I Will Run

• Bronte Dekker, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2016

My boots thudded heavily on the pavement, with each step I took. My heart pounded, my lungs burned, my shoulders ached and yet I pushed on. Just a couple more days of this, I would tell myself. It would put my mind at ease for awhile and yet deep down I knew that wasn't the truth.

At eighteen years old I thought my ... of a life would finally be over and I could start a fresh. I could look forward to the future, without worrying if I would actually be here to live it.

You will be next, I was told by my stepfather. Those four simple words had haunted me ever since. My mum had died by a crazed man on Christmas Eve. I had an antsy feeling the he somehow associated with my step father.

I was stranded in the middle of nowhere, terrified and alone. I am on the run. I hope I can somehow outrun them and run towards freedom. They may be close, and too fast for me to outrun, but that can't diminish the spark of hope flickering in my heart. I will continue to the very end.

I. Will. Run.