The Peace Fog

“Miss me?” he asked.

I playfully slapped him on the shoulder, “how could you leave me here Kyle?”

“I’m sorry Gabby, you were too young, I really wanted to take you with me, so I waited until you turned 16 and now I can take you with me!”

“When do we leave?” I had been waiting for this moment my whole life, either I live my life as it was, or I could spice things up and leave with Kyle, finding the future I was destined to have. You can’t fight destiny.

It was a quarter to midnight, I was about to turn 16 and when I did, I would be free. Free to run wild in the grass lands, free to climb the trees in the rainforests, free to hike up mountains in the sun.

Free.

Did I know what I was getting myself into?

Absolutely not.

But to be free, everything was worth it.

I had three older brothers and 2 younger sisters, I wasn’t needed by my family, to them, I was just an extra mouth to feed. I preferred to stay invisible, that way, nobody would notice if I was gone.

I was an average student at school, I wasn’t dumb, but I wasn’t smart either, I wasn’t needed for my brains. The only person who had ever needed me was Kyle, and I would always be there for him.

10 to midnight, I needed to go.

Silently, I climbed through the window of my room, careful not to wake my 3 year old sister Molly; I would miss her the most.

I threw down a rope I had stolen from the market place down, and swiftly climbed down. I was leaving my whole life for some spur of a moment trip, this was the house where I had first learned to walk, where I said my first word, where I grew up, and it was time to go, forever.

I met Kyle at the fence that bordered our village, “Look, Over there, there’s a whole under the fence about 20 metres to our left, that’s how I escaped the first time.”

I was silent, I didn’t know how to respond, I was finally leaving, but was it what I wanted? What I’d been waiting my whole life for? Or was it just a huge mistake.

“Come on!” Kyle said impatiently, “We need to hurry or they’ll be onto us and catch us!”

I followed him through the small opening under the fence, obediently, like a duckling following its mother, not knowing if it was being led to the lake, or to the mouth of the devil’s lair.

I stood up on the other side of the life I’d now left behind.

“Goodbye forever” I whispered.

After walking aimlessly for an hour, we decided to go to sleep, and keep going the next day.

I was woken by harsh sunlight, I stood up, and was taken aback, instead of the beautiful forests that I had grown up in, this place was a wasteland. There were no trees in sight; the ground was brown, dusty and bare. I couldn’t see anything for miles. And what was that god-awful noise?