She wakes feeling worse than usual, her misery multiplied by the scratchy throat and stuffy nose. Her chest aches with each breath, a thin sheen of sweat dampening her brow, a sickness she hasn’t felt in many years causing a panic to swell upwards from her gut. Dallas just knows that Mommy won’t believe her— not after last time.

Tears sting the corners of her eyes as she glances up at the loudly ticking clock, realizing it’ll be hours before Mommy bothers to check on her again. The visits are rarer these days, the woman enraged by her attempt to escape and unwilling to offer even one more ounce of kindness to the brat until she proves her loyalty.

Dallas stares pitifully up at the camera, her bottom lip folding outwards as she silently prays that Mommy is watching her. She doesn’t know how long it’s been since the failed attempt to escape had forced her into permanent restraints, but it feels like forever. She looks around at the childish midnight blue bedroom, her pout growing as her eyes land back on her childish onesie.

All things she’d grown to accept, to even love— a part of who is now, but there’s one thing missing. Her Mommy. The one Dallas had hated when she first locked her away, the Mommy she now craves at all times— who no longer cares enough to even visit for more than a few moments at a time, and it’s all Dallas’s fault.

Dallas whines and breathes heavily through her mouth, her nose stuffy enough to hurt as her sinuses work against her. She longs for Mommy to return and hold her like she used to, snuggle and comfort her little girl the way she did before Dallas tried to run. It may not be real, but she thinks it would be enough for now.