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.354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0c4gTVtpf
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmIIG6zktO
He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFQi0JSynd6
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bkeQb7TG9
I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0lnKXcsww
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH3KKeSqy6P
"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!" 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TGw0c1G0H
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQD1dEO7Zu
I paused and turned back to him. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMvplfGNkx1
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZvcMFRHZh
That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjqWFRnOu1
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG1cDpoDMY
What was going on here? 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uqqLYJWN3
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pTa7KAdqz
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0KJZYpb6o
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6V400aAn2
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbYAyog0pH
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTPwvfZ1OR
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZyyJPxtmCt
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoCzmG0M9FB
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCSdycM7vu
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufvu1ELMfp
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQL9Elz0m2
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡesHvpp5Ph8
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxo43pQeUKp
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFxUWiAeFb
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz1yjkNFH9X
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvaY9E3mUI
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlcIbYItdAb
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbGQ4zbpDE8
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdi9DMDvwf2
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1gGUGEXIf
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQRkstOmVK
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpvkhwLpmgS
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqFtxSQloxb
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡECpQepY2QO
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ3vcqGQwGe
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavrUa0R6V2
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nAi1As8xu
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTS43Fcs9fW
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJzyiOYfix
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWOETtl4cGR
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbP13kR10k
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCWfmCmuzz
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ11wxCm8dac
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHBkuO9YHsE
Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYbvZ6IloG
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Wz4C2lbZw
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5i4qDDFvQL
But today, something changed. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFPkSeIb3P
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHVRUJC3kdE
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsvzjMlAH0
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17e1cIzALw
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIV8l2SNOtO
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xB4KutWpr
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSxKEUZGRC
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuYNuRPEPE
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6aVk5JbCGz
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNDKpq7GHTj
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiw8Z99gj6m
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0lRQZwDJr
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91Bi72NHyK
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJi8NH6nQef
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvKteHqwpG
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe9L12ulRCb
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsxi91Nphh4
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4v7VwCm7Ge
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmMukTNiGm
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNmuq6yBYR5
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxH9LX5a1I1
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Eo34JJJEC
Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSYNGjp9XC
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnj7Ykw2kP
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBRmFTYKvei
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtv5646yuq
"Missy!"354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwcHXsfCkOJ
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YHWG7M9Fj
"Soup!" she whined back.354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQawfupdrQ
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ONbnqhFnn
The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrdOIDk6SB
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3hIxxmV3eT
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYqAVWyH8z
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡphnrFb2Eed
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTass4U9VEx
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOhV88elYy
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZWjguoVVM
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMzNQ5Qmx3
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagQbdAgnVr
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUMFNZVUV6
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN3PYPk7qqN
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWe7YGKtli0
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhBER1j02RI
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN0WtOOdqOv
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWczXcs0NCl
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMymN3gdmcB
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfYx3TI6hRb
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzgFtVK30J
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPiglyQoEZB
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMgSUfZFom
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOe73Izb3m
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAuDyT1NE3
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisRL38D9Bz
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlYsKSr3u3
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLvRr6EcA2
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. 354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WAN1YTkOV
354Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLb22E9eW9I
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
