I heard my mom open the door. I kept playing with my Barbie and waited. If she shouted, she was home, I knew she would be a nice mom that night. If she left me playing in my room, I had better stay there because no matter what I did, she would not be happy with me. I hated those days.

There was no shout, so I left my doll on the floor and I climbed in bed to hug Shasha, my teddy bear. After a moment, I changed my mind and picked the Barbie from the floor and put it on the shelves, like my mom always told me to do. I went back to my Shasha. I calmed him down and told him that it was going to be ok. I told him he did not need to be disappointed, mom was very busy but she was very nice, when she was not busy.

Mom opened the door and said hi. She had the blue skirt I liked, the colour was like her eyes.

“Minou, I still need to make some calls. Be a good girl, help me to fold the clean clothes. You know how to do it, right?”

I nodded and went with Shasha to mom and dad’s bedroom and explained Shasha how to properly fold the clothing, but my mom shouted from the room to stop being so loud. I put my finger on my nose and said “shhhhh” to Shasha, who just rolled his eyes. I took it in my arms and hugged him tight, whispering in his ear that he was not alone.