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.367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCu3CQ4b8uc
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCM2Wh4i8y7
He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygSjLwd7xZ
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxlZiCyHIo
I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3mPGHNrnc
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVcETmAgtj
"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!" 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpBChy3yRJN
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoV518FtECF
I paused and turned back to him. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1tr6oXl5x
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0TYQHF9Wd
That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdEuhIaOdNl
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6qRLcbBhac
What was going on here? 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GnZVpdB3h
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDVgnFgOps
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFh0CQgr9i
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWl3hkHRzHD
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVADrOqdDUa
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsaqV6FvA2
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0g7IzFlL61
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqThSXiTPtV
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdEB3PJcyA
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM17ZWx9prC
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5x0hvl1pl
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEtHWcOKpju
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KsfsZxlgY
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyh6cX6gjZS
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOL0Enq9y7V
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrdlufcELH
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGA4ikZWHQl
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcsFXUPpfR
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVZ0d3zQ7V
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡppvGvquyS2
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwUovlXyMYx
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqQILaoeth7
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyMFgv14aW
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzVwPbjDR7
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vuYvlRKyD
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTm8jog4ehY
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjsIXM1Ulo
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleAmdUlJuy
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCQBWZ8ORDz
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6B4BrH2WS
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEzs7N4f2ri
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb55XMvrov
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6DieGv949
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxvblX2wPY
Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡInuvfcqiTa
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJeOIUtdN3
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTOOeWTLUvh
But today, something changed. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8AAwSyX09
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxnOMZknzV
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeMADBEdMm
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSZs9wju9V
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhdw2VAtJxT
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxWszlilkPz
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo437LGSeoM
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR7qGAMk55
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NT8Rq13rO
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ5AB6MNe6
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiIfEhgrfNw
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZe7hnRXv6
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJW7ZdWiXp4
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4y7XadCHWu
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqxczpZbFF
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nghAnFpMw
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6X6sdMPjFL
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30M2dQuK8h
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJyoyzlK1n
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjSn0vTpNlA
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡswFyTZIIbM
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvnnkDf7rX
Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6ot98Y4SH
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEWRtmrZCK
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCS425ZrOiK
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaqQleLfnf8
"Missy!"367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQQ0jEH5WAY
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOiNaW0ugz
"Soup!" she whined back.367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXkr1ee75f
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCXeLjYrJB
The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2xnuprDGnH
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOC4SbxyiKr
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1CRBLJh9V
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7x2OCmsC2
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDsvq9XhONH
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJdYbMhX6SH
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynBldUWCHc
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCe0EPOHdJD
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3M3FayKMQf
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx06aC9yozS
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC76vKjmkQO
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkyqt8I0b3
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡevhAoxi1bD
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5YtduBWpW
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjdH2v1S2l
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qWTjPCCV8
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleBjLXL2mm
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xatNmCp6S
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSLRmJ8XWj
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlQJiY1yOy1
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGpEqBcizVC
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9sS6B4ZMja
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjHkk8edt2
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBzmAZHxXi
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjeUEOCIOd0
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. 367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSg7Ju5wWi
367Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXw5Gonl07X
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
