Stories of my Existence

Rebel Heart

I got the pic off Bing images, all rights go to owner.

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The night was dark. The moon, framed in the deep purple velvet of the sky was a shining orb, hanging from the stars by a silver thread. The woods were silent. There were no animal sounds, no frogs croaking in the stream next to the path. It was a deadly silence.

But then, the silence was shattered. The pounding of feet erupted into the night, running feet. Terrified feet. The feet ran quickly, hurrying to get to safety before it was too late. The girl, owner of the feet, knew running would only make it worse, but she didn't care. She was too close to breaking to care.

She ran, dressed in a dark green tunic and seeming to blend into the trees and deep bushes framing the narrow path she ran on, rushing to the one place she would be safe. Her cave. She had been living in a cave for two week, ever since she ran away. Her food, sometimes no more than a few berries, had been just enough to keep her alive, but she survived, and therefore thrived. Thrived in mind, and in spirit even if not in body.

As she ran her heart beat faster and faster, pounding against her as if it was trying to break out of her and find freedom, as indeed it was. It pounded against the inside of her chest, beating her in an attempt to break out.

She ran harder, knowing that she had to reach the cave where she could contain it, but also knowing that the harder she ran the harder it would beat, making its escape that much quicker.

Then, it happened. The rebel heart burst from her, leaving a bloody and tattered hole in her chest, leaving her to bleed out in the path. Tiny legs bent to break its fall, carrying it away on bloody feet. As it ran, making for the bushes it could not resist, and turning, it stuck its small pink tongue out at her, mocking her for not being able to contain it. The tiny red legs ran, trying to carry the rebel heart into the bushes where it knew it would be safe.

But the girl had other ideas. A strangled cry had burst from her lips as her heart broke out, and she had nearly succumbed to the terrible temptation to lay down and die right there, bleeding the last drops of precious blood from the gaping hole in her chest where the heart used to be. Only an immense willpower kept her alive as she leaped forward in one last desperate attempt to catch her fleeing heart. The heart was not fast enough, and her fingers closed around it, pulling it back to her. She caught it around its middle, and as she pulled it back, attempting to force it back into her chest it kicked and punched her with its tiny fists and feet, screaming from the open mouth that contained that mocking tongue. It was not strong enough. The girl managed to stuff the heart back into the gaping wound, and the arteries and blood vessels reached eagerly to reattach themselves to the rebel heart, eager to contain the heart once more. As the grabbed at it the heart stopped struggling and let them, accepting its fate as the blood pumping vital organ that had kept the girl alive for these thirteenth years. The hole in her chest, once more provided with fresh blood began to close, healing quickly.

With a sigh the girl turned and continued up the path at a slow walk, returning to her cave and her safety.