Hideaway
This is a short story I had to write for my English class. It's called Hideaway and it really has nothing to do with anything. If it were up to me I'd be writing SJ oneshots and smut. But I can't hand that in to my teacher now can I? =] Here's my story..
Hideaway
Her hands found their way into my hair and started to it twist a soft braid.
“You can’t go on like this for much longer,” she spoke to me gently.
I glanced up at her and frowned. We sat together in the little tree house our father had built for us years ago, legs crossed and for the most part silent.
“Sure I can,” I said confidently.
“But really, you’ve been out there for a few days now. Mum and dad are so worried,” she persisted. I turned my head down, trying to avoid her eyes. My eyes trailed over my legs. They were dirty and covered in little scratches. My knees in particular harbored a great dusting of earth.
“They shouldn’t be…” I said quietly.
I heard her sigh and reach over my shoulder, asking silently for a tie for my hair. I slipped a small elastic band off my wrist and handed it back to her.
“Done,” she said after securing the end of my braid.
I ran my hand over the top and back of my head and turned to face her. She looked tired; sad almost. Her eyebrows were drawn together and she chewed on a small bit of her lip.
“Don’t worry so much,” I tried to comfort her, but in vain. She was always the one comforting me and I didn’t know what to say now as I was about to leave again.
“You have enough food though, right?” She asked in a motherly tone. “You’re eating enough?”
I carefully began to pretend to be fascinated with a small bruise on my arm as she asked this. “Have you ever known me as someone who doesn’t eat?” I smiled at her when I saw the corners of her mouth turn up into what was almost a smile. She didn’t need to know that I didn’t have anything out there with me. I silently hoped my stomach wouldn’t choose this quiet moment to give me away. I clamped my arms around it, just in case.
I turned my attention to a bird calling near us in the trees. It seemed quiet and sad as well. I crawled over to the edge of the hideaway and aligned myself with its ladder.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I told her as I reached my leg down until my bare foot found a rung. “I promise.” She was still frowning though as I descended farther down the ladder. She was so good to me and I felt resentful. Maybe she knew as well that I had no plans of coming back.
The ladder ended about three feet off the ground so I jumped and landed quietly on my feet. That was the thing about nighttime. It always made me feel like I had to be quiet but lively; much like a nighttime creature.
The grass was cool and damp so that small blades of grass stuck to my feet as I walked. I was hardly paying attention to where I was going but my feet found their way sooner than my mind did and I was walking a familiar path in the woods. The trail was mostly dirt with a few feeble patches of grass and small rocks embedded into the earth that my feet slid over easily.
Walking in the woods, even in the dark was something that came easily to me. My sisters and mother never liked me being outside in the woods but I just couldn’t keep away. There was something about walking along under the giant branches of these tall trees that I liked. I could never exactly put my finger on it until just now.
It wasn’t that I liked being out here so much. It was that I liked being away from there.
Until I saw it.
The trail I was walking split and I had taken the route that would walk me alongside the small creek. The night had been quiet but soon sound erupted all at once as I neared the babbling stream.
The water flowed loudly over rocks and quickly down towards a little makeshift waterfall that consisted of stacks of rocks.
The water was almost clear and I could see small organisms swimming and floating in the water when I crouched down next to it. I crossed the short distance from the edge of the trail to the creek and sat down. I dipped a foot into the water. It was cold, but I had always won contests to see who could stay in the longest.
My eyes tracked the bends and curves of the stream as it became deeper and deeper.
And that was when I saw it.
Further down from where I was sitting was a shoe. A shoe floating in the creek as water rushed down around it. It didn’t flow with the water but stayed in place like it was tied to something.
Curiosity getting the best of me, I waded into the water and winced as the icy water hit my shins. I walked as best I could through the water and soon the water was at my knees.
I was about two yards from the shoe, and looking carefully I saw there was another. Underwater. On a man’s foot.
I nearly jumped fully out of the creek. Still, curious, I put my face close to the water and looked down. There was a man, held down by a solitary rock at the bottom of the creek, eyes wide open, yet dead as ever.
Then I really did jump out of the creek.
I emitted something like a scream and gasp together as one but somehow my mouth stayed close. I sloshed up the stream and climbed out of the water, grabbing onto grass and struggling to my feet.
I turned my back and started to run. I had no idea where I was going and my mind must not have registered that I was going the way I had came.
The fear that had been instilled in me started to put my stomach into a knot, a lump at the back of my throat and my heart beat furiously, tapping a tattoo on my chest from the inside.
Rocks in the path started to hurt my feet and my breath was beginning to come short but I kept running.
