At the Finish Line [Haiji Kiyose] - Run With the Wind

thirteen - "bad dream"

Gripping her hand tight, a young Chiyo looks up to see her mother sobbing, her whole body shaking. Her mother screws her eyes shut, tears streaming down her pale, sunken face. Her usually luscious hair hangs limp on her shoulders.

Chiyo's eyes widen, shaking her mother's hand. "Mumma? What's wrong?"

With a trembling hand, she points ahead, terrified. Chiyo rubs her eyes, her vision adjusting before she jumps back.

Before them is her grandmother's house in France, the tall townhouse stands alone in what would be a street full of houses. Red and amber erupts from inside, flames engulfing the first floor and quickly rising higher.

Soon, the blazing fire reaches the roof and Chiyo stands frozen, staring at the house and unable to move her feet. Her mother's sobbing only grows louder and she feels a tremble through her body as the screams deafen her.

The door is flung open and staggering out, unharmed by the fire, is her father. Wearing his usual suit and tie, his hair is unruly and his sleeves are pulled up to his elbows.

He points a finger at Chiyo and her blood turns cold. "You!"

Her mother releases her hand, pointing a finger at her daughter and shrieking. "It's all your fault!"

With her legs moving before she can realise, Chiyo turns and runs further away from the yelling and sobbing of her parents, hands clamped over her ears. She runs as fast as her legs will take her, turning back to look behind herself, eyes widening when she sees no one.

Nothing but an empty white plane.

When she turns back, she recoils, standing in the company of tourists on the balcony of a building. They're gathered around a tour guide and a now-adult Chiyo leans closer to hear their chatter.

"As you can see, the domes of the Saint-Marie-Madeleine church are rather beautiful," The guide announces, motioning to the side. "Let's take a closer look. Chiyo, if you could lead the way!"

All eyes turn to her and she shakes her head, glancing to the streets below. "Am I-- Am I in Lille?"

The tour guide laughs. "Of course you are! This is your home, after all, you should know where you are!"

She furrows her eyebrows, stepping forward past the group, sending the guide a confused look. Her breathing hitches as she flings her arms out, swinging them in an attempt to pull herself back off the ledge she's standing on.

When she glances behind herself, the tourists and guide have disappeared, clouds above turning grey and rain spitting down.

Her eyes widen, stumbling back when she sees her parents on the ledge opposite her between a large gap. The roads of Lille have vanished and standing on the edge of the Saint-Marie-Madeleine church, Chiyo pulls herself up from the balcony as her parents hold their hands out.

"Jump, darling, jump!" Her mother cries out.

"Chiyo!" Her father nods. "Please, quick!"

Glancing down at the emptiness below, she swings her arms back, leaping forward to jump to them. Her fingertips brush theirs, screaming as she misses their hands, desperately reaching out.

Her parents call out to her as she clenches her fist, white enveloping her as she falls further down between the gap.

~

Her body shoots upright and she clutches a hand to her chest. Her chest rises rapidly, her breath shallow and her legs heavy on the floor. Grasping her hands around her thigh, she furrows her eyebrows and flexes her big toe, before the rest of her toes can move and she rotates her ankle.