After the two men left, Mother returned to Father's side and asked worriedly,
"Dear… do you think the village chief will make trouble for us?"
Father thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't think so. He's not a good person, but he knows how to act according to the situation. And right now, I'm in no condition to fight. At worst, they'll just cut my pay."
He chuckled lightly, trying to ease her worry.
"Let's hope that's all it is," Mother said quietly.
"For some reason… I don't like the look of those two men."
After that, we returned to our daily routine.
A light snow had already begun to fall, signaling the start of winter.
Mother went out to search for herbs that might help Father recover faster.
By the time we headed home, the sun was already setting.
My brother and I carried the herbs we had gathered.
As we approached our house, we noticed a crowd gathered in front of it.
We rushed forward, anxious to find out what was happening.
The moment someone spotted us, a voice rang out:
"Look! The family of the thief is here!"
Every head turned toward us.
Then a well-dressed middle-aged man stepped out from the crowd and barked an order.
"Catch them!"
Several strong-looking men surrounded us and dragged us toward the center of the gathering.
There... our injured father lay on the ground.
Frightened, we ran to him.
"Village Chief, what's going on?" Mother asked, her voice trembling.
The village chief sneered.
"Heh. To think I was kind enough to give your family a place to live and a job… and this is how you repay me? By stealing the fur we worked so hard to obtain?"
"W-what fur? We would never steal anything!" Mother tried to explain, but no one listened.
The crowd only grew louder, shouting "Thieves!" and "Ungrateful monsters!"
Who exactly is the monster here? I thought, hugging my brother tightly as I looked at the faces around us.
Then one of the men spoke up.
It was one of the two who had come that morning.
"Chief, let me check their house. Maybe these filthy thieves hid it somewhere."
The village chief nodded.
The man ran into our home and, after a short while, came back out holding a few pieces of fur.
"Chief! I found these hidden in a small hole behind their house!"
The village chief frowned when he saw the small amount.
It was nowhere near what he had lost.
His expression twisted with anger as he turned back to our terrified family.
"Take everything in the house! And as for the man... break both of his arms so he never thinks of stealing again!"
Several men dragged Father forward and raised their staffs.
They brought them down hard on both of his arms.
"AAAAAAGH!"
Father's scream of pain echoed as the bones broke.
Mother cried out and tried to stop them, grabbing one of the men's arms... only to receive a brutal kick to the stomach that sent her flying backward.
My brother tried to help, but a group of adult men shoved him to the ground.
Why does everyone hate us so much? I thought, tears streaming down my face.
Just because of how we look? We never asked to be born like this…
After the punishment was finished, the villagers began to disperse.
I struggled to my feet and helped my father, mother, and brother.
Father had lost consciousness.
Mother was clutching her stomach in pain.
My brother had bruises all over his face.
I guided them back into our small house.
As I looked outside one last time, the snow began to fall heavier, like a white curtain slowly covering the world... hiding all its ugliness and twistedness from view.