Runaway

• Tenieka Bosveld, Grade 7, John Calvin Christian College
• Short Story
• 2012

Finalist in the 'Far Out 2012' competition

“Shadow!” I sighed as my dog gnawed on my frozen fingers.

I sat there in my subconscious state, as if in hazy dream waiting, waiting for nothing in particular, but for something, anything. I was desperate. I had been desperate since I’d leapt over the railings and landed on the train platform to escape. I had spent the past week wandering but for the life of me, I can’t remember why, and constantly find myself asking ‘why?’ I’m having second thoughts now.

If someone had walked past they would have seen me as a tanned girl with the most astonishing, tangled mess of hair so curly it stuck out like an afro. It may have been possible to take away the shabbiness from the girl and see who she had been only 5 days previous.

I am, or rather was, a rich girl who loved getting everything my own way. I had everything a normal person could want until “it“ happened. The baby. The monster. 2 years ago I had adored her and never yelled, even when she’d pulled my hair or ruined my beloved diary. I thought she could do no wrong. That is, until her 2nd birthday. Now I hated her with a passion. She has come along and taken away everything I treasured. It started with my friends, they would come over to play, and then later I realized it was only to play with Sophie. Most painfully were my parents. For instance instead of coming to my karate lessons they would drop me off and race straight home, just to play with her. It had hurt my spoilt ego then, but now I regret running away.

Not for the first time today I started to think about my family. My father. He is a great, strong, loving man, with teeth shining through a bright smile just like mine. He has the same hazel eyes as me except his are wise and old while mine are wild and crazy, always looking for adventure. My mother has a wiry frame with a tight, drawn face and piercing black eyes. She is stern, strict and biased towards the monster. My little sister is a spoilt girl, possessing my share of attention and she likes it that way.

I’ve always dreamt of running away, but I never thought it would be like this. For the first time I saw beauty in the world and not bitterness, this thought reminded me about the good times I’d had and the good people I knew. How worried mum would be! Even though she can be slightly stingy, when she is happy she’s a wonderful mum. And dad really loves me too; I guess I could learn to like my sister. While these thoughts were running through my head Shadow was still whining as if to tell me that we shouldn’t be here in the middle of nowhere. I stood up with new purpose and resolution buzzing through my veins. Maybe my life wasn’t that bad after all.