Miirza walked down the street on the other side of the gate, thinking to herself. She was heading toward the market district, not even thinking that the stores were most likely closed. When she reached the side road that would take her to her destination, she stopped. Having just realized she probably couldn't buy anything at this hour, she turned around and headed toward her childhood home. It only took her a few moments before she came within sight of the small house, she knew the way well having gone shopping with her mother on multiple occasions. She stood there looking at her house of old for a while. It was unnaturally dark inside, her parents couldn't be asleep already. She had a strange feeling that something was amiss. She slowly walked up toward the door and tried the handle. Darn, locked. She tried knocking, no answer. At this point she was getting anxious. Where are they, she thought, don't they hear the knocking. She knocked again, still nothing.
She looked around, walked up to a window, and peered inside. Completely dark, and worse yet, no furniture. Now she was getting hysterical, she rushed to the door and started pounding furiously. Nothing. She had been pounding so hard on the door that her hand started to hurt. After a minute, she gave up, turned around, and slid down the door into a sitting position. She couldn't stop the warm tears accumulating in her eyes, and she didn't even wipe them away as they slid down her face. She had never felt this alone in her life. No parents, no siblings, no one. She looked around, thinking about what she should do now, not really wanting to believe they were actually gone. That's when she noticed a small shimmer on the ground. She picked it up and looked closely at it. Maybe she could pick the lock, see what happened. It's worth a try, she thought.
She picked herself up off the ground, turned towards the door, and took a deep breath. She had never tried something like this before. Breaking into houses was something her oldest brother enjoyed doing, not her. She had seen him do it once though, and it hadn't looked too difficult. If he can do it, so can I, she thought defiantly. She slowly poked the would be lockpick into the keyhole, and jiggled it around a bit. That didn't work, so she changed tactics. She attempted to poke the proper spot of the locking mechanism just right, but that also didn't lead to anything except the pick slipping out of her fingers and her punching the door handle.
"Ouch," she said through gritted teeth. She stood there a second to regain her composure, and then tried again. Maybe, she thought, if I jiggle and poke, it'll work. So she proceeded to jiggle and poke at the keyhole, and when she thought she may have finally succeeded, klink, the small metal pick she had been trying to gain entrance into her childhood home with snapped. She pulled her hand away, and looked at what she still grasped. Her eyes widened in disbelief, as defeat washed over her whole being. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes, and she openly cried so hard that a passing guard looked up and saw her standing there.
When the guard reached her, he asked, "What's amiss young lady?"
Miirza, now crying hysterically, couldn't answer. The guard, realizing she was in distress, tried to comfort her. "It's ok," the guard said. "Why are you crying?" He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to quell the tears.
Miirza couldn't stop crying though. She had been so excited to see her mother again, and her father, and the fact that she couldn't get in just was too much to handle. Slowly however, she was able to slow her crying to manageable, enough to ask the guard, "What h...happened to th...the couple that li...lived here?"
The guard looked at the house and looked back at the Miirza. "Did you know them?"
Miirza nodded and said, "They're my parents."
At this, the guards face saddened. "Oh... um, well they apparently packed up and went south, people saying that they were talking about too many memories here that they didn't want to be around."
Miirza looked up at this, fresh tears already starting. "Does anyone know where?" she managed to ask before she lost herself again.
The guard came closer and held her while she cried. "Possibly one of the neighbors," he said.
Miirza nodded and tried to rid herself of her tears. She pulled away form him and smiled, "Thank you." The guard nodded, and, after making sure she was ok, went back to his rounds. Miirza sighed deeply, looked around, and went back the way she came. She would go back outside the city, to the small wooded area and get some sleep, and then maybe travel south to see what there was to see. she doubted that she would ever see her parents again, but there was always a possibility for something. She would probably spend the rest of this year or so hunting and getting some money, then set out to explore the world.