A small drop of rain awoke me from my sleep. I slowly sat up, staying at the sky above me. The drifting clouds grew dark as the rain began to fall. I drew my knees up to my body, placing my head on top of them. My dreams had become more frequent and frightening, the dreams of blood and despair.189Please respect copyright.PENANAYtSOps6Ryd
"Innocence….?" I whispered, as the cool rain began to sting my pale skin. What exactly is innocence I thought, is it of hope, a characteristic, or a just a hazy memory? I sighed as I stood up to grab my umbrella. Before heading towards the city lights I looked back to the fading horizon. As the rain created patterns in the glistening river, I thought about the true meaning of innocence. Whatever it was I knew I was the complete opposite. Although I smiled darkness filled my heart. Drifting memories brought pain and I couldn't help but to feel hopeless. How I wished I could go back to those days, the days of hope, childhood. However mine was cut short and taken over by the darkness of the grave.
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I was ten years old. It was the year 1996 and after years of sacrifice, the war was finally over. It was quiet as I sat on the front porch watching for my father to get home. The rain fell fiercely as the dark sky growled in rage. My father had recently been promoted as the mayor's personal assistant, after saving him from a fire. My father fought in the war valiantly and was one of the luckiest of men who made it out alive. I was waiting like I always did. To run up and hug him when he came home from work. However he was half an hour late and the weather was so violent I began to worry about him.189Please respect copyright.PENANABVO72GUvgi
"Miss Hazel" my maid called, opening the door slightly, "it's too cold to be out tonight, please come inside"189Please respect copyright.PENANABdqbQcMfKt
I gripped my umbrella tightly “but I think something wrong with Dad” I said with shake in my voice.189Please respect copyright.PENANADF8YIXODFH
“No buts miss… I’m sure” she began.189Please respect copyright.PENANAAeAUB4bF9d
“No!” I screamed, running out the front gate, “I need to find him”189Please respect copyright.PENANAQKRW2N8Lsl
I ran down every street of the tall, overpopulated city, looking everywhere for my father. I received dark, awful looks from the people of the crowded streets. There goes the child of the traitor, Evan Emilya; many people believed that my father had bargained with the enemy to get his new position. I ran down a small alleyway to catch my breath. The rain began to fall harder as lightning began to strike. Wet, cold and frightened, I realised how hopelessly lost I was.189Please respect copyright.PENANAjOHj2Oa12S
There he was, walking towards me was the man who was going to change my life forever. He was a colleague of my father who had recently lost his job to my father. I had only met him once before, he had short blonde hair, with amazing green eyes and a smile that warmed my heart. However, he seemed different; he was slouched over with cold, empty eyes as the met my own. He had clearly been drinking and looked absolutely miserable. He threw his bottle on the ground as the smash sent shivers down my spine.189Please respect copyright.PENANAdqO6RQZJ6b
“Y-you people ruined me” he gasped pointing aggressively towards me. He began to pull something out of his pocket as I nervously stepped backed away189Please respect copyright.PENANAgUQL2OFJaz
“Hazel!” a voice shouted, I turned to see my father. I smiled, I had finally found him.189Please respect copyright.PENANAT0lL6VDWMR
“Hazel, get out of the way!” he shouted running towards me. However before I could take one step towards him, a gun shot rang out. I felt a throbbing pain as I began to feel dizzy. My umbrella fell to the ground as my surroundings turned into nothingness.189Please respect copyright.PENANAC5nR7hUCsl
The next thing I knew was a scream. I opened my eyes to find my maid standing at my bed. Her brown eyes wide as her long blonde hair fell to her waist.189Please respect copyright.PENANAzIwCNZQYoI
“Miss Hazel” she gasped, her eyes slightly sparkling with tears. I was in my bed, but my room looked completely different, almost empty.189Please respect copyright.PENANAgo5hhO6BQH
I sat up and rubbed my eyes, “what’s the matter Ally? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” I asked with a yawn, "what are you doing in my room at the middle of the night?"189Please respect copyright.PENANAkjrIFQr6Fz
Ally looked out the window, “packing your bed miss”189Please respect copyright.PENANA4tKs07WM0z
“While…. I’m still in it?” I asked189Please respect copyright.PENANAtc3LzTjbw7
“No miss, you weren’t supposed to be in it.”189Please respect copyright.PENANA5UAJPjWDTi
“Where am I meant to be?”189Please respect copyright.PENANAXRIZzVxkEX
My maid stood silently for a while before she moved to sit next to me. Looking down at her hands she said the most heartbreaking words I had ever experienced, “Miss Hazel, you’ve been dead for almost two years.”189Please respect copyright.PENANAM6oqY7Lkd5
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I cringed at the memory of the past, walking down the same streets as the last day of my life. I had been walking for hours, night had fallen and the dark clouds still covered the glistening sky. I had no memory of my life before my death, nor do I remember the how I managed to wake up in my room a year and a half after it. It made no difference to the world whether I was alive or not, my own mother didn’t see me as her daughter, only a monster who has taken her form. People still looked at me as the daughter of a traitor as I walked down the streets. My father did kill one of their most trusted leaders to save our country. Perhaps I began to believe that I was a traitor, a traitor to the god I loved just for being alive. I was an unforgivable sin.189Please respect copyright.PENANA3cKxtuxZec
“Young miss” my maid called as she opened the door for me, “it’s really late, and you have school tomorrow.” Avoiding her eyes I closed my umbrella with a sigh. Innocent, sinful or a monster the one thing I knew was……. I sure didn’t want to go to school the next day.189Please respect copyright.PENANADOBOF7f7Fa