She tiptoed quietly from her bed and peered out her window at the looming darkness: just staring at it, thinking nothing, saying nothing; enjoying the quiet that followed after her father had left and enjoying the weight that had been lifted from on top of her body.

Staring out the window something came over her, an unknown sensation. She slowly lifted the creaky window, pushing it up over her head. She scrambled through the gap, stumbling to catch herself she regained her balance and ran, ran to anywhere. She had no idea where; she was going into the darkness and that was all that mattered: head first with no arms out to catch her. She was alone. She was free.

Into the woods she went, feeling as if he were still there, still chasing her as he'd done before. But this time was different; the night had saved her. It swallowed her up and held her in protectively. The night was her hero and nothing bad could ever happen under the blanket of stars that were protecting her that night. She stopped and lay down in the clearing gazing up at them. She was beginning to feel alive again: the night and the stars, they were awakening her. And she knew from that point on whenever she was lost, whenever she was scared, she could look to the stars and they would tell her everything she needed to know, they would take care of her. They were the safety blanket she never had, protecting her from all evil. She would be safe she knew it now, she knew in her heart that she was okay.

And she just lay there: watching the stars until the sun began to rise and they began to fade. She lifted her self up and headed east to the artist's colony, knowing they were the only ones who would take her in. She knew it would be okay because the same set of stars would be shining down on her. Every night, they would be there for her. Like no one else had been.