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.377Please respect copyright.PENANA7mxiUTScGc
377Please respect copyright.PENANAPn0A6laOoZ
He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAGjjdR66Uod
377Please respect copyright.PENANAO5AGm3KTac
I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA0unPxxtpIg
377Please respect copyright.PENANAy0ZV7sNqQl
"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!" 377Please respect copyright.PENANAmCbmxtAb0T
377Please respect copyright.PENANAHfQmPPA3hD
I paused and turned back to him. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA309lazXKW7
377Please respect copyright.PENANAnMKtu8XD42
That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 377Please respect copyright.PENANACTGt1C78l7
377Please respect copyright.PENANAUDBsOmAonQ
What was going on here? 377Please respect copyright.PENANAbepk1dQn0O
377Please respect copyright.PENANAuyMkRqsjcX
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAfeRxwgagjq
377Please respect copyright.PENANA7MwlykzcQf
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 377Please respect copyright.PENANAyMnqHeN81o
377Please respect copyright.PENANATfjgkxjx04
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAVodGVkiRqh
377Please respect copyright.PENANAFRjug6ZZtm
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 377Please respect copyright.PENANAfg7QC7fpdN
377Please respect copyright.PENANAMRFAMM78n0
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAsVOJVBsdgB
377Please respect copyright.PENANAi2EPfrA64w
She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAdi6WE5hrG4
377Please respect copyright.PENANAc5QP1wDhoj
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 377Please respect copyright.PENANAcCe9XhIMJe
377Please respect copyright.PENANADeB6n3YIxb
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 377Please respect copyright.PENANAxOJJnlKtla
377Please respect copyright.PENANAVJFwl7aeK1
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAAlGcUnflpK
377Please respect copyright.PENANASfxsw0alIF
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
377Please respect copyright.PENANAWhXIxaHWdZ
377Please respect copyright.PENANA14PcwFtlsP
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAZCjUkKCcwR
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAjEbxlFerqY
377Please respect copyright.PENANAHsVl6XE0d4
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAgpYoXItCvC
377Please respect copyright.PENANAv851afAg60
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAGGsSY2bide
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANARBRSqtXXg5
377Please respect copyright.PENANANKwhZ1pFjl
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAQHFpEwIBZb
377Please respect copyright.PENANAQf5CiSXyO2
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAs1SFkadDXH
377Please respect copyright.PENANACBMHMp6Nk4
Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
377Please respect copyright.PENANAnhROSxnImV
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAsaxhgCoTeV
377Please respect copyright.PENANAAYc0OlKM23
But today, something changed. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAgwMbJHTpek
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAzgG9lDKTi7
377Please respect copyright.PENANAumLjhD1crp
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA6qsXIDzxEJ
377Please respect copyright.PENANAbXbjVTu3pG
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAcdNl1XzikN
377Please respect copyright.PENANA7My6ZZTOsy
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAUmwIZ1u7KR
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAv5NtYxJhSg
377Please respect copyright.PENANAItQm0NrfTC
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA7kRGQiUrBl
377Please respect copyright.PENANATZuKCzC1zs
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA9OiaV5jesY
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAXgOyeMob5F
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAhT3llP4kjG
377Please respect copyright.PENANAJaTKr3oxIz
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAzYYETbvYrx
377Please respect copyright.PENANA25X6dqyVqk
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 377Please respect copyright.PENANAtxSefAJ3D6
377Please respect copyright.PENANA78Eh8TwXoQ
I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.377Please respect copyright.PENANA0uTJUpPDlj
377Please respect copyright.PENANAhX1OvQOThc
Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAPRQ4YFLAVe
377Please respect copyright.PENANAXk9pqUNI9F
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAANsDPnBAAf
377Please respect copyright.PENANANFDKBabl8w
"Missy!"377Please respect copyright.PENANA1iyjGtmCnL
377Please respect copyright.PENANAGPakOd0lio
"Soup!" she whined back.377Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0OmfcIVZn
377Please respect copyright.PENANA1YwB1cvlK8
The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAsqPkvR5DgX
377Please respect copyright.PENANAZDnq4oxmCs
Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAzXsKvdlrNc
377Please respect copyright.PENANA70tXMUmVCp
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAGETE0TBpUe
377Please respect copyright.PENANAPvJd4qgPrd
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAjhO1Zl1xrF
377Please respect copyright.PENANAQEtdPaOBbQ
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAcm6icHmhDl
377Please respect copyright.PENANAtQJPfiRfmi
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAdxwcFRzGx2
377Please respect copyright.PENANAQSAEqXMYTp
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA6wpZk0r1OL
377Please respect copyright.PENANAk7sjvk8rjC
Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAJ0FpDofG2O
377Please respect copyright.PENANAxoEAd4moja
My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA4RlDkXZv0w
377Please respect copyright.PENANAYNGzFOPJAf
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANA0ta9Ae5HUc
377Please respect copyright.PENANAGt7zrMIqCX
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAyrNVvsImUp
377Please respect copyright.PENANAVRTsZXd0DU
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAWWXoFZCCa0
377Please respect copyright.PENANAAjumvVhaqG
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 377Please respect copyright.PENANANQKFqquVWm
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. 377Please respect copyright.PENANAzdxuTeSFJk
377Please respect copyright.PENANAMBVZmdItaM
I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.