HER HERO: Chapter 1

6

My head is swimming by then, being alone is a salve, a chance for true serenity to calm every part of my being. When I have been alone then sweet company brings balance, brings joy, and a renewed sense of wonder. We live in this equilibrium and there is wisdom in being in tune with these ebbs and flows of emotion. I was happy to be with Jasper even though he was back in Georgia. I have been isolated for some time now. I can't see friends, nor reach out for help as once I could have. If I'm honest, I had so many panic attacks at first, yet over time they grew further apart and disappeared.

I can now say I'm so much more psychologically mature, that those brutal times built me into who I am today. It hardly feels that can be true when you're curled up on the bathroom floor with your heart beating a million miles per hour, but with time, with inner reflection, with the art of emptying the thoughts, even if for just a few moments at a time━ a new self emerges. Is life searching for me? My heart advises me to stop here, painfully. I've met so much, felt so much.

The shameful truth is that this lost soul was deliberately sacrificed by those who could have saved her with ease, by those who sat upon sturdy boats, refusing to throw a rope, to lend a life raft. They watched the drowning and heard my screams all from so close at hand. It was they who closed off all of the ports, spreading word that I deserved the saltwater in my lungs. The pain that once burned like a fire had faded away to an icy numbness. Black filled the edges of my vision and the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat. My breath came in ragged, shallow gasps. But the process of dying was crueler than any fiction I've ever read. The pain would be with me until the end, every day a battle not to lose hope.

I was taken inside the room, while Murry waited outside. The lawyer was sitting in front of me asking me about the case of Dario's death. That is an empty room and the open window from the rays of the sun that blares serves as the light where I sat. I was asked several times, and it was repeated over and over again. His question still revolves around that I was one of the last to be with Dario. I know it's hard for me, dealing with the pressure. But I know for myself that this trial will end soon. When I got out Murry was sitting as if deep in thought.

I left the building while Murry was still talking to the lawyer, decided to take a walk outside the building compound when my eye caught up the girl. So I walked over to her.

''Is it you right?'' I say. ''I can't be wrong.''

''Sorry Miss.'' She stepped away.

''You are Dario's girlfriend. Do you know how long we have been looking for you?''

She left, and walk nimbly.

''Hey! Where are you going?'' I say as she heard my rushing pace toward her.

''Okay, Thank you, Ms. Rogers,'' Murry said, while I was still irritable, Murry wondered where I had gone. ''Sanders, are you okay?''

''I saw her!'' As I say set off in fear and trepidation.

''Who?'' They asked.

''The girl, Dario's girlfriend. She's here!'' they would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at the idea of what I just saw.

''Are you sure about that?'' Murry asked again. I know he doesn't believe me.

We immediately got in the car with Ms. Rogers, and I pointed where I saw him but he was no longer there. But Murry did not give up, we searched the street. Murry saw the girl running. He got out of the car and followed the girl, when he cornered her, he quickly took her, but she struggles.

''Please let me go,'' The girl said.

''Just come with us, and we won't hurt you so that there will be no problem. The only solution to end this trouble, if you will settle it with us.'' Ms. Rogers speaks considerately.