Fleeing

The pounding of her feet was nearly as furious as the rain that tried to blind her as she ran. She stumbled over rocks and roots, splashing mud on herself and sometimes tumbling head over heels over the rocky terrain. But she couldn't stop. Stopping would mean failing. Failing would mean death.

She could feel her heart in her ears, louder, even, than the crashes of thunder that seemed to shake the very air. Was it fear? Adrenaline? Maybe both. The men who followed her had made it clear that the continuation of her life was dependent upon her making the right decision. According to them, she hadn't.

Her salvation from that horrible life of unhappiness was at the docks. She just had to make it. She had to get free.

Her mother's sweet face, reddened and wet with tears, sprang to her mind. "Out there is a life far better than anything here could offer you." She said, hastily stuffing a bag with food and other provisions. "I tried to shield you from things here as long as I could, but time's run out. They were bound to notice you, to make designs for your future."

"But mother, I can't leave you here alone! What will they do to you if they find me missing?"

"Don't you see, child?" Her mother dropped the bag and grabbed her by the shoulders, leaning close into her face and lowering her voice. "I was doomed from the moment I was born. My life is here. But you...you have a chance, one chance to be free of all this. I may have failed in many things when it comes to you, my love. But when it comes to you living your life the way that you want to? I cannot fail. You must do this. For the both of us."

She studied the fear in her mother's eyes...but then realized that, hidden deeper, was a glimmer of hope. In that moment she knew that she would do whatever her mother asked.

Even if it meant leaving her mother alone to face the consequences of their shared actions.

Was she getting closer? It was hard to tell. She wasn't even sure how long she'd been running. Her breath was coming hard in her chest, ragged sounds coming from her mouth as she alternately breathed and spat out rainwater. She was beginning to slow; the combination of the run and the many bruises she'd acquired while fleeing were taking their toll.

But then she heard a shout.

She glanced over her shoulder and could see the winking lights of flashlight beams through the rain. They were gaining. She couldn't stop now.

The look cost her balance, and she tumbled down another hill, hitting her shoulder on a rock hidden beneath the sand.

Sand!

The dock!

All that she had to do was board the ship, and she would be free from their grasp. No longer on home soil.

The rain made it clear that the ship would not leave until the storm had abated; she knew that she had made it. Just a few more steps, and she would have her freedom.

She staggered to her feet, trying to catch her bearings and to find the ship. There was only one docked there that day, so it should not be difficult to find.

The lights from the dock suddenly shone out in the darkness. Clutching her bruised shoulder, she ran towards the dock.

But something was wrong.

There was not the tell-tale hulking shadow of the ship in the darkness. No sounds of creaking metal and timbers, no twinkling lights from the deck.

Her steps thudded on the wooden dock as she tried searching for the ship. There was no one out this late, no one foolish enough to stand about in the storm.

But as if to signal the end of her journey, the rain finally began to ease until she could see around her and into the distance, the moonlight peeking from behind the clouds.

Her heart dropped and she dropped to her knees in despair.

There, on the horizon, was the ship.