- |Introduction|Prologue|1|2|3|
I suck at introductions, but I guess I should try...
This is a story about a young girl, an outcast of the society, who finally finds someone who accepts her. It just happened that not everything went the way she planned, yet there was still a chance. She lost it, drowned in her misery and pain. Life can be cruel and and nearly impossible to live. And not everyone is strong enough to survive.
The action starts in June 2010, in Scotland, somewhere between the country's two most important cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I'm hoping that one day, this will become a published novel, but in order or that to happen, I need you to criticize my work, give opinions and hints.
Note: English is my second language. Please excuse any occasional grammar / punctuation mistakes.
Warning: contains violence, blood and depression.
Eh, I told you it would suck... But, let's begin the story...
This is a story about a young girl, an outcast of the society, who finally finds someone who accepts her. It just happened that not everything went the way she planned, yet there was still a chance. She lost it, drowned in her misery and pain. Life can be cruel and and nearly impossible to live. And not everyone is strong enough to survive.
The action starts in June 2010, in Scotland, somewhere between the country's two most important cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I'm hoping that one day, this will become a published novel, but in order or that to happen, I need you to criticize my work, give opinions and hints.
Note: English is my second language. Please excuse any occasional grammar / punctuation mistakes.
Warning: contains violence, blood and depression.
Eh, I told you it would suck... But, let's begin the story...
|Introduction|Prologue|1|2|3|
Well, my name is Katie.
I'm thirteen years old, and disliked by many people.
Apparently, I'm weird, stupid, strange, ugly...
But I don't care.
And even though I don't trust many people, for I am scared of those violent creatures,
there are some who I dare to say were my friends.
They changed my life.
Forever.
I'm thirteen years old, and disliked by many people.
Apparently, I'm weird, stupid, strange, ugly...
But I don't care.
And even though I don't trust many people, for I am scared of those violent creatures,
there are some who I dare to say were my friends.
They changed my life.
Forever.
|Introduction|Prologue|1|2|3|
Hmmm... I think that everything started at the beginning of June, when the days were quite warm.
I remember sitting on the school bus, only ten minutes away from home. Oh, how I hated that place... The vehicle was nearly empty, only six people left. Enjoying the silence, I stared outside the window, until the bus slowed down, soon stopping. Standing up, I noticed someone. It was a girl, year above me. Her straightened, short, light-brown hair was tied in a ponytail, she had glasses, and a ton of make up on. But despite the latter, she was naturally pretty. I wasn't bothered about her at first, and once the bus stopped, I walked off, without turning back.
For a short second, my gaze fell on the forest: the trees were growing on a large hill, and on the other side there were fields with sheep. The animals always amused me with their stupidity and herd instinct, running around the grass, following each other. Last year we had cows, but they were taken away after the summer. Anyway, the buildings surrounding me were beige and grey in colour, making the place look rather dull and miserable. Paying no attention to details around me, I stopped, waiting for the cars to pass by so I could cross the road.
Suddenly, something caught my eye, and I spun around, my long hair whipping my face. Someone was following.
My eyes widened as I saw the thin girl, who sat quietly on the bus less than a minute ago. She stopped. Taking a step back, I cocked my head to the side: curiosity wouldn't allow me to let the girl go without exchanging a few words.
"Hi," I said, trying to look confident.
"Hey," she replied, clearly interested in what was going on. "I'm Claire."
She lifted her hand, to shake mine. But I didn't.
"I'm Katie."
I stared at her for moment, lost in my thoughts.
"Do you live at 42 Park Drive?" I asked, finally able to open my mouth.
"Yeah," she replied, surprised. "How did you know?"
"The house was empty for a while, so it was either this one, or the one at the corner of the street."
I lifted my hand to move my hair onto one shoulder, and sighed as it fell down, the tips brushing against my arm. The sun was shining on my hair, giving it a metallic hint. Arching my neck towards the light, I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth on my skin. Reluctantly I opened my eyes, once again aware of the girl standing beside me.
"We should hang out sometime," she said, this time surprising me.
"Yeah. Sure," came my answer after a second of hesitation. "But now, I have to go."
Even though I didn't want to go back home, there was no choice.
I lifted my hand to wave, and crossed the road, heading up the hill.
As I dragged my feet along the pavement, not bothered to lift them up, my thoughts were set on Claire: it was a little suspicious that someone like her wanted to be friends with me. I was just hoping that she wasn't one of those stupid, shallow people who only make friends to throw them about like trash when they got bored.
