It was a beautiful morning outside, Mom said that Alice would be better soon, so I was in a good mood. The butler was getting used to it, I didn’t cause him too much trouble these past few days… But today was different, I need to try walking by myself again. I am not going to let a failure stop me. I think while raising my small hands to pump myself up.

            “cute…”

            Mom let her thoughts escape her mouth as I am getting ready to take another step forward in my life. But today I am going to try and do it the right way, no doing it behind people’s backs.

            “Mom want go ou~side~”

            “Yes, Ori, we are going outside in a second, just wait for daddy to get here”

            I am going to have to wait for the old man… I want to go now but it won’t hurt to wait for a little bit… It won’t take long right?

            After what feels like eternity dad finally arrives. He has a different type of suit today.

            “Ori you look as cute as ever, dad really loves being with you. But dad needs to leave for the capital due to work”

            Dad looks seriously dejected right now, and mom is looking at me anxiously. Do they think I am going to throw a tantrum just because dad is going to be away for a little while?

            Maybe they got the wrong idea because of my reaction to missing Alice…

            I hug dad for a little.

            “Come bac~ soon”

            “You promise dad you will be okay Ori?”

            “Ye~ Ori will be fine~”

            Dad looks at mom with a smile, it seems they were worried about that after all… What do they think I am? A spoiled baby? Well, they are not that far off.

            Dad gave me a kiss on my forehead, but his well-kept beard poked my skin.

            “Ouch”

            I say as I put my hands on my forehead. Dad looks confused as mom says something to him. Mom picks me up and we go to the reception hall where we say goodbye to him.

            Now back to my objective. I need to make a plan…

            Instead of going back upstairs we go directly outside. When I look at the flower garden, I can’t help but be surprised. Big bro is wearing working clothes while preparing the soil where the flowers he destroyed used to be… Good for him, maybe he will learn from his mistakes. When he sees me, he looks surprised.

            “Good morning Ori…”

            He looks like he is trying pretty hard to think of something.

            “I am planting some new flowers of the ones you like. The other ones were… uhhh… dying… uhhh… So, I am planting some new ones that will look even better than before”

            He says making up a lie on the spot, to try and cover up the fact that he destroyed my favorite flowers. Did he think I wouldn’t understand what he had done?

Mom looks displeased and ready to give him a lecture. But I am faster to say something.

“Big bro you dummy~”

I say while looking at him with an unhappy face. He looks lost.

“But… but…”

            “Say no more, you are grounded for trying to lie to your sister”

            Mom says angrily while my brother looks to the ground. We continued our walk after saying hello to the old lady. When we approached one of the biggest trees I had ever seen.

            This is my opportunity.

            “Mom big tree~”

            I say while pointing in the tree’s direction.

            “Yes Ori, big tree”

            Mom says while she continues walking. She didn’t understand the message…

            “Mommy big tree”

            “Yes Ori, that is a big tree”

            Is she ignoring me on purpose?

            “Mommy, want to go big tree”

            She can’t ignore my direct request as I am making my pleading face and finally takes me to the big tree. Now that we are here, I need to get on the ground.

            “Mom, want to sit~”

            Mom looks lost for a second, but the butler looks like he came prepared, he takes a piece of cloth out of nowhere and extends it on the floor. How helpful… Alice might need to learn a thing or two from him.

            After sitting for about 15 minutes, I decided to finally make my move.

            “Mom, want to walk~”

            Mom helps me get up and is still holding me like she does when we are practicing. But that is not what I want.

            “Mom, want to walk alone~”

            “Ori, you remember what happened last time?”

            I look at her with puppy eyes, she looks conflicted.

            “Okay Ori, but if I feel like it is too dangerous, I will stop you”

            After letting go of me, she stands there looking anxious. But today there is no room for error. I start concentrating on my steps, they start unsteady, but gradually get better as I move forward. I reach the end of the cloth and turn around to look back. I see mom looking proud and cautious at the same time, while the butler is just smiling.

            I continue to walk until I feel myself getting tired, I then get back to my normal routine, but now I have a little more freedom to move around. I wonder when I will be able to explore around the house…