The toy shook in her hand, rattling in the warm glow of the fire's embrace.
Her teeth chattered so hard she felt dizzy, her eyes blurring with tears that froze painfully on her face. She couldn't help but relish the much appreciated warmth the fireplace provided.
"Two." She muttered softly, almost incoherent in the crackling sparks from the flames. She inched closer to the warm feeling of comfort the rarely seen fire gave her, greedily hoping for more.
She clutched a frozen and soaking blanket on her right hand, trembling in the freezing cold.
She tensed for a moment, her eyes vacant and unsettling, like she could see something no one knew.
"One." She uttered out in a soft breath.
Slowly placing her toy down behind her, she raised her right hand clutching the blanket. She patted her left shoulder in reassurance, before placing her arms on the cold stone floor in front of her, in an attempt to stand.
She grunted in effort, struggling to keep her trembling knees steady. She straightened her arms with all her might, reaching for all the strength she could muster. Water dripped from her clothes, the surrounding emptiness filling with sounds of water dropplets falling on the cold hard ground and the occasional crackle of the fire. Her pretty pink dress was torn here and there, soaked from top to bottom.
She kept the posture for no more than a few seconds before collapsing on the ground, the skirt making a soft squelching noise along with the sound of fabric tearing. Her dress was ruined beyond repair.
Curling up into a ball, tears flowed down her childlike soft cheeks as she raised her arms to wipe away the drops of water falling onto her dress.
She sniffled and rubbed her nose, stilling to a stop as her eyes became unfocused once more.
A moment of stillness gripped the room, only for a loud wail to pierce the silence. She flinched and scrambled up to her feet, only to fall hard against the ground.
Her elbow turned a bright red from the fall and it took her all her energy to stifle her yelp of pain. She gripped her elbow, face contorting into a grimace as tears threatened to fall.
Her eyes sparkled with a resolution that a child was too young to have, forced to mature under circumstances she should not have experienced. Supporting her body with her right arm, she winced in pain.
Suddenly, a loud crash could be heard, muffled by the only doors that led out of the room she was confined in.
Like a startled bunny, she rushed to the side of the fireplace on all fours, huddling with lips shut tight.
The cosy feeling of heat spread throughout her body and she subconsciously inched closer to the ever comforting fire.
The reprieve from the cold gave a soft comfort.
Contentedly, she sighed.