Chapter One
For three months, the market prices have slowly been inflating. Those with highly successful businesses could just raise the prices and deal with the new economic situation. But when you make your own toys to sell to the children of Sweet Jazz City, life wasn't as simple.
People didn't want to buy the toys anymore due to the increased prices of all goods. Since they would make their own toys, they lost money on the materials and continued to lose money as no one came to purchase. The Blyndeff family had begun to struggle, and the youngest daughter, who had taken charge of the family business while her sister and father did who knows what, did all she could to keep the business afloat.
As times became harder, resources scarcer, and customers nearly non-existent, Molly did what she saw fit. She pretended to eat, to hide things from her family (not that she needed to anyways. No one even really paid attention to her in the first place.). She took on extra shifts, going as far as to find work at another shop just to pay the bills.
The only ones who did seem to notice the change was Trixie Roughouse and Phoenica Fleecity, the only friends she really had. They didn't say much at first but began to offer her help which she would immediately reject. Molly felt as though these troubles were not something she ought to bother others with.
On November 4th, their electricity was cut, and there was nothing they could do. November 17th, their gas was cut. November 28th, their water was cut. Bills were left unopened on the kitchen table, a couple of candles providing dim lighting for them. Molly gave all food up completely. It was more important that her father and sister eat than she herself. She'd sacrifice anything for her family, even though it was doubtful that they would ever do the same for her.
Late on the last night of November, snow began to cover the streets. Each family member had four or five blankets each, except for the youngest, who was left with a single moth-eaten cotton cover.
Now, the other people in her life that only recently had started to care for our small child, knew nothing of her situation. They were blinded by the annoyance of raised prices and their own line of work. However, the lack of communication they would receive from Molly was growing concerning. Normally, she was quick to respond in her usual innocent and polite manner. But as the months passed, her responses became few and far between. It was nothing like the sweet, young girl they'd met all those months ago.
And that was going to end. Now. As much as they disliked each other, Giovanni Potage and Sylvester Ashling reached out to each other concerning Molly. It was decided that the best course of action would be to see her in person. It was the only way to be certain of the situation.