Challenge: Story Based on a Picture

"...seven!"
As soon as she finished the word, she felt the shock and almost
collapsed. If she hadn't been holding on to the table...
"There are NOT SEVEN! AGAIN!"
Such frustration, such anger, such...hatred. She pushed herself up to
stand again, so small compared to the Others...
"There are seven!"
Her hands moved over the simulated table again, much faster than she
could possibly be counting...
"Count them yourself, there are seven! Please, don't Correct me
again...please!"
That look of incredulity, that he...HE count them? He snorted, and he
counted each one, eyes moving to her with a renewed smugness.
"There. Six. Only SIX...!"
She pointed from that small distance, and his face fell, just for a
moment...and then he threw the cover away, snarling. Someone else had
entered the field, the seventh, on the edge of the map. He waved his
hands, dismissing her...
"...take her away. Now."
She whimpered and was yanked away, thrown back into her cell and was
immediately lost to the world...

('Yellow....yellow was the pretty dress she'd wear, fireflies dancing
about her...')

"Alis...I know that Uncle is very hard on you, but you don't realize
how important you are to Our Family. Your Talent is so much higher
than the Others."

She could never see Him, only hear him... She was cuddled on his lap,
hugging him... All that she'd ever see when she looked up was that
muddled shadow, but...

"...I know, Daddy...I try to be good for him, I try, very hard... I just..."

A hand into her hair, smoothing through. He was so warm, and so
comforting...she always felt so safe with Him...she never wanted to
leave Him...

"Shh..." That voice again, so deep...it seemed to echo and come from
all directions. "It's ok, Alis. You're very good....that's why I
love you so much. You're so important to me..."

That little smile as He spoke -- she didn't know if He could see her
at all, but she knew He loved her. All she wanted was to make Him
proud of her. Her voice was small, and she felt so tired...

"I love you too, Daddy..."

A blinding light, and she was pulled out of her cell again...then
thrown into Ring, the light following her.

Uncle's voice came out over the speakers, loud and crackling with that
interference...

"No more Counting today, Alis. Today, we're going to try something
different..."

There were Others around her, and she was in the middle. The lights
were too bright, she couldn't see what They looked like, but she was
surrounded. She was scared...and then more, because she Knew that
They weren't.

"Defend, Alis."

Her eyes widened, and she felt it immediately, the force being thrown
against her, her body beng thrown in so many directions. She'd
fallen, and it didn't stop -- even if They didn't move an inch, they
closed in on her, she could Feel it...she was crying, screaming,
curling up in a ball...

"Uncle!! Uncle, help me! Help!! PLEASE!"

That same crackling, monotone voice, each time, not waiting for her
response, over and over again.

"Defend, Alis. Defend. Defend. Alis, Defend..."

"DADDY, PLEASE HELP ME, DADDY --!"

('She had a ring on her finger, and a present in her hand... Those
Fireflies danced around her, and the World cried as she danced in that
pretty Yellow...')

She woke up, crying in his lap again. Everything hurt...every part of
her was covered in bruises, and she was bleeding, sniffling and crying
into his chest... And even though she hurt, his touch made her feel
safe and comfortable... She wasn't scared of Him, never of Daddy...He
loved her, and she loved Him, so much...so, so very much...

"It'll be ok, Alis... It won't hurt when you wake up. Uncle will fix
you all up, and we can continue. You're so important, Alis...you're
going to make me so proud of you...."

Still, she cried, but she nodded...and then she was pulled from her
cell again, and dragged to Uncle's office.

He didn't say anything at first, and he'd wait for the escort to leave....

"Ah...Alis. Do you enjoy disappointing me?"

His eyes stared at her, and she felt very small. She'd reply, very quietly...

"No, Uncle..."

"...would you Give me an apple, Alis?"

She paused, and...stared at him...then looked around...

"I don't...I don't see any...any apples, Uncle. I can get..."

"No, Alis. I want you to make me an apple...and then Give it to me."

She frowned...and...looked away...

"...I don't want to..."

She felt the sharp, shocking pain of Correction again, and she forced
herself to not start crying...

"Give....me...an....apple. Now."

His voice was stern, and upset...she didn't look at him, trying to
shrink herself into the chair...quietly...very quietly...

"...no...it's too hard...it hurts...I don't want to... Daddy said..."

Uncle raised up from his chair, and he physically struck her, hard in
the face. She felt (Felt) it, her head turning hard to the other side,
and made a pained sound of surprise...

"I DON'T CARE WHAT HE SAID, I WANT YOU TO DO WHAT I SAY, YOU..."
SLAP! "...UNGRATEFUL...." SLAP! "...STUPID..." SLAP!
"...WORTHLESS..." SLAP! "WASTE!" SLAP! He raised his hand again, and
she screamed...

('...stepping back through those tears, in her pretty Yellow, Apple in
her hand, Ring on her finger, fireflies dancing... The crowd was
whispering, getting louder... The fireflies were going to take her
back, and she...no, she didn't want to go back. She backed up further
through the wet...')

She was ripped from her cell...No Daddy, no Love... For weeks, she
was thrown in the Ring, and Uncle tried to force her to Give, to
Defend, to Count, to Feel, and she'd be thrown into her cell after,
fixed only enough to not die...


It was raining outside, hard, and loud. She was crying in her cell,
unable to move, staring into the barely lit halls...this one was the
one, it....
A loud crash, and everything went black....
...she ripped herself from her cell, and she ran. Each door was the
wrong door, each hall was the wrong hall, but she ran, until
finally...finally, she saw the Exit...

It was raining outside, so she Gave herself that yellow slicker, to
keep from getting too wet... She was going to make it! She was going
to get away, finally away!

"Put her down NOW! She can't leave the compound!"

Uncle was yelling behind her, and she Counted the 20 others behind
him, armed with Sleeping Guns...

There was a fence up ahead, a literal wall of crackling fence...there
was no way she could....

"STOP! ALIS! STOP RIGHT NOW!"

She'd turn around quickly, and Give herself a grenade. They weren't
going to take her back!

"NO! I'M NOT GOING BACK, I'M NOT!"

She was scared, desperate...she pulled the pin on the grenade, as the
little red dots gathered on her... She hurt...she hurt so much...

"...daddy...please save me..."

Her arms stretched out to embrace...
...and she let go, falling into the blinding light..