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"Faith?"
Came the soft calling, riding on the night's slight breeze.

"Faith, come on home now. Faith?"
As her name was called over and over again, the caller coming closer and closer to where she sat under the tree, Faith strained to shut out the voice.
She willed with all her might for her mother to not find her, to walk away without seeing her here.

"There you are,"
Faith gritted her teeth in frustration.
Couldn't she get any alone time?

"Mum," she greeted wearily, cringing.
The greeting seemed too intimate, too bonding.

Reece stumbled over the ground towards her daughter.
As she sat down beside Faith, slumping backwards to meet the trunk of the tree, the strong smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke wafted over them both.

"Go home, Mum," Faith pleaded angrily, "Please,"
"I can't possibly leave my lil' girl out here all alone, could I?"
Reece's words slurred slightly.

Yes, you could, thought Faith. And you would, too.
But she kept silent.

"Where'd you get the money for the beer, Mum?" Faith said instead.
"Tequila," Reece corrected blearily.
"Whatever," Faith muttered.
Reece's head lolled on her shoulders, her body draped against the trunk.
Faith pressed again, louder, "Where, Reece?"

Silence.

Giving up, Faith got up and walked away, suppressing her fury.
Finances weren't at its best, now that Daddy was gone.
And with Reece in no condition to work, Faith was in despair.

She often wondered when Reece had started chain smoking and drinking.
After Daddy's death, definitely.
And it'd turned her into someone even her own daughter did not recognize anymore.

Seething with anger and desperation, Faith began to walk faster - away from the hill, away from her mother - as Reece gave an unearthly moan in her drink-induced stupor.