The Peace Fog

I look back on the past, to those purposefully forgotten years of my life, when things were dark.

 When things weren’t as they seemed.

I remember the town. That beautiful town, the land was full of lush, green forests, soft, rolling hills, snow white mountains, glittering blue rivers  and medieval-like houses, everyone was at peace. Or so they thought.

Have you ever looked up at the faded mountains in the distance and wondered ‘What could be past those?’ I did, every day of my life.

I lived in a small town, and it happened to be in the valley of the hills. I was surrounded by tall mountains and the same 200 people every day of my life. Every day was the same; I would go to school, do chores, homework, dinner and bed. I secretly had a dream, I could never tell anyone, but I wanted to see the outside.

Only one person had ever seen the outside, he was two years older than me and in a neighbouring home. Everyone called him the ‘village idiot’ or the ‘town fool’ he wasn’t like me, he wasn’t shy, he was opinionated, he couldn’t keep anything to himself. That’s where he went wrong.

He left three years ago, when he was 15 and I was 13. He was the first person who ever opened me up to the possibility of leaving home, this hell-hole that I have forever been dreaming of escaping, but no one could suspect, if they did, the way that I would escape, would be death.

 Because of his escape, they increased the patrolling guards around all of the villages; no one was allowed to leave. No one knew why, it was the way things went and had to go.

It was the eve of my 16th birthday when I saw him again, actually, I didn’t see him, he saw me, I was going home from school and was crossing the rickety, old, wooden bridge when I heard a rustling noise, coming from a bush, “Gabrielle! ”For a moment, I was startled, and nearly fell off of the bridge iinto the river below. The river looked beautiful, clear water, a glimmering shade of blue, but don’t be deceived.  The river was actually fast flowing, and could carry you to your death. It was not to be taken lightly; many a child had fallen in and drowned.

“Gabrielle!” I had almost forgotten about the voice. This time the voice was more persistent, I decided to investigate it sounded like, no, it couldn’t be, “Kyle?” I asked, Kyle was the boy who had run away “is it you?”

My heart pounded as I re-crossed the bridge, it may have been Kyle, but there was also a chance that it was the school bully, or just a neighbouring adult.

I crept up slowly, willing myself nearer to the lusciously green bush; I steadied myself, and looked behind.

 There was no one there!

 “Expecting someone?”

 “Kyle!” I rushed forward and hugged him so hard, I felt the wind knocked out of me, one thing I had forgotten to mention, Kyle and I were friends as kids, best friends. I couldn’t understand why he had left me here.

When he left, I had no friends, I was the school outcast and I was too shy to do anything about it.