The sight of Bartie already at the tracks when I walked along them in the bright sunlight filled me with hope that things had returned to normal.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOiTZriG57C
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He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcqEQ3jlZot
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I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsmbbqLlfw
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"She's worried sick about you, Soup!" Bartie grumbled at me "running off on her like that. Shame on you for having her in tears!" 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62Ep0Ebz0P
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I paused and turned back to him. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0YpoO6MUs
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That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUlpwpHvsI
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What was going on here? 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOHgqxxPaLZ
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Missy's face poked from the newsagency and lit up at the sight of me before she rushed out of it and for the tracks. Her pale pink dress billowed around her when she ran, kicking up around her legs to glimpse the red under-fabric. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHS5reaer5
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Xp9bDj8Rc
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6lvmdziBZ
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"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhcZo8HQZph
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFoovjyaJCi
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1LUUNkFN6
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I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvZbCiQ4gl
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She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvD7SPBbQT
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"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRuYLNukYV
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She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf7azqAUxlG
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I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEvovK42DO
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She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
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214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdwjlwlKRN
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ4xn5rwXZ1
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYOORM5iFb
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jkIHlqVQI
She tried giving me distance at first from Bartie's shop but realised that I had too much time to dart back to safety on her sprint down toward me. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQacAk48s6
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMkZhVL38lp
After failing that tactic a few times and giving up on it, she tried ambushing me from the side of the track as soon as I walked out into the open. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17cQq9UExD
I was too quick for her, even with her advantage. She still refused to step onto the tracks that I darted along to escape her hunt for the truth. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYjyxkbVNx
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbXo03CVhd
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79ev5wQ2zp
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Missy started to give up whenever I spotted her across the river and refused to close the distance between us. She didn't call out to me anymore and just watched hopelessly while I backed away to continue my scavenge for food elsewhere. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbEULJSejX
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Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
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Two weeks of the same occurrence refused to deter Missy from hoping for some miracle that I would approach her. Every day she would wait at the tracks for me in silence, and every day I would turn from them when I saw her face pull up into a hopeful smile. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94ogQRbWwZ
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But today, something changed. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXos3AO7c2Z
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVKmzjU5dB
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She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvu8AUdv4Z
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I didn't dare leave my side knowing that she had nowhere to escape. Her trembling body was already over the river, trying to hurry towards me as quickly as she could over the rolling gravel sprayed over the boards she stretched her body over. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNZPHjfVL1
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I paced nervously in my own fear of being caught over the water with her. She was still so far away from land, even with her frantic pace. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlaAutMVpAw
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡseJOIehymQ
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Listening to her now wouldn't change her mind and get her to return to the safety of the roadside. She wasn't going to let me ignore her any longer. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFyV4Yw7bW
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Determination fuelled her fight. I was going to give her whatever she wanted if it meant she wasn't going to be so reckless anymore. If she wanted to destroy her life by hunting down impossibilities, then I couldn't stop her. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlD3RIe8Sbu
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahRPg8orcY
I couldn't chase her away with ignorance or distance. Missy was going to find a way around it, even if it tried to kill her. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL2reZ1iDWh
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My whole body trembled at the thoughts blaring through my mind. They smashed through my nerves like the train dragging Missy's body along the tracks in every possibility I saw. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY3il1GAjTC
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"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwCJhmogJJS
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I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkDhAUYVvv
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Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2RngRMRuD
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The horn of the train screamed out to make Missy turn her head and frantically race towards me. I knew that the gravel had to be spearing the bottoms of her thin flats, but she didn't have time to stick to the safety of the boards anymore. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCWaezkDkTv
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"Missy!"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9z9XGCbOG
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"Soup!" she whined back.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQD5V9tdUfu
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The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMw45AKT1uj
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Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2N7VxF7sPS
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I leapt for the grass that knocked the air from my lungs and felt Missy's body hit the grass beside me as the train barrelled by. Its brakes screeched down my ears and froze my blood that shivered down my spine. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJgFkSUVZP
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Missy gasped and trembled beside me before clinging to my arms in fear while sobbing. I cradled Missy in the grass while trying to shake my own grateful tears she was safe. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCgAiDtGOB
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLUQyXZkM6
She was so delicate huddled into me. Her head rested on my chest that warmed with her rigid breaths. The rest of her skin was frozen from the fear still coursing through her. Her arms tucked against me to try and warm up on my body. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBVqmsqGfai
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"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYuzAIN7Q5
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRi1owNxfgq
Missy leant into it and didn't try to pull from me. Her trembling breath was steadying, and her sobs had subsided to little sniffles she tried to control. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y153qj7Px
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Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe26dXq3Zj9
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWhwsoqyQA9
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvL1nueMSD
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I didn’t want to see that or know I was the cause of it. I moved my head away, looking at the clear sky and the drifting clouds above us finally threatening rain. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIU5PJsEwSW
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXdd335ts4
Glancing down, I saw that Missy's eyes softened in the same way they did when she greeted me each day. They fluttered closed just as her shaking lips gently brushed on my cheek, leaving a tear to glide effortlessly down it. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrW248EMuAC
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"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcqHeBOEcx
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Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu2A0mzvQI
She wouldn't be able to understand my answer anyway. I was just a creature trying to escape the drag of life, just like her. Everything else was drowned in the water tower and floating in the river, like it could remain to be. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKlBnqUL1j1
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBLQnvpSKW
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
