Defrost my heart

Chapter 32

Rose's POV
"Rose, wake up!" I heard a childish voice say.
Frightened, I wiped back, keeping my eyes closed. I started to panic.

''Rose... I'm not one of those who did you harm," the voice tried to reassure me.
I shook my head.

''Come on," I was now grabbed by my shoulder and shaken lightly, "It's me, Lina!"
Slowly I opened my eyes, it took a while until I could see clearly again, but I recognized the silhouette of Lina. Her long blond hair fell over her shoulders. She smiled at me.

''Rose, you had another bad dream. You were crying," she wiped something wet off my face.

I was lying on the bunk bed in our room. We didn't exactly have a nice room; we only had the bare essentials. A double bed and two desks so we could do our homework.

The walls were white, and the floor was wood. Our beds had a hard mattress, a light blanket, and a rugged pillow. A small dresser where we could store our few clothes was next to our loft bed.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked.
She climbed the last steps of the ladder and sat down cross-legged in front of me. Slowly I sat up and did the same.

Lina looked at me expectantly, but then she remembered.
"Oh, wait."

She took the notebook and the pen, which were under my pillow, ''Here ... now you can show me what you dreamed about. You can even draw it for me," she put them on my lap.

I brushed my hair out of my face and began to write. I couldn't write correctly yet, but I did my best. Lina taught me so we could communicate.

The tears escaped my eyes. I couldn't speak even though I wanted to so much. When I finished writing, I gave her my notebook.

She read it carefully, ''I was dreaming about my mother and her boyfriend. Don't worry, Rose. We are safe here. Neither Tim nor Alex nor your mother can hurt you here."

I shook my head. They were going to get me, no matter what. Lina gasped and raised her hand thoughtfully.
"She can't get you back; I'll do everything I can to prevent that," she assured.
I looked at her for a long time before lowering my head in discouragement.

''Rose, how about this... Let's get out of here and go somewhere far away from where no one knows us and where we can start over. Isn't that great?" Lina now suggested.

I lifted my head curiously, then I nodded.
It would be great. ''Yey," Lina sighed.

She threw herself backward on the bed and put her arms under her head, grinning contentedly, ''How nice it would be. Just to be far away from the people. To a place where no one knows us." A slight pause followed before she continued, "Where we can live peacefully. Have a future. We could ... go to a big city ... Or although, no. Rather in a farm! We will have the best cows, the best barley, the best ... though ... Cleaning up the cow shit won't be fun, then we'll always stink," she wrinkled her nose; I had to smile, "Well, we don't have to smell good either."

I nodded to her statement and then laid down next to her.
"And then I will teach you to speak again. You will have the most beautiful voice in the whole world. Then we'll make you a singer. And all the bad people who have silenced you will always hear you. You'll show them that you made it," she looked at me, "That sounds good, doesn't it?"

I nodded again.
''We'll wait until I'm 14 and you're 10, then we'll do it," we swore and fell asleep together.

For days we planned our escape, although we still had a few years ahead of us. We painted our new home, our own farm, the barns, and the most beautiful flowers that will ever exist. I couldn't wait to finally turn 10. I finally had a goal.