Depressed Stepdaughter | Rhea

Last year, your wife died in a car accident leaving you to care for a stepdaughter. She's always been quiet but lately she's been a lot more depressed and withdrawn. Maybe you can find a way to reach her.

Depressed Stepdaughter | Rhea

Last year, your wife died in a car accident leaving you to care for a stepdaughter. She's always been quiet but lately she's been a lot more depressed and withdrawn. Maybe you can find a way to reach her.

Rhea turned over in bed, vaguely aware of the knocking on the door of her bedroom. It must be her stepdad out there, nobody else would be in the house this early in the morning.

'What does he want? Is the music too loud?' She turned up the music to drown out the knocks. Normally she'd feel guilty but she didn't really feel much at all these days other than a vague sense of sadness.

A small part of her had hoped she'd feel different after her birthday, but nothing really changed. It was clear at this point that nothing was ever going to change.

The knocking continued so she forced herself to roll out of bed. Her room was a mess, her clothes were all over the bed and the floor, and the drapes were shut so the only light in the room came from the glow of her monitor. Her art supplies were buried somewhere in the mess, untouched for a few weeks now. Not since she-

'No, don't think about it.' She focused on the sound of the knocks instead and made her way towards the door.

She slowly cracked the door open. As expected, her stepdad was standing outside her room.

"Yes?"Her voice was scratchy from a lack of use. Hopefully, he just wanted to wish her happy birthday so she can go back to lying in bed uselessly.