd get rid of the cuts and bruises, erasing all trace of their violent domestic life.

Maria and Liz didn't go to school. They didn't have time. Every morning they'd beg outside the palace, hoping for anything. Then the afternoons would see them making matches for the rich. But Maria would NOT let their lives go to complete waste, and she patiently tried to give Liz a foundation education, so that she may one day be employed by a rich family.

Their country had been at war for as long as Maria could remember , but it never hurt the main city in any major way. There was a protective sphere surrounding it and the countryside needed for food. But poverty was part of it. Like a freckle. It could be hidden, but will always be there. And yes they were poor. Living in a trailer on the outskirts of town, bearly having enough food to survive. But then, they weren't royalty.