𝓛𝓸𝓼𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓕𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭

31

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What the fuck?!

I was completely and utterly baffled. I made that story up on the spot; how? Just how? I was mad, very mad that they had the guts to scare the shit out of us.They howled with laughter as I looked at Wendy fuming. She looked petrified of the scene in front of her. "Uhm, let's just leave before they notice," I whispered to her lowly. Yeah, you're right..." She agreed.

We quickly vanish into the darkness of the night, fleeing so I can tell her my discoveries. As we retreat into the night, we find a nice log to sit on, the trees looming over us. I turn to Wendy and frown. "They are such Jerks. I was actually terrified that something was out there. I thought I could see the future or something, and they made it into a joke," I say, frustration evident in my voice.

She smiles at me, "Hey, it's okay, I know you're scared; I know you want to go home, but we got to move forward and see what we can do to leave", she reassures me, holding my hand. Leave, I wanted to leave, right? Did I? Yes, no? Maybe...

"I just don't know anymore", I sigh, tracing a little drawing with a stick into the dirt. "You don't know?" She questions. Gulping I look at her, "I'm just so so confused, I don't know what I want anymore, or even who I am" I knew the tears would come, the small blanket of wetness road my cheeks as I started to sob. "I'm scared; I don't know where I am; I just woke up here one day; I'm only 17. I'm not even an adult yet. Why me??" I continued as she tightly put her arm around me in a close embrace. "I just...I-I like it here, but..." I choked out, not even knowing what I wanted to say.

"But, what? Do you want to stay, Ana?" she asked, looking me in the eyes with Worry. I turned her question back at her, "Do you want to stay?"She gazed up into the start of the night; each one shone to be unique, not one the same, and all so different. She laughed a little to herself as I peered over at her, "I want to go back so bad you couldn't even imagine," she told me, a glimmer in her eyes. "I just wish this was all a weird dream, or I was at least in a coma that I could wake up from to find my family around me crying with happiness from my return".

My eyes sank down to my lap. It was funny how different we were and our situations, but ultimately, they were identical at the same time. I take a huge gulp, "I was abused.." My voice was shaky. I felt her eyes on me, "My family is in a mob; women are objects; we are beaten, raped, destroyed, we are left empty, wondering what is going to happen to us", I continued, my hands starting to shake. I have never told anyone about this, not ever, but I feel as though I can talk to Wendy; she was, in fact, from a whole different time period, so it didn't matter.

"Oh, Ana", She whispers, hugging me tightly. My eyes begin to water, "I pretend to be strong, physically I am, but...mentally, I think I'm the weakest person ever," I continue, water flowing down my tear-stained cheeks. "I-I took..." I begin again, but my eyes are so wet I can't even see in front of me. "Ana, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to; I'm here to listen to whatever you have to say when you're ready" She comforts me, her voice soothing.

"No, I want to; I need to tell someone. All these secrets feel like a huge lump in my stomach that is slowly going to suck me up whole one day", I whisper to her, hugging her tightly. She lets me cry onto her, not saying anything, only listening to my quiet wails and feeling my wet tears on her neck.

After a moment, I continued exhaling a large breath before I talked: "I attempted right before I woke up here." I watched as she frowned, her eyes worried, as she patted my hair slowly. "Are you okay, Anastasia?" she asked slowly, looking me in the eyes. "No, I'm fine. It's fine. I'm fine," I repeated to myself again and again, choking the words as a stream of tears fell down my red cheeks.

"Anastasia, it's okay to feel what you are feeling; it is completely valid to feel that after what you have been through. Please don't feel like you have to be strong all the time. Sometimes being strong is about taking a step back and understanding that it's not your fault all these things happened to you", she tells me.

"No, it's my fault; I'm a bad daughter, I'm a failer, I'm just a huge disappointment", I say, with self-louth, as I sniffle. "I care about you Anastasia, I care, and as a friend, I know you are not to blame. It is not your fault; it is not your fault at all; don't blame yourself for all of this" I look up at her again, and she smiles down at me, nodding her head slowly as I embrace her again; she wraps me into a motherly embrace.

I feel at peace with her; I like it; I like her; she is kind, listens, and hugs me. That is something I never got back home.

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Word count: 960