I was a day late with my birthday gift since I hadn't had the chance to sleep what with the party cleanup and such. Eva didn't seem to mind. Well, in actuality, she never seemed to have much by way of emotion, so if she was upset or annoyed or thought I was stupid, she didn't express it.

I couldn't afford to get her anything, and I wouldn't have known what to get her even if I could, so I drew her a picture. I guess it was a sketch since my charcoal skills weren't very clean, but we'll call it a picture for the sake of my pride.

I almost didn't give it to her, but I felt like I had to give her something. She let me live, and I wasn't sure why, but I had no plans to question her generosity.

I drew my old house, with my dad out chopping wood and my brother feeding the horse while mother swept up the front steps. I knew it wasn't something she wanted, and I'm not sure why that's what I decided to draw. Maybe I wanted her to believe me. Maybe I wanted her to know that I was a person with a life once. 

Either way, she simply opened a drawer and placed in on top of a stack of papers, barely giving it a glance.

I guess I shouldn't have expected anything else.