Perspectives

Chapter 27

"It's running away!" The cry from one of the children behind her caused fear to prickle at Piper's skin. If they decided to chase after her she knew she would never be able to outrun them, and the nearest place she could possibly hide was the tree to her right right, which she knew she would never make it to in time. 

Piper heard as well as felt the thudding sounds that came with two gigantic kids jumping to their feet. She tried to push herself harder, to run faster. There was an irrational part of her brain insisting that if she could just run a little faster, she would be able to get away. 

There were heavy footsteps behind her now, they'd be upon her in seconds. Maybe it would be more dignified to just stop and accept her fate. "Fuck dignity." Piper hissed under breath, throwing all of her energy into one last desperate dash, and then--

"Marla, Lena! What do you two think you're doing?" Piper heard the twins come to a screeching halt at their father's words. She had been bought some time, this was her chance. She kept running, as fast as her lungs would allow. She wouldn't be safe until those kids were lost in the distance.

"Daddy, there's a mechanical moving doll running around over here!" One of the girls exclaimed. "We were trying to catch it." 

"That's very nice girls, but it does not belong to you." Came the stern voice of the mother. "There's probably some kid having it run around." She added. 

"But mother--" The girls whined in unison, however were stopped by a sharp noise of disapproval from their father. 

"No arguing with your mother, now come sit back down." A wide grin spread across Piper's face as she heard the twins' dragging steps as they returned back to their picnic--sans a chunk of watermelon. She couldn't believe her fortune. Maybe the universe was finally starting to take pity on her. 

About a half hour later Piper found that the universe's pity was very limited. Rain was pouring down in torrents, each drop nearly as big as her head. Whenever one would hit her, it was like the contents of a small bucket were being thrown onto her. On top of that, the ground was growing increasingly more muddy every minute.

She trudged through the downpour for another ten minutes before she finally came upon something that could serve as some semblance of shelter. It was a small bush with bunches of blue flowers among the green leaves. It wasn't completely protected from rainfall, but Piper wasn't about to wander around for another ten minutes to find something better. 

Partially eaten watermelon clutched to her chest, Piper hurried into the bush, pushing past the large green leaves in order to get herself to the center. As soon as she found a place where she wouldn't be touched by any drips of water, she collapsed to the ground. "My life is so shitty." Piper sang to herself miserably. 

Piper didn't think she'd ever had a worse day in her life. It was hard to top getting abandoned by the only person you sort of trusted in gigantic park where you had dodge giants and steal scraps from a picnic followed by getting caught in a rainstorm. What she wouldn't give to go back to worrying about getting caught skipping classes. 

She ate a couple more bites from her piece of watermelon before wrapping it up in a leaf and setting aside for breakfast the next morning. Being completely drenched in water, Piper felt chilled to the bone. She peeled off her plaid shirt and kicked off her shoes. With no other options, Piper grabbed some more leaves from the bush to use as makeshift blankets. Feeling completely worn out, Piper was more than ready to call it a night and pass out. She flopped onto the ground and wrapped herself up in the leaves as best she could. She was out in minutes. 

Her sleep was haunted with images of him. His voice repeating over and over again "I'm leaving you here". And then there were the nightmares filled with giant hands reaching towards her, or a foot coming down to flatten her. The image of a faceless council deciding that she could never go home again. When she woke up in the morning it was with a start, and cold sweat coating her forehead.