My Short Stories

Finally

(A/N) Jan is pronounced as "yahn" for those who don't know. It's a German name.
Enjoy! This is definitely one of my favorite earlier stories I've written. (Middle school, I know!)

PROMPT: "I'd like to buy a ticket to the furthest destination, please."p

TRIGGER WARNINGS - cigarettes, blood, fights, abusive father, running away

Jan lay on his bed with his arms out as his heart was pounding, his head rushing, and his eyes shut tight. His breathing was jagged so he tried a few breathing exercise he picked up in health class. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair with a deep breath. He looked into the mirror at his face and gently touched the bruises that covered his cheeks and forehead.

He leaned across his bed to grab a tissue and dabbed at his nose, which was bleeding. It had subsided a bit, but was still pouring like a faucet that was running out of water. His left eye was watering and had turned purple and swelled almost right away. The swelling only let Jan see blurry outlines and the pain grew worse by the second.

Jan's black hair swept across his face and covered half of it. His freckles dotted his face like little stars across his light skin, and his brown doe eyes only complimented them. His lean, tall figure stretched the whole length of his childhood bed and more. Jan was six foot two inches at the young age of 17 years old, which made it hard for him to walk among "normal" people in streets and school without getting odd stares. His schoolmates were normally much less than his height. The black hoodie he was wearing had slightly visible stains of blood on it from the recent fight Jan had in an alleyway of the city, and his torn blue jeans were only dirtier and ripped even more than they were meant to be.

He let out a heavy sigh. What will I do now? Jan questioned himself. Can I run, get away from this hell?

Jan's heartbeat skipped.

I can. I'm going to the airport.

Jan remembered that he had saved up money for college. He had hundreds of dollars, so he decided that he wouldn't use it for school anymore. I'm probably not smart enough anyway, he thought.

He reached under his mattress and stuck his fingernail underneath a small compartment door that hid his money. He stood up to access it more easily, took the money, and immediately started packing his belongings.

Jan packed several snacks, a large water bottle, his phone and charger, a small pillow, his stuffed cat named Tasha that he had his whole life (I actually have a black stuffed cat that I named Tasha based off of a cat that my old babysitter used to have but she ran away, so I keep Tasha very close now :) just a little author fun fact!), a few batteries, a notebook, a pencil, and the money, all in a backpack. Once he finished packing, he made sure he had everything that he needed and opened his window as quietly as possible. He knew that his father wouldn't care at all what he was doing, but he still tried his best to open it with the slightest amount of sound.

Since his room was on the second floor and behind a small bit of roof, he jumped out onto the sill cat-like, not making a sound. It was dark out and he hadn't the slightest bit of worry that someone would question what he was doing. He snuck out like this all the time and sometimes sat on the roof just doing homework. He admired feeling the breeze and smelling the saltwater of the sea. He loved being able to escape the smell of cigarettes from his horrible, disgusting father.

He threw his backpack down onto the ground as softly as he could and hopped off of the roof, performing a safety roll and landing once again as a feline would.

He ran. He ran like the devil was chasing him and he didn't look back. Never would he go back there again, to that hellhouse of torture, or the school of pain, or the store of cigarette smoke. He ran to the airport which was closer now than it seemed earlier. Jan got lost in his thoughts and he ran so fast and so much that he arrived in what felt like no time at all. He calmed himself down and stepped into the airport door, dried tears on his broken looking face.

Jan walked slowly into a plane ticket booth and told the airline employee, "I'd like to buy a ticket to the furthest destination, please."

I'm finally free.

~

(A/N) Sooo!! What did you thiiiink? I'm super excited to hear feedback on this one because it was one I used for school and my teacher loved it, so I figured I'd put it here! Feel free to tell me what you thought in the comments, I'd live to hear your thoughts on how I could improve as well!

FRIENDLY REMINDER-
Make sure you're eating and drinking enough food and water! Even a little bit is good, I want you guys safe. Love y'all!
and remember...

"We are all capable of the most incredible change. We can evolve while still staying true to who we are. We can honor who we've been and choose who we want to be next."
-Thirteenth Doctor

Thank you so much for reading!
~Lasko