Drabble a Day

by Simone Robinson

Inspired by others who have undertaken this challenge, to write a drabble a day, I've decided to try. I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'm going to try. To improve writing skills, to gain insight, to explore the written word, the written worlds and those who live in them. Humour, angst, romance, a meeting of genres to create a collection of drabbles updated as often as possible.

26. Survival

A/N: Set pre-SAINW universe, a look into Casey and April as they fought against the Foot.

Survival

---

All was quiet in the world. Beneath her lips their daughter 's skin felt like satin . Tufts of hair, thin and soft, tickled her nose. April breathed her in. She smelt like milk, powder and another sweetness that only babies had.

For a moment the world was full of joy. It did not last long. A knot of fear, sick and hot, twisted in April's stomach. She felt sick, but she grit her teeth against the bitter taste of bile and swallowed She kissed their daughter's forehead again, and got up. They would come any moment now.

As she walked , the lanolin floorboards of the room groaned under her rubber boots . She felt the salty taste on her lips and she wiped the sweat away . Any moment now.

"Police !" The voice was poison in her ears and April could feel her heart flutter in her chest , a trapped bird . Like a puppet she moved toward the door , trembling and incoherent , as if her puppeteer had left her for death . She opened the latch and stood back.

The foot police came, like a deadly wave that drowned everything in its path. Warrants were pushed in her face, voices filled her ears.

The cold white static of fear took hold while the moments dragged on. Cabinets and furniture were scattered around as if they had no value. It had taken them years to save enough to buy them.

But before the fear could turn into an ugly rage, they were gone, slamming doors and screaming that they had not found the suspect. Finally, she looked up, her skin damp with sweat that streamed down her temples. She reached up with a shaky hand and pulled down the ladder that was hidden within the wood, revealing their hidden door. Casey climbed down, gripping the wood, looking pale as he stepped into the open. A wanted criminal, for protecting their rights from the Shredder, for keeping the, safe in a new world, where nothing was certain anymore, and you did not know who you could trust. He took her in his arms and held April as she collapsed, as if her puppet strings were cut . As Their daughter began crying, April did too.

Sometimes people did desperate things just to survive , and the best for which one can hope is not to be caught .