.

The little girl didn't know what happened and what had got her mother so angry right now. All she had done is reach towards the food to only be pushed to the hard wall. Her body hit the muddy walls where she fell back down on the ground. 

Penny winced, the dull pain coming to appear again and she looked up at her mother who stood in place. Her eyes looking different and her appearance slightly changing but the girl didn't question it at first. 

"How many times do you need to be told to not go near the pot? How hard is it for a little girl to understand?" her mother looked at her with a vexed expression. The eyes slowly turning to slits which looked different from how humans looked. 

"Mama," she whispered with her hand clutching on her side which had hit the walls. Slowly getting up wondering what she had done wrong, "I only wanted food."

"Did I say you could eat it right now?" her mother asked, her eyes glaring down at her, "I am still cooking. What are you going to eat? Uncooked food?" her mother came forward, holding her jaw as she spoke shaking her head so that the little girl would look and listen. 

"I am sorry," little Penelope apologized. 

"You are sorry? You want food, right? Come let me give you the food that you want," her mother let go of her, looking around to spot the rabbit which Penelope had brought home last week to pet. And though the little one had brought the rabbit home to play, her mother had allowed to keep it for different reasons, "Let me feed you this thing," her mother pulled the rabbit's ears with one hand, bringing the knife forward. 

"No!" Penny cried realizing what her mother was going to do, "No, no, please!" she cried. She wasn't hungry anymore. She didn't want to eat anything and she would be alright skipping the next meal. 

"Why not?" her mother asked looking at her daughter, "Didn't you want to eat? How can I let you stay hungry when food is right here. It will be cooked in a few minutes," her mother smiled while her daughter started to cry. Even though it had only been a week, the little girl had grown attached to the little animal. Apart from her mother, there was no one who spoke to her or interacted with her. At that time, this rabbit had warmed her heart. 

Penny shook her head, tears falling down from her eyes, "Please! I am not hungry. I promise you, mama. I won't do it," she pleaded with her mother. 

"You always say this and it always results in this. How many times I have iterated to not come near the vessel yet you come to reach even after my word," saying this, her mother ran the sharp knife that had only been chiseled to run it across the rabbit's neck to have blood profusely falling down the ground. 

"No!" Penny continued to cry more. She couldn't believe what just happened. 

She didn't know how her sweet mother could do this to the animal. She looked at the dead rabbit with horror in her eyes. All she had done was wanting to eat the food which was prepared and it didn't matter it was bad she would still eat it as the food was scarce at their home. 

"Let's cook this now," her mother said to her horror. Not wanting the rabbit to be cooked, she quickly jumped to her feet and towards her mother to s.n.a.t.c.h the animal away so that she could bury it where it deserved to be than be cooked as a meal. Maybe she would have eaten it if her mother had brought it to the house from the outside herself rather than the little girl. If the little girl didn't get attached to the animal but to have her pet killed and to be cooked so that she could eat it, she wanted to vomit.

"What do you think you are doing?!" her mother asked in an irritated tone when Penny went to take the rabbit in her hands. 

"You can't cook the rabbit, mama!" 

"Move out of my way, Penny," her mother pushed her away from her hand but the girl didn't back away. Instead, she struggled to get back the animal which had gotten on her mother's nerves. Pulling back her arm, the woman threw the rabbit with so much force that the little furred animal hit itself to the wall before falling down lifeless, removing any possibility of life from it. 

Seeing this, Penny's stomach dropped. Her mother was kind. She was a good mother who had protected and loved her when people didn't bother to help or look at her. She was kind but why was she doing this? The sight of the dead animal that laid lifeless on the ground brought more tears in her eyes. 

With a shocked expression, she turned to look back at her mother where she was unable to comprehend what just happened. 

"Why did you kill him?" the young girl asked, questioning her mother for her actions. She pulled her mother's dress, moving it back and forth as she questioned, "Why did you kill him? He did nothing, we had food!" she had only brought some vegetables back home two hours ago before going to fetch the log of woods. 

Her mother raised her hand and slapped her across her face, "Don't raise your voice," she glared at the girl, "Don't forget whom you are speaking to. I am your mother. Do you think your useless rabbit is more important than me?" asked her mother. 

The young girl was too shocked by the death of the rabbit and her mother raised her hand for the very first time on her that she failed to respond to her mother's question which resulted in her getting beaten by her mother's bare hands. 

"No," she cried after the few beatings where her mother treated her violently. This wasn't her mother.