Sylvia pulled the curtains back. Her parents hated it when she did that, but hopefully they wouldn't notice her doing it now.
She gazed out through a crack in the wooden boards, past the dusty glass and at the treetops beyond, rising up tall and jagged in the distance. How she wished to be among them right now. She wanted to see them burn to the ground, reducing their silent and wise structures into nothing but ash and smoke.
She needed to do that.
If only she could just get out, run away into the woods, then she could set them on fire and show the Fire Spirit that she wasn't useless. She was worth everything to him.
She had to.
It ached to see the outside world. It hurt to see all that timber taunting her from her prison. At least in an actual proper prison, she was still allowed outside.
The faces in the shadows on the walls mocked her misery, imitated her tears, and displayed a twisted reflection of her heart.
She encircled her fingers around the boards on the windows and pressed her forehead against them. She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply.
What was she going to do about all this?