Loved

Once upon a time, many decades ago, there was a family of eleven people. The family consisted of a mother, a father, a grandmother, a grandfather, and seven children, all but one of which were boys. The family spoiled the boys all the time, for they were a pretty rich family. However, they had a tendency to forget about the little girl, who happened to be the youngest. She never failed to notice the attention her brothers received from the family. She also noticed just how neglected she was. She ate equally as well, and got equally as many gifts but she received no kisses at night before bed, like the boys. She was unloved.
The reason for this is simple. She was a girl, in a time when girls were seen as a nuisance, just another mouth to feed, nothing important. She knew this just as well as everyone else, but didn't think it was right. She believed that everyone should be treated the same, that it didn't matter weather she was a boy or girl, only that she was a person, and more importantly, she is family. You are supposed to love your family with all you have, but no one seemed to care at all about her.
Because of this, she left. It was a cloudy, misty morning, in early October. It was chilly, but not as bad as a normal October morning. She walked straight through the town, which was still fast asleep, and up to the hills. One of the many town legends was that at the top of the highest hill, lived the god of family peace. The little girl had decided she was going to go to this god, whom everyone worshiped but feared at the same time. She had no fear of him. She would ask him why her family loved her brothers more than her, and why girls were not as important.
As she walked up these hills she met many animals. All of which told her it was a bad idea to go and talk to the God. He would not like to be interrupted, and he likes his peace and quite. They all told her that she would be better off just praying at the temple, like everyone else. But, she replied, I am not treated like everyone else, so I will not act like everyone else! With that, she continued on her was up the hills.
From the bottom of the highest hill, she realised that it was a very long ways up, and she was tired and hungry and wanted to go home. She missed the attention she got from all of her brothers. They always understood how she was feeling. They knew that she longed to be loved by her parents. They could not give her their parents love, but they always offered her theirs. She kindly thanked them, but didn't want it. She wanted her mother and father to love her. However, it was getting cold and dark, so he found a little hole in the hill and crawled in. As she slept she dreamt of the same thing as she had always dreamt, being loved by her parents. Having them notice her. She wanted that so much and didn't know how to get it.
When she finally awoke, she saw how dark it was. She could her voices in the wind. She could hear creeks and cracks and squeaks all around her. She was now very scared, and wanted to go and curl up with her brothers, and have their protecting bodies around her. She missed home so much, and now knew that leaving had been a bad idea. Then she heard a faint voice in the wind, calling. What was it calling? She could hear her name being called over and over again. She thought that the wind was mad at her for leaving.
After what seemed like forever, she ventured out of her safe little hole in hill. She could see dozens of lights dancing around on the hills. She could see them moving closer to each other and then away again. Had she known that the town had been looking for her for the whole day and night, she might have known that these lights were the torches the town's people were using to see in the heavy fog with.
Again she heard her name being called, but it was closer this time. She heard it again, but this time it was more like a question. As a habit, she answered. Then two of the lights came at her very fast and one picked her up. She screamed and all the other lights came running over. That was when she realized that it was her father who had picked her up.
After a long journey home and a warm bowl of soup, she lay awake in her bed thinking. She thought about how worried everyone was about her, and how she mother and grandparents cried when they saw her coming in. She thought about how her brothers carried her the whole way home, and how her neighbours had prayed all day and night for her safe return. As she fell into a deep slumber, her last thought was, I am loved.