But I decided to give it a chance. After all, spending whole days in the house, locked in my room wasn't that good. Especially now when the summer was coming, and I loved the warm touch of sun stroking my skin.
Soon, I realised that I was standing in front of the house, my hand on the handle.
With a deep sigh, I pressed it, and stepped inside.
"I'm back," I informed whoever was in the house. There was no reply, no reaction. Good.
I dropped my school bag on the floor and kicked it over to a corner, giving it a dirty look. Poor thing.
With a quiet laugh, I rushed upstairs, heading to my green-painted room. Wincing as the hinges of the door screeched, I scanned the place carefully, making sure nothing was missing; it was a habit of mine, as my dad had issues, and thought he could take anything he wanted out of my room. My eyes traveled along the shelves, counting all my precious books. They were a way of escaping from my life, allowing me to forget about, well, everything to be honest.
With a sigh of relief, I fell onto my thin mattress.
I didn't have a proper bed, but my parents were promising to get me one. Yeah, right.
Pressing my back against the cold wall, I closed my eyes, listening to the silence. Finally alone again.
The clock was ticking loudly, awareness of time passing arose in me. My eyes slid open as I stood up, and grabbed my jeans and favorite top. It was a simple, plain one, short sleeves, purple in color. Throwing my school uniform onto a hanger, I got changed, and plugged in my stationary computer. A loud buzz filled the air as I pressed the start button. The machine took over ten minutes to start up, but I didn't expect it to be any faster. After all, it was a computer that my grandad and I put together from scraps. Spinning on my revolving chair, which was squeaking unbelievably, I wondered what to do. There was no homework tonight, so I decided to draw. Opening up Google, I typed in 'arabian horse', and a whole lot of pictures came up. Clicking on the first available one, I quickly sketched the outline of the animal onto paper.
The same procedure applied to another three images.
The whole thing took me less than an hour, and knowing that I had to go downstairs at some point, I decided to push myself to do it now. My dad was coming back in forty minutes, which gave me enough time to do all my chores. I picked up my drawings and pencils, and dragged myself down the stairs again, heading for the kitchen. My mum was there, taking stuff out of the washing machine. I shot her a quick glance, and turned towards the dishes.
"You're back," she stated.
Duh. What did you think? That I jumped out of the window?
I began placing all the dirty cutlery, plates and cups into the dish-washer, and smacked the door closed. The sound of clattering glass made me smile faintly. How nice.
Without a word, we began preparing the dinner. Usual potatoes and some chicken.
~%~
I placed my half-empty plate on the table, stretching my legs underneath it. Sitting on my favorite spot, corner of the sofa, I turned around to look outside the window. The sun was still shining, not as strongly as before, but it was still there. Suddenly I felt the urge to take my plate back to the kitchen, and I did so, grabbing my mum's on the way. Both of them ended up in the dish-washer, along with all the other ones.
I returned to the living room, took my drawings and sat down in a place where I had a good light. My outlines of the horses were simple, but at least the proportions were matching real animals. I began shading, bringing the stallions to life.
A few minutes passed before I heard the front door being opened.
I lifted my head in surprise, soon realising that it was already half past seven.
My dad was home.
He greeted my mum with a peck on the cheek, my little sister with a 'hi', me with a disgusted look. My gaze fell back onto the paper as I started sketching again, now working on the horse's legs. The animal had his neck arched, head lifted up high, ears pricked, nostrils flaring. He was caught trotting, yet motionless under my pencil.
Soon my dad came back to the living room. I ignored him at first as I was too absorbed in my drawing.
"Move," he growled, staring down at me.
"No," I replied, my voice steady. "Can't you see I'm drawing?"
"Move."
But I was one stubborn ass.
"I have a good light here," I said, raising an eyebrow.
The thing that happened next... I just didn't expect it: he grabbed my arm and threw me off the sofa harshly. I landed on the floor, my shoulder aching when it collided with the wood. My eyes widened when I saw that my dad drew his leg back slightly, ready to kick me in the stomach. There wasn't enough time for me to stand up, so I just grabbed my pencil, pulled puself up a little, and stabbed him in the thigh. My dad hissed angrily as the pencil broke in half.
Damn it... I thought, realising that I had nothing to defend myself with.
He picked me up by the shoulders, and threw down once more, sending me sliding across the floor. I hit the wall with my back painfully, and shut my eyes, breathing heavily. My head was throbbing.
But at least that was the end of it.
