Leave Me Alone

Unchained

The two had been peddling for a while. Caleb had gotten into a weird trance of just peddling relentlessly... after several hours his backpack became so heavy that he could not keep his balance properly. 

Feeling exhausted, Caleb stopped and got off his bike. He knew he was close to his destination now, and his backpack felt like a boulder on his back.

Loralei stopped with him. She was out of breath, but she seemed to have some sort of new energy flowing through her as she watched him. 

Looking down a hill, Caleb stared at a lake. He began walking down to the lake, but as he walked, his knees buckled underneath him. His backpack suddenly grew an extra few pounds. Caleb stood up and took a few shaky steps before falling again. He felt hopeless, completely alone. 

But then Loralei spoke, "Do you want me to help?"

At first, Caleb wanted to say no and that he could do it himself. But after a moment of thought, he realized he could not. His backpack had grown so heavy to the point he could not carry it himself. He nodded, and took his backpack off. He grabbed a hold of it and Loralei did too. Together, they carried it the rest of the way to the lake. The last few steps Loralei fell, but Caleb managed to give one big push and... he made it.

It was calm, completely still. No birds, no dogs, to pets... nothing.

He sat down at the very edge of the lake. This was his destination. The other side of the lake looked so inviting... but it was off. He wondered what lay beyond, but he also liked the familiarity of where he sat. He stared for a long time at the lake, Loralei sat down beside him and watched him silently.

Caleb felt exhausted. He was ready to go home. He wanted everything to go back to the way things were... despite how bad it was. He wanted to just run and hide. He turned around to leave, but something stopped him. A new feeling washed over him, and he turned around. Rage burst into his blue eyes and his fiery red hair flashed in the sun. No... it was time to make a change. Permanently. 

Caleb sat down in front of his backpack and took one look at Loralei, who nodded back to him. He unzipped his backpack and began to look from something... anything to make a change. He knew it was there.

Determined, he found the object. It felt as if it were trying to escape his grasp. Outraged now, Caleb fought it. The object cut at his hands, making him wince and cry out sometimes, but he continued on. Minutes and more minutes passed and each time he tried to grasp the object, it fled, cutting him more. But he had had enough. He used everything in his power to grab hold of it. He was done with it.

Just then, he managed to snatch it. He jerked it out of his bag, and it felt like it was trying to cut him open at any moment.

It was the exact-o knife, stained with his blood. How it got in his backpack, he didn't know, but he knew what he had to do now... He looked to the lake, took a few steps back and broke into a run, swinging his arm high in the air.

He threw the exact-o knife as far as he could, and watched it fall into the lake. It was never to be found again. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he looked to Loralei, who nodded. She looked up to him as she sat in the soft grass, and a smile broke out on her face. It was warm and welcoming, "You are so strong Caleb. Much stronger than any person I have ever met." she said softly, "Come on... let's get you home."

END