In the slums, at twelve o’clock in the morning. Dorothy, Noah’s mother, slept after drowning herself in more alcohol than usual last night.

That night, she had a dream, but instead of being in the midst of it, she was like a ghost, invisible to the world, and watched everything unfold in that dream like it was a movie.

Dorothy was in the middle of a hot afternoon, with the sun roaring. What kind of dream is this? – she wondered as she floated away, roaming around the area.

It was a ghetto of a different country, yet when compared to Mort dun's, it could be termed as paradise. They used garbage and different pieces of scraps to create little shops that sold food that appeared sullied, ripped clothes, and various trashes that are still usable.

These little shops were lined up on both sides of the street, with merchants yelling for the numerous people who were there to come by their establishments.

It was fairly clean. Instead of the leftover waste being scattered around the ghetto, they were piled up on dark corners which were scarcely visited.

Shortly after, Dorothy stumbled across a short purple-haired little girl getting dragged through the streets, hand being held by another woman, presumably her mother, who carried a sour expression. Her mother, too, had purple hair and prominent facial characteristics that made her appear beautiful to others.

Dorothy was taken aback as she witnessed the events unfold, and her hands easily revealed all of her emotions. She eased her grasp at first, then tightened it again, before loosening her grip once more and a tear shed her eye, as she attempted to flee the area.

There was a weird force that deflected her movement and bounced her back to the scene. She sadly wondered – So… I can’t even escape from this, even in dream form…

The mother walked towards a person who wore a black somewhat tall hat and a long black coat that concealed his whole body. The mother dropped her daughter’s hand and knelt on the ground. She clasped her hands together and with tears falling, she begged the man. “Sir, please! Please! Spare us… I beg of you.”

Dorothy stared at the little girl’s mother, continuing – Yeah… fitting, especially since… I killed her…

“Mom, mom, why are you crying?” the clueless little girl constantly tugged on the mother's clothes. She continued, putting on a brave front and facing the person, opening her arms wide to attempt to shield her crying mother. “Don’t worry mom, I’ll protect you!”

The person emotionlessly replied, “I’m sorry, but no matter how much you beg us, we can’t do anything about it, so just give us what we want. But if you don’t… you know the consequences.”

The mom’s face lit up with horror as she quickly grabbed her child’s hand and ran away.
 
The daughter turned her head and saw the individual tilting his head and pulling a portion of his coat down to display his neck. He warned the pair, “Just remember, we will always know where you are.”

While the two were running, Dorothy was pulled by that same force that pushed her to follow them. “I guess… no matter what happens… I need to watch… what a garbage dream…” Dorothy depressingly muttered.

When the two arrived at their tiny home, Dorothy watched by the small square window as the mom made a meal with a bottle of whisky beside her, having spent all of their money on the ingredients and the bottle the day before. They were positioned in the center of the room, atop a tiny table. Beside it was a sheet-covered floor where they both slept.

Dorothy tried to slam her fist against the wall, but to no avail, as she was just a ghost in the dream. She continued by regretfully saying, “I should’ve figured this out sooner… all the clues were already there.”

"Hehe, Dorothy, honey, try this," the mother said joyfully as she placed a bite-sized piece of steak on the table and poured the recently purchased alcohol bottle into a cup.

As Dorothy heard those words, she turned her head to the window once more, and as her mental health deteriorated, she began to sniffle and tragically yell, "Why... why!" Is it those foods all over again? ”

The little girl grasped the cup with both hands and took a little sip, and once she so hardily gulped it down, she said with her tongue out and a cute grimaced face. “Bleh! Mom, this tastes yucky!”

The mother tried to disguise her beaming laughter by covering her lips, “HAHAHAHA”

The little girl then continued to eat the bite sized piece of steak little by little, and when she noticed her mom just sitting and watching her, she carried the plate over to her mother and asked, “Mommy, don’t you want to eat? It’s really yummy.”

delighted, she smiled, replying, “Your mom is full at the moment, too bad.”

The little girl glanced down and saddeningly muttered, “Yeah, it’s too bad.” Almost instantaneously, her attitude changed as she thought of a solution, asking, “But what if I leave some leftovers for tomorrow?”

