"Urgh, not again!"
With an exasperated exhale, Dorothea crumbled up yet another piece of paper and swiped it from her desk, where it joined countless other paper balls, each bearing the exact same opening sentence. With her desk clear, she leaned forward, resting her forehead atop it.
"I've been at this for hours now!" Dorothea sighed, lightly drumming the back of her head. "And I just can't get the wording right! The girl... The girl... The girl focused... No, she thought hard... Argh!"
In one swift motion, she sat up and jumped to her feet, her chair rolling back a few inches. Intertwining her finger behind her head, she strolled around her room, stepping over other failed attempts at writing. This wasn't even her first attempt at beginning her assignment, it was her third!
On her first attempt, she had gotten about a page into her work before deciding it wasn't up to her usual standards, at which point she had torn the page in half and then in half again before dropping it into the trash. Her second attempt hadn't even reached a full page before she destroyed it and now, on her third, she couldn't even get an opening sentence! It was enough to drive her absolutely insane!
"Maybe I need a break! Yeah, that should do it!" Dorothea came to a halt at the foot of her bed. With a deep inhale, she prepared to fall forwards into its soft embrace, to drift off into a sweet, dreamless sleep that would leave her feeling refreshed and ready to try again for the fourth time...
"Dorothea, I'm home!"
Hearing the front door open, followed by the voice of her father, Dorothea halted her fall, pushing herself back onto her feet. With a smile on her face, she raced for her door, prepared to rush downstairs and see her father. As soon as her hand grabbed the doorknob...
"If you're coming down, don't forget to dress properly!"
"U-Uh..." She paused, glancing down at herself. She was indeed dressed, however it wasn't what most people would call 'decent'. While her bottom half was clad in a pair of baggy pyjamas pants, she wore only a bra on her upper body, a bra that was getting rather snug around her ample chest. Grabbing the matching top, she hurriedly threw it on and ran downstairs, a wide smile on her face. "Dad!"
Her father, who was busy rummaging around the kitchen, stopped just in time to get tackled by her. The duo chuckled between themselves for a moment before Dorothea pulled away, smile still on her face. However, it lasted only for a few seconds before vanishing, replaced with a stern expression.
"Dad, you're working way too late!" She chided him, watching as he dug around in the fridge. "I barely see you anymore!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Dora..." He apologized, pulling a container marked with his name from the fridge. "I promise, I'll make it up to you. Right now, in fact!"
Setting his dinner off to the side, he moved to the table and picked up his bag. Unzipping it, he shifted some stuff inside before producing a transparent bag filled with various small objects. Handing it to Dorothea, she inspected the bag.
"Candy?" She asked, recovering an affirmative nod in response. "Well... I suppose it's something... Thanks, Dad".
Giving him another hug, she watched her father rush around the kitchen, a sad smile on her face. Since starting at that new candy factory, she had been seeing less and less of him, only really seeing him in the evenings or, occasionally, some mornings she managed to get up early.
"I'm off to bed, Dad," Dorothea finally said, inching towards the archway leading to the stairs. "Don't stay up too late!"
"I won't..." Her father chuckled. "Goodnight, Dora".
"Night!"
Returning to her room, she quickly discarded her top and flipped down atop her bed, bag of candy still clutched in her hand. She eyed it for a few moments, curious about its contents. She had heard nothing but good things about the stuff that factory was producing. Normally she didn't like to eat anything sugary before bed, but surely a few candies wouldn't hurt?
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