The sight of Bartie already at the tracks when I walked along them in the bright sunlight filled me with hope that things had returned to normal.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BDyWwoSBe
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He took a few steps forth when I passed him, wagging a finger. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QqrHatsjt
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I knew what was coming and smiled at it. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifWXSfnNWo
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"She's worried sick about you, Soup!" Bartie grumbled at me "running off on her like that. Shame on you for having her in tears!" 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDep1UADCa
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I paused and turned back to him. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZLKBwNy8j
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That wasn't his usual warning. He was supposed to tell me not to hurt her, like he always did. He never changed it. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt55KGW3wKh
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What was going on here? 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zMFpG2n9c
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnyM21jUFIH
Missy's face poked from the newsagency and lit up at the sight of me before she rushed out of it and for the tracks. Her pale pink dress billowed around her when she ran, kicking up around her legs to glimpse the red under-fabric. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVh9Dq21zLg
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCL6B9QvxIz
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be home! 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeyjaUhOBr
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvae2Z1aAmf
"Soup! Don't be scared! I only want to find out a few things!" she blurted on her way. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFQXeRXdhh
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2k4w3oMZZO
No, no, no! She was meant to be happy, not chasing me! 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpQ2DdGRe3
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLEsSfxfze
I scurried for the bridge, pausing at the beginning of it to see Missy throw her arms down in defeat. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcaIcmkKTD4
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She wasn't going to follow me. She knew it was too dangerous to be tempting fate on a place like this. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYWU43pYds
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1v4GaYsuU
"No, don't go!" she whined out to me "Soup!" 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3Y8oB4zX6
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMkw0ePH1K
She had her dreams of solitude. Why was she trying to ruin it all now? 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFSk2uDGSH
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjPZFYujhO
I rushed over the bridge and kept going until I was safely over the river. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWeJYTIzxz
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsDEPCjnWms
She just needed more time to realise. Then, we would be back to normal again.
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251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZIjaKJM37
Unlike my hopes, Missy was relentless in her pursuit for answers. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGCgt5cOGk
Every afternoon I approached the tracks, she would be there, waiting. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsokc5MhNC0
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2d6dJXdIwU
She tried giving me distance at first from Bartie's shop but realised that I had too much time to dart back to safety on her sprint down toward me. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1YKYlsNLd
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmq4UxGfiAs
After failing that tactic a few times and giving up on it, she tried ambushing me from the side of the track as soon as I walked out into the open. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRuFePhj0f
I was too quick for her, even with her advantage. She still refused to step onto the tracks that I darted along to escape her hunt for the truth. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDx4nrsZfvn
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4wP4OsO5n
I could see it was breaking her spirit at how wary I was being of someone I had cherished so highly. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr6pNV0WrAu
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTZxABPP2zb
Missy started to give up whenever I spotted her across the river and refused to close the distance between us. She didn't call out to me anymore and just watched hopelessly while I backed away to continue my scavenge for food elsewhere. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3XmnN2ITj
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Starvation was bringing me back to those tracks every day to only be met with disappointment once again.
