Running is what I do best.
Whether it's running in my garden, on the beach, from my mother or my teacher, it's the thing I do best.
I was allowed to run almost everywhere I wanted, until yesterday.
Today is my 16th birthday, and I am to get married in a month. I am going to marry a man I do not know, let alone love. He is older than me, and loves my wealth instead of me.
I know I do not have a say in this. Every girl must marry, as soon as possible, the wealthiest man her parents can find.
I wish I could say I am resigned.
I am not. Maybe I'm naive, or simply stupid. But this cannot be my fate.
So I'm running. Out of my house, the tiles smooth and warm under my bare feet. Soon I am running in the garden, past the columns and under the vibrant green trees. I watch the sky turn lilac as I run with my head up, my feet never stumbling on the dusty path.
I reach the sea at last, and I stop just before the sandy shore.
The sun is almost setting, and from here, I can see everything. The sea foam, the waves that violently hit the sharp rocks, and the ones that land gently on the shiny sand.
At sunset, the world glows golden.
I take a few steps forward, the bottom of my tunic grazing the golden grains.
Childlishly, I pray that today was just a bad dream. I pray the Gods, I beg them to turn me into sea foam, and to let me go, free, in my beloved sea.
My name is Hebe, daughter of Herakleides, and in the month of Elafebolion I will get married.
I am scared of the future.
So I run.
YOU ARE READING
Whispering waves
Teen Fiction~ON HIATUS~ Hebe, daughter of Herakleiades, a greek king, has just celebrated her 16th birthday. She is finally told the name of the man she will marry in just one week. But is this really her destiny? Hebe doesn't feel ready to leave her land, her...
