PARADISE GONE ASTRAY
The pair raced through the pounding rain, darkness seemed to be all around them like a suffocating blanket of shadow. The thuds of their footsteps grew louder, almost in unison with the sound of their thumping hearts. Gasping for breath, and soaked to the skin, they considered slowing down. After all they didn't mind getting 'dirty with sweat dripping over their bodies.' Then, a bolt of lightening streaked the sky, and a split second later, a roll of deafening thunder roared menacingly in the black night.
No matter how exhausted, they knew that rather than stopping, they had to run faster than ever, Hannibal thought to himself 'how many cliffs must a man run down before they call him a man?' they streaked along, their feet slippery on the rain soaked grass of this treacherous cliff top. All there was on their minds was 'Back to the log cabin, back to the blazing warm hearth'
Clarice bit her lip to refrain from cursing when she stumbled on the sodden grass. They could no longer see the difference between the land and the sky, there was only darkness. Hand in hand, they sprinted on, battling against the elements.
Hannibal tried to focus, but found for once he couldn't. He let go of Clarice's hand for just one moment, and then, he realised that he could no longer feel the ground beneath him, just emptiness. The last thing he heard, was his angel screaming out his name; as if it were the last thing on earth.
Clarice just stood their, eternity ticked by. She'd been running, hand in hand with Hannibal. Then her hand had become empty. He had let go! He had let go! She feared he'd discovered that magical thing, he was flying without wings perhaps he believed he could fly. She turned to look and saw him plummeting over the cliff edge. She screamed in vain, calling out his name. Now she stood there, alone on the cliff top. Unable to utter a word, unable to laugh or even cry. She just sank crestfallen to her knees. A broken woman staring down at the void beneath her, where her beloved had fallen.