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.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5CdaWeH4pu
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlDJWL66BxW
He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NEvpRgDra
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdkFKi8No7A
I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSMhmGDUs4
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEA8zbs809
"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!" 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1wLJ6ccIA
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDM9eG6mWFa
I paused and turned back to him. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9BtHrnwmx
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wBZAXAoYA
That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxTEZk19lO
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqssvyXFM27
What was going on here? 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoNnL8PnuLE
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMSfTWCBDw
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2E6l9qldOZ
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnln2CWv75s
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpH3qL9ohR6
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFjmfngdm0
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNujBuciQY2
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGZYMJm9rs
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyaaDlzdpQ
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFnZgnAEUYk
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjj6SQRbpWD
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXhgq5GRlh
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzTie1OTQ2L
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXaTwvucLcc
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90Z6H9cjpR
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡurqNyJJZrY
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYGCn7g3l5
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eh3rztQNV
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryhhK9s8m5
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlV27mDwgGP
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OxvaJw62p
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtPMbkYY6U
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpNrhFRolXc
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVMLGU3kpbR
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSdmLOXp3MS
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVci3KrxHe
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhMTHhO32lB
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMVp5xThsl3
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD9Law7n72c
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nOwgBcSRa
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4Ba81Hl8e
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5baay3Wdnk
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaTiFAB6kpf
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kCXUVuCbr
Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IdUVZRmEO
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVHjqtypiow
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQxPqI8zJO
But today, something changed. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBG7w0kPgz
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb1Sx6b3EBT
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iWlSrlDVR
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwgoA24qKqR
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw7jv22IEC
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjLp3nwbjU7
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ01WFmfUL5l
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYy6iCNAApV
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIB1h83qhM
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfTrvBL86m
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6xylYg359
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WdDERGLn0
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNbInF3lpmE
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rR1qp9giB
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerh4Jlz2Ba
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXk8rnikijv
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMsUtHOWqj
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAaZ3RWsoCL
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAmydrkPqm
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnWNMkAS4kj
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1UOqwBcU68
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHp585pY3ek
Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDlZJhGlxJ
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSa9QjUBFgB
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIbPLG3hcY
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6eID2rT1N
"Missy!"186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZbQNTf73x
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Fr94EZskw
"Soup!" she whined back.186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBp6zuoDbr
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBCky69UPu
The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJadUPsRedd
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDMf3IzTNU
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXAv1jbawn
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeChLLCHos
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrP6dOTDZiH
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdj952HnO6f
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWd4CAPDxbJ
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecPaoHcQ2M
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC72r1GUDGP
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwiEKbAP94
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthpLovPmHV
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY71d2sM27U
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCtb0b2fkv
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboiyBmkbWU
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkF4LMc44YJ
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2G0otHbRu
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJ13FAUB2B
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1P3TiFjJcx
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPnhp0FGfHL
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OumCdalxS
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhivmGgPc5
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Silwq1CUZ
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjLOPLcPCv
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWubSqlzwE
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLF3Spf2Yq
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. 186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlRmysSPMk
186Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYlhUzmRlv
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
