-Chapter 3-
Nikea and Flora were playing in the grass. Nikea had forgotten why she was even sad. The two girls played around as if nothing was wrong.
"Poor girl," Flora's mother commented. "She doesn't yet know her parents are dead."
"I wonder what will happen to her now," said Flora's father. "She has no other known family members."
Flora suddenly walked in. "Can Nikea please live with us? I know that she has no parents anymore."
"How did you know that?" her mom asked.
"It wasn't hard to tell," said Flora. "She was so sad, but recovered very fast. No one could be that sad and then not unless something dramatic like losing her parents happened. I would bet that she saw the whole thing and made herself forget about it."
"So wise for a 4-year-old," her mother commented.
"We should certainly look into having Nikea live here," said her father.
They did look into it, and the lawyers gave Flora's family legal custody of Nikea.
"You're going to love it here!" Flora told Nikea. "You're gonna room with me. It'll be great!"
"It sounds amazing!" Nikea replied. Her enthusiasm sounded fake.
"Oh, sweetie," Flora said sympathetically. "I understand that you're upset about your parents. You don't have to force yourself to be happy around me. We're practically sisters, now. You can show all your emotions around me."
Nikea understood. She sat down on Flora's bed and wept. It was hard for her to hear that her parents were dead. It was worse for the adults who told her, because they knew she had seen everything but didn't remember it.
Nikea lived out the rest of her childhood in Flora's home with Flora's family.
-End of Chapter 3-