• I run through the forest, the wind whips through my hair, the grass itchy under bare feet. I slide through mud and wade through dirty water, my breath ragged like a piece of broken glass. Sweat trickles down the small of my back, makes me feel dirty, sticky, I want to go home. I keep running, faster. My feet ache and I don’t stop because I have to keep running, running and running and running. They’re coming for me, they’re coming for me, I keep going as fast as I can. I give a fleeting glance behind me and I see something, it isn’t Them but something else, someone else, adrenaline and wonder start to pump through my veins.

    It’s a little boy, he looks a little like my brother but my brother’s dead.

    They aren’t behind me, I’ve outrun them, I can go back to the boy. He hides behind the tree, what’s wrong, what’s wrong? He shakes his head. I run my hand over his back. He holds a Pooh doll, I didn’t think they existed anymore, I thought the Government took them away. He sniffles, don’t cry, don’t cry. It’ll be fine. I want to help him so badly, he’s so scared, I look behind me and I can hear the thump of polished boots marching where I have gone, they’re coming for me.

    I don’t think about it, I pick him up and I take him in my arms and his breathing is so shallow so shallow so shallow. I start running, I have to outrun Them, he clutches his Pooh for safety, I feel so bad for him. Don’t die on me, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die! I run and run again, my feet are black and so sore but the adrenaline keeps my heart going, I keep running, my heart keeps pumping. His breath slacks and I hear the boots again, tears roll down his cheeks and I just want to comfort him but now is not the time.
    They’re coming for me, they’re getting closer and I’m running as fast as I can, adrenaline is starting to cease. I have to get this boy home, I have to get myself home, I have to outrun Them. My breath cracks, I start to cough and I stop dead still, the boy still in my arms. He isn’t mine but I still have to save him, I still have to get him home. My mind whirls of all the things that could be, all the things that never were, but I still have to save him first. I want to go home I want to go home I want to go home. I keep running but my legs barely move and the little boy is sobbing and I can’t get him to stop, I can’t comfort him, I can’t whisper any words of consolation because I don’t have any.

    The thump of the boots gets louder and 1, 2, 3, 4, turn I can’t escape. Their smiles glisten with malice, whiter than the whitest white, sparkle sparkle, shimmer shimmer. They’re standing over me and my heart is beating 300 times a minute it’s going to shoot out of my chest and hit the sky, adrenaline keeps me alive. I crumple to the ground I’m so scared, he’s still in my arms. Don’t hurt him don’t hurt him don’t you dare! The words don’t make it out of my mouth and someone points a big black gun and crack, it rings in the sky forever. I cringe it’s so loud and it shakes me to my bones, it’s so loud and I look down. Something warm and sticky hits my dress, trickles down my leg, my face is twisted in horror.

    Oh god oh god oh god he’s dead.

    I pale, there are so many things I want to say, so many things I need to say, right at this moment, it’s now or never, but they never escape my cracked lips, they’re sewn shut and the thread is fear. I want to run away but I can’t, I’m paralyzed. The little boy’s body is limp, he’s just a rag doll, just a shell. Another thump and they take the little boy away from me, I don’t even know his name and I start to sob, I feel so bad, I never got him home, never got him to safety. His arms wave like they’re stuffed with cotton, I scream and protest, but then sparkle sparkle shimmer shimmer, crack!

    The world fades, everything blurs, I hear faint voices and I smell blood, but no matter.

    I am..we are...safe.