Horror filled my eyes as I sat up, scanning the place. My beautiful drawing was ruined.
It lay crunched up at the edge of the carpet, the horse oddly misshaped.
My long fingers curled into fists as I stood up, avoiding my dad's eyes. I knew that if he looked into mine, he would see their wetness and that was what he was looking for. I couldn't lose the fight. Not this time.
Resisting the temptation to say a few nasty words to him, I picked up the paper and two pieces of my pencil, and rushed back upstairs, slamming the door behind me.
I remember sitting on the school bus, only ten minutes away from home. Oh, how I hated that place... The vehicle was nearly empty, only six people left. Enjoying the silence, I stared outside the window, until the bus slowed down, soon stopping. Standing up, I noticed someone. It was a girl, year above me. Her straightened, short, light-brown hair was tied in a ponytail, she had glasses, and a ton of make up on. But despite the latter, she was naturally pretty. I wasn't bothered about her at first, and once the bus stopped, I walked off, without turning back.
For a short second, my gaze fell on the forest: the trees were growing on a large hill, and on the other side there were fields with sheep. The animals always amused me with their stupidity and herd instinct, running around the grass, following each other. Last year we had cows, but they were taken away after the summer. Anyway, the buildings surrounding me were beige and grey in colour, making the place look rather dull and miserable. Paying no attention to details around me, I stopped, waiting for the cars to pass by so I could cross the road.
Suddenly, something caught my eye, and I spun around, my long hair whipping my face. Someone was following.
My eyes widened as I saw the thin girl, who sat quietly on the bus less than a minute ago. She stopped. Taking a step back, I cocked my head to the side: curiosity wouldn't allow me to let the girl go without exchanging a few words.
"Hi," I said, trying to look confident.
"Hey," she replied, clearly interested in what was going on. "I'm Claire."
She lifted her hand, to shake mine. But I didn't.
"I'm Katie."
I stared at her for moment, lost in my thoughts.
"Do you live at 42 Park Drive?" I asked, finally able to open my mouth.
"Yeah," she replied, surprised. "How did you know?"
"The house was empty for a while, so it was either this one, or the one at the corner of the street."
I lifted my hand to move my hair onto one shoulder, and sighed as it fell down, the tips brushing against my arm. The sun was shining on my hair, giving it a metallic hint. Arching my neck towards the light, I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the warmth on my skin. Reluctantly I opened my eyes, once again aware of the girl standing beside me.
"We should hang out sometime," she said, this time surprising me.
"Yeah. Sure," came my answer after a second of hesitation. "But now, I have to go."
Even though I didn't want to go back home, there was no choice.
I lifted my hand to wave, and crossed the road, heading up the hill.
As I dragged my feet along the pavement, not bothered to lift them up, my thoughts were set on Claire: it was a little suspicious that someone like her wanted to be friends with me. I was just hoping that she wasn't one of those stupid, shallow people who only make friends to throw them about like trash when they got bored.
But I decided to give it a chance. After all, spending whole days in the house, locked in my room wasn't that good. Especially now when the summer was coming, and I loved the warm touch of sun stroking my skin.
Soon, I realised that I was standing in front of the house, my hand on the handle.
With a deep sigh, I pressed it, and stepped inside.
"I'm back," I informed whoever was in the house. There was no reply, no reaction. Good.
I dropped my school bag on the floor and kicked it over to a corner, giving it a dirty look. Poor thing.
With a quiet laugh, I rushed upstairs, heading to my green-painted room. Wincing as the hinges of the door screeched, I scanned the place carefully, making sure nothing was missing; it was a habit of mine, as my dad had issues, and thought he could take anything he wanted out of my room. My eyes traveled along the shelves, counting all my precious books. They were a way of escaping from my life, allowing me to forget about, well, everything to be honest.
With a sigh of relief, I fell onto my thin mattress.
I didn't have a proper bed, but my parents were promising to get me one. Yeah, right.
Pressing my back against the cold wall, I closed my eyes, listening to the silence. Finally alone again.
The clock was ticking loudly, awareness of time passing arose in me. My eyes slid open as I stood up, and grabbed my jeans and favorite top. It was a simple, plain one, short sleeves, purple in color. Throwing my school uniform onto a hanger, I got changed, and plugged in my stationary computer. A loud buzz filled the air as I pressed the start button. The machine took over ten minutes to start up, but I didn't expect it to be any faster. After all, it was a computer that my grandad and I put together from scraps. Spinning on my revolving chair, which was squeaking unbelievably, I wondered what to do. There was no homework tonight, so I decided to draw. Opening up Google, I typed in 'arabian horse', and a whole lot of pictures came up. Clicking on the first available one, I quickly sketched the outline of the animal onto paper.
