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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzdVNN9MJp
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He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGsd0ipzE5
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I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaMAabIxLl
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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!" 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy314SGK7JO
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I paused and turned back to him. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jasMcFGWN
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yHDgmKAtI
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What was going on here? 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBaDJNNwu8
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuzIQPd4J7Q
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLnyZ6Hc2O
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGQqtKlgKzS
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvjymbeNNR
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbU6EHUx2BE
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuSyKUXnKr
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXBdVmNYb8
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4iPL0MNyJ
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3AxXPn5QX
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BjeQ1BMbZ
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqT1smJUU52
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEX5q66nqZe
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolPPAahZSP
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxV8GIfa7f7
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KzDwJEujh
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6Utiog68m
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdFqYZ7x5AP
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcb3zZfrNk
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxp0Z1zY2Wv
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
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305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7R73foXdX
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJgi3CL0Me
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSFpOCXwRk
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVweqXbcMKA
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl07HqZkfN5
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvK9d9fL3Rm
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQHUKFlc1el
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwl5uaI2v1q
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12bDMAhBXD
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCTwfBEi4Ct
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwTUeyJiLw
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGjuq2RuNx
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMnZHFGYElF
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJLaf4zmagT
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2pk54gu5u
But today, something changed. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXkL0nXmnI
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAd9JqNfGyB
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIbSMN3jim
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNPXwqeCiev
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRotdYLshGk
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCaQinnuoJ
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMD0lIlJwTG
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzVVu9cfmi
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOH1SwPZiuc
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6rr5x26Zu
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLmHRRe8tV
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMUnKTDPKKG
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YBNwTre2U
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdbpeQRaAD
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzhLhzUFMVS
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrC3gHddU2M
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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.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjwcccgvwx
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86n9e1DTSK
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTPKYOfvVFI
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"Missy!"305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iDI3Xqkpu
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"Soup!" she whined back.305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVAoIB5HJW
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The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH93i8LQG0W
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIgsez7UqX
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFGFEJM12zR
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZpGlmoRAbO
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWUT9LgKCP
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0vdmddMOE
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgF2bxo79Qz
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPU9IjXG6zw
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy9KCeoq26A
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9cvmRVzMQ
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIxGhSfAlO
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOihUx9rtN
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsermYKuQfG
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkzjYuLhDu
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MwLJYidHD
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0FixuWBiI
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrO4ZzcORL
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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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTPKU5R6Jq
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4aXtLeYEkz
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqePddA4lek
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ570jayCnwA
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZQEg0lSgr
305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9XM8IbeAJY
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4NLDjd6uoF
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. 305Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJirtOslixW
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I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
