The light danced frantically across the ground. The darkness seemed to close in on her- suffocating her. Scrabbling across the pavement, the echo of her feet pounding heavily on the bitumen was the only other noise in the deep dark world. Everything had been lost since the day her father left. Tears spilled down and onto her pallid complexion. Now she could only run.

Two years ago, her father had died in a freak accident. Her heart felt torn apart; there were no words to describe the pain her heart felt on love she had for her father. Her mother hated her and vice versa. The life that she had with her mother was a torture. Beatings were regular and sometimes it had no reason for them. Clenching her fists, she willed herself not to think anymore but it was impossible. The constant memory of her mother standing above her had burnt into her mind like a cigarette butt on flesh. Her body yearned for the gentle touch, the strong and fierce words and the solid figure of her father protecting her. Gone he was with the insignificant trail of smoke curling upwards into the infinite sky. She frequently had asked God why couldn’t they have taken their mother instead. Her father loved her mother from depths of his hearts unimaginable by anyone. Often, she had seen the look of pain flicker across his weather-beaten face as he raised his muscular arms to restrain her mother.

Nothing could change the fact that he was gone forever. The sudden realization of reality crept back into her mind. Her mind swirled in confusion as she strained her body to keep moving her arms and legs hurt from over-exertion; her breath, forced out in ragged bursts. Three nights had passed since that incident. Wincing, she fell hard. Everything seemed to be going against her, even the roots of an ancient tree. ‘They’re coming,’ the wind whispered to her. With mud splattered over her face, she curled in a corner of the sprawling roots in defeat. Her tired olive eyes gazed of the tiny dots of light in distance. “They’re coming,” she told herself.

Flashes of the memory of crimson blood spraying over the dull pink tiles were etched in her mind. Her body tensed with anxiety as the noise of human activity inched close, but it did nothing to stop her mind from wandering away again. The clatter of metal on the floor reverberated throughout the modest apartment. The thick silence appeared to acknowledge the truth. She could feel her mother’s stare pierce into her back as she fled from the apartment. No one would know what had happened, she consoled herself as she reached the five-kilometre mark from the town. The shrill peels of car tyres stopping jolted her brain back into the harsh environment. Hugging her body tightly, it was as though she tried to transform herself into a negligible lump among the roots. Light strewed over her; in an instant her body stiffened, ready for action. She could feel adrenaline coursing through her body as she waited for the yells. The light shuffled closer. A sharp intake of breath was heard. Exhausted mentally, she stood up unsteadily and stared into the officer’s eyes. He glared at her and reached over to handcuff her, but in his moment of imbalance, she grabbed his gun and shot herself. Drops pf scarlet blood dappled the officer’s face. She died in desperation to free herself, free herself from the horrible memories that neither time nor patience could erase. She had died knowing that she was innocent. A single tear escaped from her eyes as she fell.