The same procedure applied to another three images.
The whole thing took me less than an hour, and knowing that I had to go downstairs at some point, I decided to push myself to do it now. My dad was coming back in forty minutes, which gave me enough time to do all my chores. I picked up my drawings and pencils, and dragged myself down the stairs again, heading for the kitchen. My mum was there, taking stuff out of the washing machine. I shot her a quick glance, and turned towards the dishes.
"You're back," she stated.
Duh. What did you think? That I jumped out of the window?
I began placing all the dirty cutlery, plates and cups into the dish-washer, and smacked the door closed. The sound of clattering glass made me smile faintly. How nice.
Without a word, we began preparing the dinner. Usual potatoes and some chicken.
~%~
I placed my half-empty plate on the table, stretching my legs underneath it. Sitting on my favorite spot, corner of the sofa, I turned around to look outside the window. The sun was still shining, not as strongly as before, but it was still there. Suddenly I felt the urge to take my plate back to the kitchen, and I did so, grabbing my mum's on the way. Both of them ended up in the dish-washer, along with all the other ones.
I returned to the living room, took my drawings and sat down in a place where I had a good light. My outlines of the horses were simple, but at least the proportions were matching real animals. I began shading, bringing the stallions to life.
A few minutes passed before I heard the front door being opened.
I lifted my head in surprise, soon realising that it was already half past seven.
My dad was home.
He greeted my mum with a peck on the cheek, my little sister with a 'hi', me with a disgusted look. My gaze fell back onto the paper as I started sketching again, now working on the horse's legs. The animal had his neck arched, head lifted up high, ears pricked, nostrils flaring. He was caught trotting, yet motionless under my pencil.
Soon my dad came back to the living room. I ignored him at first as I was too absorbed in my drawing.
"Move," he growled, staring down at me.
"No," I replied, my voice steady. "Can't you see I'm drawing?"
"Move."
But I was one stubborn ass.
"I have a good light here," I said, raising an eyebrow.
The thing that happened next... I just didn't expect it: he grabbed my arm and threw me off the sofa harshly. I landed on the floor, my shoulder aching when it collided with the wood. My eyes widened when I saw that my dad drew his leg back slightly, ready to kick me in the stomach. There wasn't enough time for me to stand up, so I just grabbed my pencil, pulled puself up a little, and stabbed him in the thigh. My dad hissed angrily as the pencil broke in half.
Damn it... I thought, realising that I had nothing to defend myself with.
He picked me up by the shoulders, and threw down once more, sending me sliding across the floor. I hit the wall with my back painfully, and shut my eyes, breathing heavily. My head was throbbing.
But at least that was the end of it.
Horror filled my eyes as I sat up, scanning the place. My beautiful drawing was ruined.
It lay crunched up at the edge of the carpet, the horse oddly misshaped.
My long fingers curled into fists as I stood up, avoiding my dad's eyes. I knew that if he looked into mine, he would see their wetness and that was what he was looking for. I couldn't lose the fight. Not this time.
Resisting the temptation to say a few nasty words to him, I picked up the paper and two pieces of my pencil, and rushed back upstairs, slamming the door behind me.
|Introduction|Prologue|1|2|3|
The next morning I woke up with a low groan under my breath. I lifted my hand up, not only to realise that my arm was aching, but also that my head was throbbing. Recalling the violent and unforgettable events from last night, I wondered hat will happen the next time I cross my dad's path.
Our so-called relationship has never been that bad...
With a quiet sigh, I got up and grabbed my school uniform, slipped on the black trousers and buttoned up my shirt. Once I was done, me feet led me downstairs, but I couldn't be bothered making myself proper breakfast so I just picked a random yogurt from the refrigerator. I quickly finished it, and then packed all my jotters in the old, scruffy looking bag. I swung in onto my shoulder, which fell down slightly as the weight was put on it. The jotters felt like bricks on my weak bones.
Trying my best not to make a slightest sound, I found my shoes and left the house, closing the door behind me silently. I didn't dare to slam it because that would wake him up, and that would be another excuse to fight with me later on. My thoughts were fixed on the first time he hit me. It was about two months ago, and definitely not as brutal as it was yesterday. He had his violent moments approximately every two weeks, but usually he would just tell me how stupid or ugly I was. Words didn't hurt me, as I was used to them being called out to me.