Images of the man vandalized my brain and formed memories I didn’t want to remember. His eyes wide open, his arms tucked under his body and his mouth slightly ajar. He must have been fully filled with water, saturated, but that one rock was still able to hold him down.
I just wanted to know why. Why on earth had this happened to him? And why did I have to be the one to see it? I could have gone on perfectly without seeing that.
I groaned. Of course it was me. And now it was me who would have to explain it to my mother and sisters. But wasn’t it nearly impossible for people to be identified after drowning? Or was I just making that up?
I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat and snapped out of my daydreams. I slowed down to a stop and realized where I was. I passed a few more trees then I found the one with a giant H carved into the trunk. I walked around to the back of it and reached up to grab the ladder and pulled myself up quickly until I was easily climbing towards my hideaway.
When I reached the top of the ladder I crawled onto the platform. I looked down the far distance, and fell onto my back and took in gulps of the cool night air.
I don’t know how long I laid there, stretched out on my back. But it was long enough for the tiny inchworm on the ceiling to reach the opposite side, and the sky to turn a lighter shade.
Hot tears prickled the corners of my eyes and I hastily brushed them away with the back of my hand. I twisted my head awkwardly on the floor and saw that there was a note taped to the opposite wall of the tree house, just waiting for me to turn my head and see it to read it. I knew instantaneously it was from my sister. My sister I had seen just hours ago. The script was dark and neat.
Dad went looking for you. I tried to stop him. I think he's
looking near the stream. Just be careful.
The first thing I thought of was how I odd it was that she was telling me to be careful. I knew those woods like the back of my hand. The second thing I thought of was how horridly ironic it was that I was the one who was advised to be careful but it was my father who was anchored down to the bottom of the creek just now.
I laid back down and curled into a tight ball. My stomach hurt and my head was spinning. I felt sick to my stomach and my throat felt like it was closing. My own hand was constricting around my neck threateningly.
I made up my mind to run. Just to run and run and run. Far enough to know I was nowhere familiar. Far enough so that I would never have to face my mother and sister. Far enough away from this stupid tree house and that stupid creek. I’d find a new place. And make my own hideaway because that’s all I felt like doing, and all I felt able to do- hide.
I should have never left in the first place.
So that's my story. I quickly threw it together in about an hour and a half early this morning before I ran off for school. I know it wasn't that great but hey, this is it. I figured I might as well post one story up here. Please comment and I will be extremely happy. =D
Hideaway
Her hands found their way into my hair and started to it twist a soft braid.
“You can’t go on like this for much longer,” she spoke to me gently.
I glanced up at her and frowned. We sat together in the little tree house our father had built for us years ago, legs crossed and for the most part silent.
“Sure I can,” I said confidently.
“But really, you’ve been out there for a few days now. Mum and dad are so worried,” she persisted. I turned my head down, trying to avoid her eyes. My eyes trailed over my legs. They were dirty and covered in little scratches. My knees in particular harbored a great dusting of earth.
“They shouldn’t be…” I said quietly.
I heard her sigh and reach over my shoulder, asking silently for a tie for my hair. I slipped a small elastic band off my wrist and handed it back to her.
“Done,” she said after securing the end of my braid.
I ran my hand over the top and back of my head and turned to face her. She looked tired; sad almost. Her eyebrows were drawn together and she chewed on a small bit of her lip.
“Don’t worry so much,” I tried to comfort her, but in vain. She was always the one comforting me and I didn’t know what to say now as I was about to leave again.
“You have enough food though, right?” She asked in a motherly tone. “You’re eating enough?”
I carefully began to pretend to be fascinated with a small bruise on my arm as she asked this. “Have you ever known me as someone who doesn’t eat?” I smiled at her when I saw the corners of her mouth turn up into what was almost a smile. She didn’t need to know that I didn’t have anything out there with me. I silently hoped my stomach wouldn’t choose this quiet moment to give me away. I clamped my arms around it, just in case.
I turned my attention to a bird calling near us in the trees. It seemed quiet and sad as well. I crawled over to the edge of the hideaway and aligned myself with its ladder.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” I told her as I reached my leg down until my bare foot found a rung. “I promise.” She was still frowning though as I descended farther down the ladder. She was so good to me and I felt resentful. Maybe she knew as well that I had no plans of coming back.
The ladder ended about three feet off the ground so I jumped and landed quietly on my feet. That was the thing about nighttime. It always made me feel like I had to be quiet but lively; much like a nighttime creature.
