Lucy sat on her bed staring at the ceiling. The silence in her room was starting to eat at her. She had been cooped up for days, and though Julia often dropped by to keep her company, talking and laughing with her, the quiet always returned when Julia left. Now the boredom pressed on her chest, mixed with hunger twisting her stomach.
She sighed, dragging her fingers along the blanket, and muttered to herself, “I can’t just keep sitting here all day.”
Her body moved before her mind changed. She slipped on her slippers, pushed open the door, and padded down the wide hallway toward the kitchen. The mansion felt too big sometimes, each corner echoing like it held secrets. But the smell of flour and sugar she imagined comforted her.
In the kitchen, she opened the cupboards, pulling out flour
