➸𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐄𝐍 || 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝗼𝐧'𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

1

"Dally! I can't keep up!" Kerri Winston yelled airily, running as fast as she could to keep up with the moving train; that her older brother Dallas was aboard. It was currently 3 in the morning, and the pair were leaving town; in search of a better life. To them, anywhere was better than here.

"Come on Kerri! Man- come on!" Dally shouted, holding his free hand out for Kerri to grab onto while the other was gripping the train's railing, ensuring that he wouldn't fall off.

But, it was no use. The train kept moving faster and faster, until eventually, it was out of reach. Until eventually, her brother was out of reach. Leaving 10 year old Kerri, all by her lonesome on the outskirts of New York; with Dally and her ticket out of here, no longer in sight.

"Dally!" Kerri cried, dropping to her knees; her body no longer being able to hold its own weight.

It was an agonizing sight to watch as Kerri realized that she was now alone in her messed up world, and that she was no longer under the protection of her older brother. She now had to face their parents alone, in all their screwed glory- and Kerri didn't have a clue as to how she was going to survive it.

He got out, and she didn't.

He was able to go see the world, and she wasn't.

Not knowing how to feel and not knowing how to comprehend what was going on, Kerri began to hyperventilate; breathing hastily in and out while not being able to catch her breath. It felt as if her life was collapsing in on her, and pretty soon everything got dark.

Now in her bed, Kerri felt a beam of light glistening down on her as she jerked awake. Catching her breath, she reminisced about the events that occurred those four years ago-which were now part of every dream she had. To Kerri, it still feels like yesterday. And no day passes, where she wonders what her world would be like if she had made it onto that train.

In an effort to escape her mind, Kerri reluctantly arose from the comfort of her bed in order to leave the house while her parents were still drunkenly asleep. So she quickly grabbed the one jacket she had, which so happened to be Dallas's- not having any other clothes to change into- and cautiously made her way out of her diminutive bedroom.

It was a rather puny apartment she shared with her parents, which only consisted of three cells; as Kerri would call them- hers, her parents', and a common room that was connected straight down the hall. Despite the fact that she had a roof over her head, Kerri hated living here.

With her door closed behind her, Kerri tiptoed her way into the gray living room that housed a beat up brown couch, a decaying coffee table filled with week old booze upon it, and to her surprise, two black out drunks.

"Perfect." Kerri thought to herself, rolling her eyes slightly. Her parents were sprawled out on the floor of the living room, and the door was on the opposite side. "Now what?"

While looking around for a way out, Kerri noticed a crumpled envelope next to her father that was drenched in a foul smelling liquor. "We never get mail." She whispered to herself, immediately becoming curious of what the document held.

Quietly stepping past her mother, Kerri made her way over to her father, holding her breath as she bent down to grab the letter. Things wouldn't be in Kerri's favor if she were to disturb her parents in their drunken slumber.

Snatching it successfully, the Winston girl silently scampered her way over to the door, a few feet away from the alcoholics she called mom and dad. Kerri hesitantly uncrumpled the drenched piece of mail, and examined it. There, written in blue splattered ink, held a name that she hadn't heard in years.

"Dally?" Kerri blurted, coming off a little louder than she had hoped for. Hurriedly, Kerri looked over at her parents, who were beginning to stir- but eventually, they fell back into the murk of sleep.

She turned her attention back to the letter in her hands as she knew the coast was clear, reading each messy word that was under Dallys' name carefully.

From Dally,
To Kerri.
Tulsa, Oklahoma. The wrong side of the tracks.

Dally was in Tulsa?

Kerri bit her lip, thinking of what to do next. Obviously Dally wanted Kerri to live with him, a thousand miles away from here. But why now? Why not 4 years ago?

Despite the numerous questions she had, Kerri's only focus was getting home to her brother and out of this nasty old city. Because in Kerri's mind, home was wherever Dallas was.

Kerri decided that it was either now or never. She could finally leave this place and never come back. After all, that's what she's wanted for all these years.

With one final look at her parents, and no doubt in her mind, Kerri walked confidently out the door, slamming it shut. And as the cool summer air hit her face, Kerri ultimately knew that she was free. She was finally released from the cruelty and assault that laid within the walls of that house.  

Walking with her head held a little higher, Kerri Winston pulled out an old cigarette, and made her way over to the train station on the outskirts of town- passing all the places she has grown to love over the years. She even passed her old gang she and Dally used to be apart of.

But eventually, Kerri made it to the one place she hated most. The place where her older brother left her all those years ago.

Though this time, she wasn't filled with hatred.

No, all Kerri felt was excitement. Excitement as she snuck her way onto the back of the train where Dally once stood. Excitement as the train left the station. Excitement as she was headed for Tulsa (and for Dally).

But most of all, she was excited for a new life. One that she wasn't afraid of living.

(edited 8-11-22)