Audentis Fortuna Iuvat

I ran.

I ran faster than I had ever run before, wind pulling at my hair and twigs raking my arms.

I ran.

I ran further than I had ever run before. As far is it took to get away from the pillar of smoke that rose like a mocking demon behind me.

I ran.

I ran away from the smoking wreck in the hills, the wreck I had once called home. Images of the fire flashed through my mind like a bad horror story, one second I was lying in bed asleep and the next burns were blistering on my pale, freckled skin and smoke was choking my lungs.

Maybe if I ran fast enough I could get the memories of my father's screams out of my mind. Maybe I could erase the memory of hopelessness as I struggled through clouded hallways with smoke leeching into my brain, searching for him. Maybe I could forget the sight of his rotten corpse in the smoking ashes of our cottage. Maybe I could forget.

I ran harder.

I ran until I couldn't run anymore.

I ran until I collapsed amongst the tangled tree roots.

I lay there in the silence of the forest, unconcious.

I lay there until the screams awoke me.

Notes