A Runaway Girl Named Penny

Chapter 3. A Runaway Girl Named Penny

Shoot! The one time I find a family, they turn out to be vampires and one wants to kill me! I guess I’ll never find that perfect family, if one really exist. A tear escaped me. My family didn’t have to be perfect, all I wanted was a normal family. Was that to much to ask? I looked back, first I had mom and dad, then I was left to my Aunt and Uncle, then it was the Koliys, and just like always now I was familyless. I slumped against a tree. I buried my head in my lap and cried. After time passed, I figured I better keep moving before Sam found me.

I walked on and on. The trees seemed to go on forever. I became angry. I kicked rocks. I punched trees. I screamed at myself and finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I hadn’t eaten in days and I was starting to lose hope. I started losing hope on everyone, on everything. I came to a field of flowers. I took one look and I broke down. Why couldn’t I just be a flower? Flowers didn’t have to worry about anything. They bloomed part of a year and then died. They looked so beautiful, flowing in the gently breeze. They mocked me in everyway. I stopped short of walking through them. Flowers had to worry about things stepping on them or being picked. I guess flowers did have worries too. Not as bad as myself, but they did have worries. I suppose everything had something to worry. 

I picked the flowers, one by one. I began to braid them in my hair.  Then I made a necklace and some bracelets. I even made a crown with some yellowish, orange flowers. I laughed at myself. I couldn’t remember the last time I had laughed. I must have looked like one of those hippies you see preaching about the envirment and Earth. I enjoyed the sweet aroma of the flowers. The scent followed me as I laid down to get a little bit of rest. Not far I discovered a little stream. I drank gleefully and found berries that looked the least bit of questionable or at least that’s what I hoped. I ate them and waited to start throwing up, but I never did. I gathered some in my backpack for the trip ahead. 

This stream reminded me much of my Uncle’s pond. It froze over once and my Aunt gave me her old ice-skates for Christmas. After my chores, I would sneak away and skate on it. I had so much fun skating on that pond. Then Uncle T caught me slipping back home. He was unaware that my Aunt had given me a present. He had a strict rule about presents, that I didn’t deserve any. My Aunt denied giving me them when my Uncle confronted her. I touched the still raw slice behind my ear where my Uncle had hit me with my skates. Never trust aunts with gifts. I never went skating again.

As much as I wanted to stay, I knew I had to leave. I hadn’t gone that far away from where Sam could get me. I trudged on through the woods. Finally I approached a road. I walked beside it, in the trees. I never walked by a road in plain sight. There were to many weridos and creeps that roomed around to take chances like that. I always kept my eyes peeled for cops. I made this mistake once. The cop pulled over and asked why I was walking on a country road, when the next house was two miles away. I answered that they were my relatives and I had mistakenly took a walk that led me really far away. I was walking there now I tried to explain. Clearly he knew I was lying. “Why don’t you get in the car and I’ll drive you there.” I refused, but he also refused to go away. I pointed at something behind him and ran for it. This works all the time on people.