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Two weeks of the same occurrence refused to deter Missy from hoping for some miracle that I would approach her. Every day she would wait at the tracks for me in silence, and every day I would turn from them when I saw her face pull up into a hopeful smile. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUAD3oiqcC
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnM62guiBXL
But today, something changed. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjuBsZDWt7
Missy stepped onto the tracks. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5XAmf55PiK
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR156yEklAn
She came marching towards me with worried glanced over her shoulder to any danger that might be barrelling past her home from the West. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KlCccSvHC
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I didn't dare leave my side knowing that she had nowhere to escape. Her trembling body was already over the river, trying to hurry towards me as quickly as she could over the rolling gravel sprayed over the boards she stretched her body over. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnpJTWJtHg
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I paced nervously in my own fear of being caught over the water with her. She was still so far away from land, even with her frantic pace. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcllS0yUQy
I wouldn't be able to do anything but watch hopelessly if the train decided to run early. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfUHPXbtLzl
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Listening to her now wouldn't change her mind and get her to return to the safety of the roadside. She wasn't going to let me ignore her any longer. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwv5M1sXms
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Determination fuelled her fight. I was going to give her whatever she wanted if it meant she wasn't going to be so reckless anymore. If she wanted to destroy her life by hunting down impossibilities, then I couldn't stop her. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qKYzdmgzi
Time had done nothing to deter her. If anything, it had fuelled her curiosity into what happened that night. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcq4yJmNQ00
I couldn't chase her away with ignorance or distance. Missy was going to find a way around it, even if it tried to kill her. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ15XqR1Tpn
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHKwVrnEfsQ
My whole body trembled at the thoughts blaring through my mind. They smashed through my nerves like the train dragging Missy's body along the tracks in every possibility I saw. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwg3bW0OgJ
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHleOBPb2xT
"Come on!" I cried out to her still powering along "hurry! Please!" 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVH6JpKlCw0
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I didn’t want to be here anymore. I knew the train had to be approaching this point at any moment now.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlM1ZaeXJZ
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Sure enough, I saw it in the distance behind Missy. It powered effortlessly on its approach to her house it easily passed in moments. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf2HHiywktF
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The horn of the train screamed out to make Missy turn her head and frantically race towards me. I knew that the gravel had to be spearing the bottoms of her thin flats, but she didn't have time to stick to the safety of the boards anymore. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQ8aDRvwVU
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"Missy!"251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNT7CuDTnxJ
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"Soup!" she whined back.251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3O8WH72iJ
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The train ploughed past the station, screaming out frantically now. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREeiBGxK9r
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Missy was approaching the safety of the land, but still couldn't outrun the train quickly closing in on her. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVWwTPdQFE
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I leapt for the grass that knocked the air from my lungs and felt Missy's body hit the grass beside me as the train barrelled by. Its brakes screeched down my ears and froze my blood that shivered down my spine. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgy5NVnYb9v
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Missy gasped and trembled beside me before clinging to my arms in fear while sobbing. I cradled Missy in the grass while trying to shake my own grateful tears she was safe. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBMrFcY1Z2l
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEoU1OAzR0
She was so delicate huddled into me. Her head rested on my chest that warmed with her rigid breaths. The rest of her skin was frozen from the fear still coursing through her. Her arms tucked against me to try and warm up on my body. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGp29gBhBa3
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtzoU3kCbuu
"Never do anything that stupid again" I gasped out and squeezed her close. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDS8vnuv4Qi
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDI3MfHwSk
Missy leant into it and didn't try to pull from me. Her trembling breath was steadying, and her sobs had subsided to little sniffles she tried to control. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI4Ei0S00b3
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Her glistening brown eyes looked up to mine, searching again. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIfgXvTfjE1
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My body stiffened, dreading that the same fear and confusion would wash over them like that night I had run from them. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtHrwAIrp6
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCzWVbS5vi
I didn’t want to see that or know I was the cause of it. I moved my head away, looking at the clear sky and the drifting clouds above us finally threatening rain. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbeBsqygBF
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyuYht2sRR
Glancing down, I saw that Missy's eyes softened in the same way they did when she greeted me each day. They fluttered closed just as her shaking lips gently brushed on my cheek, leaving a tear to glide effortlessly down it. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTo9pThwRg
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPhHC2tCr1
"Can I still call you Soup?" her voice breathed as her eyes found mine again, curious. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhB28ydRomK
251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDqJe7LXQk
Did she want to shatter it all for me? Or did she want to keep it the way it was, blissfully ignorant? 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPk3eqk3GzV
She wouldn't be able to understand my answer anyway. I was just a creature trying to escape the drag of life, just like her. Everything else was drowned in the water tower and floating in the river, like it could remain to be. 251Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4arGKWUvG
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I only had the name she gave me. Whatever she wanted that to mean would be up to her.
