Glitch (The Write Awards 2013 Winner)

Glitch - Chapter 31 (Freya's Epilogue)

The wind hit with a sudden immediacy on stepping outside the walls of Albion City. It was an instant welcome into the unknown beyond the confines of the capital. Hitting against the material of Freya’s coat, the wind carried with it the droplets of rain pattering down from the sky. Someone had mentioned that the downpour would give way to clear skies within the hour. Not that Freya minded the rain.

She traced across the landscape to capture the newly arriving hues of orange on the pre-sunrise sky. Over across the expanse of fields a delicate mist lay in wait; a product of the rain. It provided a slight hindrance to the view making the sole oak tree in the distance a silhouette more than a defined object. But, even with the rain, the landscape provided an encouraging sense of welcome. A certain breath of uncorrupted freshness wound its way into the air and beckoned her forward. Sending an itch of anticipation to creep into prominence amongst her thoughts; her breaths reaching deeper into her lungs to hold the supply of sharply clean air.

“The next settlement is a half-day walk from here if you keep heading North.” One of the Guardians who had formed part of their escort out of the city broke the silence with his instruction. He stepped forward to hold out a map where the first of many destinations had been marked out. Shuffling the rucksack on her shoulders into a better position Freya reached out to take it. Their key to an undecided destination. It made the prospect of ambling out into the rain even more appealing that the journey currently held no end or even a particular direction.

“I’m sure we’ll manage,” Mat said while adjusting the compass around his neck.

Freya couldn’t quite remember exactly who had first brought up the idea to walk away from it all.

And walk away from it all quite literally.

It didn’t really matter. Both had snatched up the idea with equal enthusiasm. They were moving away from the uncertainty of playing the puppets of Glitch or the impossibility of boxing themselves into old lives that would never fit right again. Instead they were stepping out and slipping away into willing obscurity. In a move that was both questionably ambitious and at the same time the most sensible option available to them.

“When all this settles down I’ll find a way to get in touch. Wherever it is you end up I will write you a letter or something.” The droplets of rain pattering at Alexa’s eyelashes caused a frown as she spoke. It still didn’t mar the genuine sentiment. Freya didn’t doubt her promise for a moment and felt secure that any goodbye uttered now would not be a permanent one.

“Please do.” The promptness of Freya’s response spoke infinitely more meaning than the actual content of her simple words.

“And I honestly wish you the best of luck. The both of you…” Alexa said with a sudden deviation in her gaze to Mat. He responded to the acknowledgement with a nod of his head and the flicker of a smile. They never really had the chance to properly familiarise with each other. And therefore the only way their pleasantries, an extension of mutual acquaintance, could be exchanged was through a stilted awkwardness in which the authentic good-will did not match with the briefness of their introduction. The conversation ran silent because of it.

Freya gave her friend a final nod, before taking the first step. She wavered in limbo instead of taking the next. Mat by her side shifted his gaze to question the purpose of her reluctance. She knew the goodbye was temporary and not forever, but it still felt wrong to leave it so blandly. Especially when fragment of words never spoken to Wren suddenly filtered into her mind. She had lost one chance at a decent goodbye out of force. Freya was not going to hand away another out of awkwardness.

“What you’re doing…” She had turned to speak to Alexa again without properly planning out what exactly she was trying to say and so a pause followed momentarily.

“...staying here… I have a lot of respect for your choice. I certainly didn’t have the faith or patience for it. And heaven knows Glitch needs someone with a better grip on morality in their midst.”

“I’ll try and keep them in line this time.”

“Well I leave the City in your capable hands then.”

“I’ll be running this place within the week,” Alexa said with a pseudo-arrogant smirk; provoking Freya to emit a chuckle. For a brief moment they lingered in the shared amusement before the tone of conversation fell back to the unsettling melancholy of departure.

“But seriously – good luck.” For a few moments after Alexa spoke neither moved. And then in perfect unison the pair stepped forward and wrapped the other into an embrace of friendship.

“Same to you.”

Deeming the new goodbye satisfactory Freya nudged Mat on the arm signalling the beginning of their journey. Now confident in the steps she took Freya set off with Mat’s arm shifting the material of her coat in comforting proximity.

“So…?” He spoke in a content exhalation once they were out the earshot of the others who were now retreating back into the walls of Albion City. His shoulders visibly deflated in a complete shrug-off of all concerns. A smile was forming as he lifted the profile of his face to take in the new surroundings.

“Shall we?” Freya asked.

The only response he needed was to slip his hand into her own. Their entwined fingers knotting the solidity of their joint decision. The world could carry on without them for the time being. It was no longer a part of their concerns out in the seclusion of the countryside that had lacked travellers for the best part of a hundred years.

Finally, in that awakening unknown, Freya had found her certainty.