Realising that I was already down the street, I forced my attention to focus on what was going on. Something was different today.
"Oh," I gasped, noticing the new girl.
She was already waiting at the bus stop, her eyes set on me as I approached.
"Hi!" she called out.
I winced slightly, trying to remember her name.
Oh yeah, it's Claire. Or something like that anyway.
"Hi," I replied, shooting her a small smile.
We exchanged a couple more sentences before the bus arrived, and we got on, ending the conversation.
I sat in my usual seat by the window, and started day-dreaming again.
~%~
Just like yesterday, I sat in silence, listening to the rumble of the bus's engine. The sun was a lot warmer through the glass, and I enjoyed it's high temperature. Well, the day was definitely beautiful, unlike the usual, cold and wet afternoon in Scotland. Suddenly I realised that Claire had to be somewhere on the vehicle. Curious about what she was doing, I got up and moved to the front of the bus, noticing the pretty girl. She was staring outside at the fields, but as soon as I sat down across from her, she turned around to face me.
"Hey," she said, her eyes big through the glasses.
Didn't she know any other greetings?
"What's up?" I asked bravely, as I wasn't too afraid of her.
She already proved that hurting me wasn't anywhere near her intentions, so for now, I decided on one thing: as long as we were alone, I would talk to her like to a friend, and not freak out.
"Can you come the longer way with me?" she smiled widely, surprising me with the suggestion.
"Sure," I replied, as the bus began slowing down.
No more than two minutes passed before we were off the bus, and I began walking along the road by Claire's side. That was the long way, or at least a little extended for me. I didn't mind, more time outside meant coming back home later. Perfect.
"You know, my next door neighbour is so hot," Claire blurted out, breaking the silence.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, you should meet him sometime," she said, grinning widely.
I frowned slightly, not liking the idea of meeting a guy. After all, they were all the same: arrogant, selfish and abusive. But on the other hand, I didn't want to lose Claire, my only 'friend', and if I refused to get to know her neighbour, the time that we could spend together would be even more limited.
"That would be cool," I muttered with a quiet sigh.
We were now at the bottom of concrete stairs, that led up to Park Drive, the street where Claire's house was.
"Do you want to come over to my house later on?" she asked, leaping up two stairs at a time.
My pace was much slower, and I struggled to keep up.
"I'll ask my mum if I can," I answered, finally catching up with her at the top of the stairs.
The truth was, I needed some time to think about the possibility of accidentally bumping into Claire's neighbour if I decided to visit her house later on. Decisions, decisions....
"Alright," Claire laughed lightly, unaware of my way of thinking.
But she didn't know me well enough to know about my fears, not mentioning where they're originating from.
~%~
I ran down the front stairs of my house, a wide grin spread itself across my face. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that what I was doing was real, for some reason I couldn't believe that I was finally free. I slid to a halt, collecting my thoughts. With a quiet sigh I resumed moving forward, this time walking slowly along the road as the fresh summer air filled my lungs. A sudden 'baaa' from a nearby field made me jump back, and I glared over at the source, which obviously was a sheep. I swung my arms up and scared the animal away, turning back towards the pavement. Without thinking about my steps, I successfully managed to reach Claire's house after two brief minutes of walking. Knocking on her house door hesitantly, I felt a sudden urge to go back.
But it vanished as soon as she opened it.
"Come in!" Claire exclaimed, her eyes glimmering with excitement.
I did as I was told, and as I was about to take off my shoes, Claire surprised me once more.
"Don't," she said. "We're going outside."
The 'outside' was actually her back garden, but it was fine. Just outside the door, there was a short piece of a wall going straight forward, and then turning to the left at a ninety-degree angle. It sloped down, and in between the wall and the house there were some stairs. At the point where the wall was straight, it was over two meters high above the grass, and I also noticed that there wasn't any sort of fence separating Claire's garden from her neighbours. The only thing that stood in the way was a tree, with a black tyre hanging from a branch.
Our so-called relationship has never been that bad...
With a quiet sigh, I got up and grabbed my school uniform, slipped on the black trousers and buttoned up my shirt. Once I was done, me feet led me downstairs, but I couldn't be bothered making myself proper breakfast so I just picked a random yogurt from the refrigerator. I quickly finished it, and then packed all my jotters in the old, scruffy looking bag. I swung in onto my shoulder, which fell down slightly as the weight was put on it. The jotters felt like bricks on my weak bones.
