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.96Please respect copyright.PENANAwkKnC8ybfO
96Please respect copyright.PENANASlgLTyBY8z
He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAbHKZPjI532
96Please respect copyright.PENANAry6PIHZyw2
I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAgv2RI1DEUe
96Please respect copyright.PENANAKKttEgv76J
"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!" 96Please respect copyright.PENANArNBo5fKr3a
96Please respect copyright.PENANAOEkDSyKKiO
I paused and turned back to him. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAY6Rc8qIPLC
96Please respect copyright.PENANAATSoPNL4gJ
That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAzyukxfIyPx
96Please respect copyright.PENANAb3E9L1tarM
What was going on here? 96Please respect copyright.PENANAxzpIlE7HU7
96Please respect copyright.PENANA5Yoh0puUs1
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAsBonyEdCqL
96Please respect copyright.PENANA4D8VlYaya5
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 96Please respect copyright.PENANAHbimS7VNSo
96Please respect copyright.PENANAhlzMc6WqHf
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAGz1dUvTaSU
96Please respect copyright.PENANA47bIl1nTRG
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 96Please respect copyright.PENANAJyMUgn4ikd
96Please respect copyright.PENANAvz5gPNwd9z
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAl5B0h8GAaq
96Please respect copyright.PENANAoVUXqKCrxF
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAuWoHq2M1TT
96Please respect copyright.PENANAHHySs8RdPJ
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 96Please respect copyright.PENANAFSGhL8Z1sO
96Please respect copyright.PENANAVCd6tQyRfD
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 96Please respect copyright.PENANASQ9yNbYGeK
96Please respect copyright.PENANABKKgECQxtR
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAbIHAcIX6W0
96Please respect copyright.PENANA83cZX2veCn
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
96Please respect copyright.PENANA5Tda6RZwL1
96Please respect copyright.PENANAamx0pEjSCw
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAaQdWo1gQQp
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA5gBClp3O4T
96Please respect copyright.PENANA1fzWadTaFG
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA3J7ihJVi8m
96Please respect copyright.PENANAKxxjRYgi62
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANApcNAnKdk6a
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAnPNhyhj16L
96Please respect copyright.PENANAQsZ9TvFVUy
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAl8XDfrufba
96Please respect copyright.PENANAvLGcmHPlas
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA3FOi8mTAN9
96Please respect copyright.PENANA73f7OP0YsN
Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
96Please respect copyright.PENANAtYMwaPxRch
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAwCFFSTWOlz
96Please respect copyright.PENANAaNOvWMX9oh
But today, something changed. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAj1vQcgbvnA
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA80uaOMNbrU
96Please respect copyright.PENANAhHTErKXZdA
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAT6kLhrodFO
96Please respect copyright.PENANAK2Y6SJHdar
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANADrz3wEqrgj
96Please respect copyright.PENANAlIoU839I42
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA32kepOs6lq
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 96Please respect copyright.PENANANxCxp6o9Q6
96Please respect copyright.PENANABo5nfpCebP
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAVOM0QXFyXP
96Please respect copyright.PENANAADxwyZcI5b
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAuERf1CVXMo
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAclFcA2XiVd
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAwG84KXqa15
96Please respect copyright.PENANAat8P8QO8uu
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAvevdwj2CJT
96Please respect copyright.PENANAHQ4W93Gyl0
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 96Please respect copyright.PENANAJTYlqEUA4g
96Please respect copyright.PENANAr3Kko752Xg
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.96Please respect copyright.PENANA9TVtUKSwOg
96Please respect copyright.PENANA9jFkNAfiFZ
Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA7jm6P45pF8
96Please respect copyright.PENANA77nBV41Hqx
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAb791Kj4kn0
96Please respect copyright.PENANAv1Ic7RWm31
"Missy!"96Please respect copyright.PENANA5eWUhlCKaz
96Please respect copyright.PENANAI8NDeR6RfG
"Soup!" she whined back.96Please respect copyright.PENANAn6SLM9p4SG
96Please respect copyright.PENANAF4ZqICPxDN
The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAyQeXcqc21H
96Please respect copyright.PENANABp3XIURYjT
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 96Please respect copyright.PENANADMlx55JYIj
96Please respect copyright.PENANAFjj6lRUWSz
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAYvmPIlgWZk
96Please respect copyright.PENANAlbFmdW8U1R
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAk6c5WOlYNj
96Please respect copyright.PENANANcqksKzD6S
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA1eFuoIiPht
96Please respect copyright.PENANAv7WXwg2j0B
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAM5pM0gtcAg
96Please respect copyright.PENANAWGdSdjez1u
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANATTmRDTc1SL
96Please respect copyright.PENANATuajVWfFGR
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAF47R7q014s
96Please respect copyright.PENANAvF2uJL7OEm
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA0y1B2gQ7uj
96Please respect copyright.PENANAY3v3XSa7oK
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANA4gmz8Oehel
96Please respect copyright.PENANAptlIQWOnom
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAvVPyIoDN3P
96Please respect copyright.PENANA6WbN3pfIRJ
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAnVIYvCvJQW
96Please respect copyright.PENANAVBv6SW9imR
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 96Please respect copyright.PENANAWL4DDAQprD
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. 96Please respect copyright.PENANAPMIbyzUSsX
96Please respect copyright.PENANAu042U8Q56b
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.