You

• Emily Redknap, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2015

You watch the glinting grey rain as it falls, and taste the last dregs of your drink as it slides down your throat. The plane ticket and your last $100 note still sit tucked away in your passport weighing down your raincoat pocket. Once a husband and father, now a runaway villain. They were gone and now all you can think about is how far away you will be in six hours. The note you left behind would still be unread sitting on the bench top. You remember the feeling of the pen in your hand, an incredible weight, as the blue ink stained the page.
“I’m sorry, but you must understand. It’s for the best.”
As you remember your stomach drops and you feel empty. Hollow and numb. How could it have come to this? All because you couldn't pay them back for your own protection. How ironic is that? You now fear the people who once protected you. And your family. You start to question your decision to go away. The words jam up and fill your brain. All the possibilities of what could happen once you’re gone. Will your family be safe? Will Hazel be okay? Your wife. Your High school sweetheart. the woman who had stood by you through every moment, Through the bad decisions as well as the good ones. You remember the birth of your first child. Henry, your son, now eight years old. Will he understand? what about Evey? only three. She might not even remember you. At this tears swell and burn in your eyes. Maybe you should go back, they’d be safer with you near, you can’t just leave them behind...That is your last thought as you see the red on your shirt. Feel the unbelievable twisting pain in your chest. Your vision goes black. They came for you. You are no more.