There's No Place Like Home
Preface
My breath was puffing out of my mouth in short, even gasps; my feet pounding painfully against the damp forest floor. I felt a slight resistance as a branch tried to slow me down, grasping desperately at the remnants of my clothing. I paused, long enough to glance back through the hazy light. I could feel everything in that moment. The damp air curled around me, lifting my hair off the back of my neck. Bird wings flapped quickly above me as the creature sought shelter that was not being invaded by me and my obnoxiously loud breathing. The wing of a moth brushed delicately against my shoulder, and I cried out in shock. A subtle feather-light touch, but effective none-the-less. The forest swirled around me and my eyes rolled unconciously upwards, as the world disappeared.
Waking up was a strange sensation. I felt the cool wind on my cheeks, and my eyelids slowly drifted open. I felt a panic rising inside me as I quickly sat up; the jolt of my sudden movement causing sore and abused muscles to ache in protest. My bones were stiff, my fingers numb. I glanced around from my seat on the forest floor. Where was I? How did I end up in the middle of a forest? There are no forests in my desert hometown of Pheonix, and I thanked my lucky stars every day for that fact. I stood slowly, my head spinning as my body leered to the right, threatening to fall over once again. Positioning myself against a large tree, the trunk of which was covered in green moss, I glanced down at my attire. The remnants of a pair of jeans and a red t-shirt clung tight to my body, torn and stained. There were ugly red scratches on my arms and hands, and my feet were bare. Where did my shoes go? I laughed aloud at the absurdity of that thought. Then, suddenly recollecting myself, I called out quietly:
"Hello?"
Nothing. No answering voice, welcome or not. Not one sound reached my ears. I slid against the tree trunk, sitting down on the ground once again, trying desperately to patch together the next few days. I remembered leaving my mother's house in Pheonix, moving in with Charlie for my final year of highschool.The night I got in, Charlie drove me to my new home, presenting my with my new truck as a homecoming gift. I remember unpacking, sleeping, waking up the next morning. I gasped as a sudden thought hit me. The reservation...we had been at Billy's. After much shameless pleading and a little bit of stomping around and ordering from my father, I had been convinced to accompany him to the home of his long-time friend Billy Black. We were sitting with Billy and his young son Jacob when it had happened. Gunfire. Blood. So much screaming and commotion that my head still could not process it properly. I remembered panicking very clearly though. I remembered bursting out the back door and running, as Charlie was shot, dropping to the ground like a lead weight. I remembered tripping over myself as I bolted into the forest, listening to the sounds of my persuers so close behind me. I don't know how they didn't catch me, or how I didn't break an ankle as I ran wrecklessly through the forest.
Regardless, it became clear that no-one was going to come find me. Nobody would know where I was, and I could assume very few people even knew I was in town, or that I had been with Charlie. I tried to remember whether I left my purse at Billy's or if it came into the forest with me, but those details remained blurry to me. Mom and Phil were probably on their way to Florida right now, she wouldn't suspect anything was up until a couple of days had gone by. She knew how bad I was at calling her back and replying to her e-mails. I was lost, alone, and nobody knew.
a/n: I know where this story is going, but where would be the fun in giving it all away in the first chapter? I thought it best to stop things here and leave the first chapter as a preface. Let me know what you think (even if your thoughts aren't so flattering. ;) ). I can't improve without your comments!