Trying my best not to make a slightest sound, I found my shoes and left the house, closing the door behind me silently. I didn't dare to slam it because that would wake him up, and that would be another excuse to fight with me later on. My thoughts were fixed on the first time he hit me. It was about two months ago, and definitely not as brutal as it was yesterday. He had his violent moments approximately every two weeks, but usually he would just tell me how stupid or ugly I was. Words didn't hurt me, as I was used to them being called out to me.
Realising that I was already down the street, I forced my attention to focus on what was going on. Something was different today.
"Oh," I gasped, noticing the new girl.
She was already waiting at the bus stop, her eyes set on me as I approached.
"Hi!" she called out.
I winced slightly, trying to remember her name.
Oh yeah, it's Claire. Or something like that anyway.
"Hi," I replied, shooting her a small smile.
We exchanged a couple more sentences before the bus arrived, and we got on, ending the conversation.
I sat in my usual seat by the window, and started day-dreaming again.
~%~
Just like yesterday, I sat in silence, listening to the rumble of the bus's engine. The sun was a lot warmer through the glass, and I enjoyed it's high temperature. Well, the day was definitely beautiful, unlike the usual, cold and wet afternoon in Scotland. Suddenly I realised that Claire had to be somewhere on the vehicle. Curious about what she was doing, I got up and moved to the front of the bus, noticing the pretty girl. She was staring outside at the fields, but as soon as I sat down across from her, she turned around to face me.
"Hey," she said, her eyes big through the glasses.
Didn't she know any other greetings?
"What's up?" I asked bravely, as I wasn't too afraid of her.
She already proved that hurting me wasn't anywhere near her intentions, so for now, I decided on one thing: as long as we were alone, I would talk to her like to a friend, and not freak out.
"Can you come the longer way with me?" she smiled widely, surprising me with the suggestion.
"Sure," I replied, as the bus began slowing down.
No more than two minutes passed before we were off the bus, and I began walking along the road by Claire's side. That was the long way, or at least a little extended for me. I didn't mind, more time outside meant coming back home later. Perfect.
"You know, my next door neighbour is so hot," Claire blurted out, breaking the silence.
"Oh really?"
"Yeah, you should meet him sometime," she said, grinning widely.
I frowned slightly, not liking the idea of meeting a guy. After all, they were all the same: arrogant, selfish and abusive. But on the other hand, I didn't want to lose Claire, my only 'friend', and if I refused to get to know her neighbour, the time that we could spend together would be even more limited.
"That would be cool," I muttered with a quiet sigh.
We were now at the bottom of concrete stairs, that led up to Park Drive, the street where Claire's house was.
"Do you want to come over to my house later on?" she asked, leaping up two stairs at a time.
My pace was much slower, and I struggled to keep up.
"I'll ask my mum if I can," I answered, finally catching up with her at the top of the stairs.
The truth was, I needed some time to think about the possibility of accidentally bumping into Claire's neighbour if I decided to visit her house later on. Decisions, decisions....
"Alright," Claire laughed lightly, unaware of my way of thinking.
But she didn't know me well enough to know about my fears, not mentioning where they're originating from.
~%~
I ran down the front stairs of my house, a wide grin spread itself across my face. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that what I was doing was real, for some reason I couldn't believe that I was finally free. I slid to a halt, collecting my thoughts. With a quiet sigh I resumed moving forward, this time walking slowly along the road as the fresh summer air filled my lungs. A sudden 'baaa' from a nearby field made me jump back, and I glared over at the source, which obviously was a sheep. I swung my arms up and scared the animal away, turning back towards the pavement. Without thinking about my steps, I successfully managed to reach Claire's house after two brief minutes of walking. Knocking on her house door hesitantly, I felt a sudden urge to go back.
But it vanished as soon as she opened it.
"Come in!" Claire exclaimed, her eyes glimmering with excitement.
I did as I was told, and as I was about to take off my shoes, Claire surprised me once more.
"Don't," she said. "We're going outside."
The 'outside' was actually her back garden, but it was fine. Just outside the door, there was a short piece of a wall going straight forward, and then turning to the left at a ninety-degree angle. It sloped down, and in between the wall and the house there were some stairs. At the point where the wall was straight, it was over two meters high above the grass, and I also noticed that there wasn't any sort of fence separating Claire's garden from her neighbours. The only thing that stood in the way was a tree, with a black tyre hanging from a branch.
To be continued.
I'm gonna bookmark it.
