The girl doesn't open the windows.

   I really needed a pet. A cat was preferable to a dog. Actually, more than that, a cat was preferable to my brother Edward, my mother, my father, everyone. But I didn't want to get my hopes up. Besides, it was perfectly covered under my blankets, safe from the cold night.

   I left the windows closed.

   Outside, the damp silence of the early morning was barely disturbed by the desperate chewing of the stray cat. Anyway, the cat was black, black as night, and had I opened the shutters I doubt I would have seen it.

   And so it went on for a few more days.