Morningside Cuesta can't touch this

the boy, oddly, made her uncomfortable in the slightest. perhaps it was the heavy air that he seemed to carry, or the sadness that he seemed to always portray. she attempted to ignore this feeling, for a time, but when she looked back to him now, with his soft-spoken apology, speaking of a feeling she did not have for any member of her family. she did not miss the woman she had never really known, and even now faded from her memory. 

as she looked to Kieren, she was reminded suddenly of the conversation she had had with Heartha. His mother, gone to a better place. obviously, he would be sad- his mother must not have left him willingly. "I heard about your Ma. I'm sorry, Kieran."  she said in a subdued tone, rare for the girl. She settled on her haunches, looking to him with a tilt of her head. " You know, my Ma's gone, too. Only she left us, when we were little. I don't think she liked us much." she said in a surprisingly steady voice. she had no proof of the fact, but why else would she leave? In Dawn's mind, lacking all the experience of adulthood, that was the feasible explanation.