The grass was cool and damp so that small blades of grass stuck to my feet as I walked. I was hardly paying attention to where I was going but my feet found their way sooner than my mind did and I was walking a familiar path in the woods. The trail was mostly dirt with a few feeble patches of grass and small rocks embedded into the earth that my feet slid over easily.
Walking in the woods, even in the dark was something that came easily to me. My sisters and mother never liked me being outside in the woods but I just couldn’t keep away. There was something about walking along under the giant branches of these tall trees that I liked. I could never exactly put my finger on it until just now.
It wasn’t that I liked being out here so much. It was that I liked being away from there.
Until I saw it.
The trail I was walking split and I had taken the route that would walk me alongside the small creek. The night had been quiet but soon sound erupted all at once as I neared the babbling stream.
The water flowed loudly over rocks and quickly down towards a little makeshift waterfall that consisted of stacks of rocks.
The water was almost clear and I could see small organisms swimming and floating in the water when I crouched down next to it. I crossed the short distance from the edge of the trail to the creek and sat down. I dipped a foot into the water. It was cold, but I had always won contests to see who could stay in the longest.
My eyes tracked the bends and curves of the stream as it became deeper and deeper.
And that was when I saw it.
Further down from where I was sitting was a shoe. A shoe floating in the creek as water rushed down around it. It didn’t flow with the water but stayed in place like it was tied to something.
Curiosity getting the best of me, I waded into the water and winced as the icy water hit my shins. I walked as best I could through the water and soon the water was at my knees.
I was about two yards from the shoe, and looking carefully I saw there was another. Underwater. On a man’s foot.
I nearly jumped fully out of the creek. Still, curious, I put my face close to the water and looked down. There was a man, held down by a solitary rock at the bottom of the creek, eyes wide open, yet dead as ever.
Then I really did jump out of the creek.
I emitted something like a scream and gasp together as one but somehow my mouth stayed close. I sloshed up the stream and climbed out of the water, grabbing onto grass and struggling to my feet.
I turned my back and started to run. I had no idea where I was going and my mind must not have registered that I was going the way I had came.
The fear that had been instilled in me started to put my stomach into a knot, a lump at the back of my throat and my heart beat furiously, tapping a tattoo on my chest from the inside.
Rocks in the path started to hurt my feet and my breath was beginning to come short but I kept running.
Images of the man vandalized my brain and formed memories I didn’t want to remember. His eyes wide open, his arms tucked under his body and his mouth slightly ajar. He must have been fully filled with water, saturated, but that one rock was still able to hold him down.
I just wanted to know why. Why on earth had this happened to him? And why did I have to be the one to see it? I could have gone on perfectly without seeing that.
I groaned. Of course it was me. And now it was me who would have to explain it to my mother and sisters. But wasn’t it nearly impossible for people to be identified after drowning? Or was I just making that up?
I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat and snapped out of my daydreams. I slowed down to a stop and realized where I was. I passed a few more trees then I found the one with a giant H carved into the trunk. I walked around to the back of it and reached up to grab the ladder and pulled myself up quickly until I was easily climbing towards my hideaway.
When I reached the top of the ladder I crawled onto the platform. I looked down the far distance, and fell onto my back and took in gulps of the cool night air.
I don’t know how long I laid there, stretched out on my back. But it was long enough for the tiny inchworm on the ceiling to reach the opposite side, and the sky to turn a lighter shade.
Hot tears prickled the corners of my eyes and I hastily brushed them away with the back of my hand. I twisted my head awkwardly on the floor and saw that there was a note taped to the opposite wall of the tree house, just waiting for me to turn my head and see it to read it. I knew instantaneously it was from my sister. My sister I had seen just hours ago. The script was dark and neat.
Dad went looking for you. I tried to stop him. I think he's
looking near the stream. Just be careful.
The first thing I thought of was how I odd it was that she was telling me to be careful. I knew those woods like the back of my hand. The second thing I thought of was how horridly ironic it was that I was the one who was advised to be careful but it was my father who was anchored down to the bottom of the creek just now.
I laid back down and curled into a tight ball. My stomach hurt and my head was spinning. I felt sick to my stomach and my throat felt like it was closing. My own hand was constricting around my neck threateningly.
I made up my mind to run. Just to run and run and run. Far enough to know I was nowhere familiar. Far enough so that I would never have to face my mother and sister. Far enough away from this stupid tree house and that stupid creek. I’d find a new place. And make my own hideaway because that’s all I felt like doing, and all I felt able to do- hide.
I should have never left in the first place.
So that's my story. I quickly threw it together in about an hour and a half early this morning before I ran off for school. I know it wasn't that great but hey, this is it. I figured I might as well post one story up here. Please comment and I will be extremely happy. =D