The Runaway

Chapter 36

We left the hotel early. The home sickness is getting worse. I want to see my parents again, to hear their voices. I can barely remember what anyone sounds like. Every night I dream of the memories that are stored in my heart. I dream of every day that leads up to the last.

The last time I talked to them, I told them 'Good night, see you in the morning' and they said it back. Then... it just never happened.

The worst part is, they don't know what happened to me. I know what happened to me, but they don't. The note I wrote doesn't say I got kidnapped or that I'm coming back with a unicorn loving man.

"Do you think my family will still love me when I get back?"

"Did they love you before?"

"Yes."

"Then yes."

My face is hot. I don't know if it's from crying, the humidity or the stress and exercise. I've never walked or cried so much before. Last time I cried, before getting kidnapped, was when I fell off my bed from jumping on it when I was around five.

"How do I make this stop?"

He looks at me confused. "What?"

"This weird feeling."

"Describe it."

"I think the rain is making me feel heavy but that wouldn't make sense since the heaviness is inside me, and the last time I checked, it doesn't rain inside of me. I can't breathe and I'm sad. I'm the saddest sad I've ever been, and I never am sad. How do I stop it?"

He grabs my hand. His features, beautifully sad in the dark downpour of rain. The white in his eyes shine against the smokey blue background. His hair is now silver and pointed downward, some strands around his horns still stay standing, disobeying the order of nature.

"You can't, unfortunately."

"Will it end...?"

"Only when you find your sunshine."

"How do I find it?"

He shrugs before letting go of my hand and wrapping his arm around my waist. I'm pressed against his side. This would be amazing and all, but my wobbly legs only worsen.

After some time, I figured it out and now I walk better beside him. I lean my head on his shoulder. He stiffens but it fades away.

"Thank you."

He hums.

After walking in the rain for so long, listening to it hit the grass covering the hills, we decided to stop walking. My legs went weak. This is exhausting.

So now we sit on the side of a giant rock at the bottom of a hill. The wet grass is hard to walk up and there's mud everywhere. Walking at the bottom of the valley is easier.

"We need a plan."

"We have one?"

"What is it?"

"Keep walking."

I lean back, letting my hands hold me up. The mud goes between my fingers, I can feel it under my nails. Not very proper of me.

"That's not very good. We need a schedule and stuff. We've been wearing the same clothes for the past many days. We smell and look weird."

I look very weird. His paleness is transferring to me, more and more each day.

"It's your fault."

"How?"

"Letting yourself get kidnapped."

"It wasn't on purpose."

He faces me for a while before turning forward, watching whatever. The sadness clear on him. We're both sad. It's just a sad day. I don't want it to be a sad day.

"Read your book to me."

"It'll get wet."

"Tell me the beginning."

"Why?"

"It's something to do. You won't tell me anything else and I can't think of anything to tell you."

He keeps staring at the grass on the giant hill in front of us. The rain is the only one talking to me.

"You've read it before, right? You told me the ending, unless that was another lie."

"It wasn't..."

"Then tell me."

He sighs before leaning on the huge rock. Our clothes look horrible. Mine are heavy, I can't imagine how he must feel, wearing more than me and he has all those swords and stuff.

"Fine... One day, Mariam woke up and went searching for her parents. She found them in the shed, sitting on the floor with something spread out before them. Her mother beckoned her closer, and as she approached, Mariam saw a fowl lying between them. It was a moment of stark beauty and tragedy, as its mother had not survived." He turns to me, rain running down his face, making him look like he was crying. "Pegasus fouls are extremely rare, so this was a great thing for Mariam to witness."

He looks down at his hands that's fiddling with the wet grass. "Her and the foul stayed with each other at all times. Mariam-" He rubs the side of his face with his sleeve over his hand. "She embarked on adventures with the foul until the moon bid them goodnight. They were adored by all. As time went on, her parents urged her to marry, but her heart wasn't in it. She yearned to remain with her companion, who now towered over her. Despite the many soirees, no suitor caught her eye until one destined evening in the fields with her Pegasus. That's when she encountered a boy, his smile captivating. They talked until dawn..."

He rests his head on my shoulder and holds my hand. Right now, he's on the other side of me so my left and his right hand are together. Which hands will get married?

"What else?"

He shakes his head. I rub circles on the top of his hand with my thumb. The difference in our skin is drastic, and I thought I was pale. Besides the rain, it's quiet here. Well, of course, there's no one else here.

"Are you alright?"

He nods.

My skin is so wet that it hurts and is shriveled. When will this rain stop?

"The weather isn't being proper."

He kicks my foot.

"You aren't being proper either."

A/N: I like this chapter. It captures the sad undertone in the story. How are y'all doing?