The mother replied with a cheerful smile while proudly petting her daughter. “Thanks, honey, but no need to do that, it will taste bad if you save it up till tomorrow, so just eat it all.”

Dorothy then gazed up at the far night sky and thought with a pained grin on her face. Those times were probably the happiest I’ve ever felt in my entire worthless life.

When the little girl had finished her meal, her mother inquired, “Want to help mommy bring the laundry inside? Tomorrow will probably be a rainy day.”

The daughter rubbing her mouth with her sleeves enthusiastically said, “Ok!”

The two walked outdoors to retrieve two dark green jackets that were hanging on a clothesline that was strung up at a pole on one end and the wall on the other.

When Dorothy spotted them, she moved closer to them and wanted to embrace the mother. However, just as her arms were about to wrap around the mother, her entire body phased through her. She could only clench her teeth in regret, and weep with sorrow.

When the mother grabbed both the coats, she extended her hand and said, “Let’s go back in now, honey.”

A few hours have passed and it was almost the little girl’s bedtime. She was sitting on her mother’s lap while being lovingly embraced to the point she couldn’t breathe.

The sole source of light in the room was a kerosene lamp beside them that just provided a speck of light in the room. They sat on top of a sheet that had been laid on the floor.

“M-mom it’s too tight,” the daughter said as she struggled to pull her hands out of the tight hug.

Only years later, when Dorothy was older, was when she found out the true meaning of that hug.

“Oh! Sorry honey,” the mother looked down and loosened her embrace.

“It’s okay!” The daughter replied with an innocent smile.

The mother asked, “Do you want me to tell you a story?”

“Yes please!” The little girl’s eyes sparkled as she looked into the mother’s eyes, nodding like there was no tomorrow.
 
The mother patted her daughter’s head, saying, “Alright, alright.” She then continued, “There was once a time when your mom was in a horrible place, but mommy didn’t notice it was a terrible place since she’s been there since birth.”

The little girl gasped, “Oh no! Why was mommy in a terrible place?”

“Haha, don’t worry it’s all in the past now.”

“Phew!”

“Let’s continue then, I was being hurt a lot by other people in a white chamber every day… Needles and tubes were constantly being stuck to my body, just to produce a mystical power for them.”

“Mom, what are needles?” The little girl then made a horrified face that was about to burst into tears, asking, “Are they those things they hit me with before?”

The mom nervously laughed trying to play it off, “O-of course not honey… Didn’t I tell you that they will not bother you anymore.”

“Mhm, but why did they do those to you?”

“Hm…? Well, if I were to answer that, it would be so that I could meet one man, and that man is your father.”

“Father?”

“Yes, your father. He was a tall and handsome man with black hair, he was kind and had a tremendous feeling of hunger, a hunger for freedom.”

“Woah… fweedom!”
 
“Yeah, it really is amazing… and since the moment I laid eyes on your father, I fell in love with him. Then, we soon we had you.” She pinched her daughter’s cheek and played with it for a while.

“Shtop it, mommy.”

“Hahaha okay, so where was I… Ah yes, when we had you, your father was crying a lot at first, and later he wanted you and me to at least witness freedom, and live in a place where there are no rules that hinder that. So, he devised a plan to escape which worked at first. But in the end, when we were close to the exit… we were stopped by big people.”

“Big people?”

“Yes, big people that had powers and strength much beyond those of ordinary humans. They took up positions in front of the exit. But, guess what? Your father was a strong and courageous man. He charged up to them and launched them into the air. Making it possible for both of us to go forward".

As Dorothy listened and watched the story the mother was telling, she frustratingly and saddeningly thought – If only I remembered what happened… everything that happened… If I didn’t bury them away in my mind...

“But sadly he told us to run and leave him behind so we could get the opportunity to feel freedom.” The mother was about to cry as she said this.

“Did we run, mommy?”

“Yes… We ran like our lives depended on it,” the mother replied, unable to hold her tears back anymore.

“Are you okay mommy?”

“Yes, honey, there is just dust in my eyes… And at the end of the story, mommy and you were able to live happily ever after.”