Shelter

The pale morning air dripped and floated through out my room. It comforted me with the brake of day as the sun rose over the horizon. It's orange tips ablaze and reaching out to just graze my face. Warmth filled my body and sent shivers down my spine as I started to rise from my all to cozy tomb of a bed. My feet were unsteady at first as I let my toes sift through the beige carpet covering the floors of my room. I slipped my arms out of the sleeves of my grey flannel pajamas, and glided over to my dresser, looking through the piles of clothing. Suddenly I felt a slightly sharp item tickle my spine; whipping around I noticed leaves at my feet and felt the breeze coming in through my glass window above my bed. Quietly laughing at myself, I climbed on the bed and looked out the window. The sun broke through the trees adorning the woods of my backyard. The seasons were changing, winter whispered between the grey and brown dead leaves that blew through the woods. The trees swayed to the sound of the wind whistling in unison with the faint chirping of the birds.

For the first time, in a long time, I smiled. I knew that I wouldn't regret the day before it started; I would welcome it. With that thought, knowing I couldn't fight the call of the woods, I threw on my jeans and red long sleeve t-shirt. My heart thudded because I couldn't stop from keeping myself from getting the littlest bit excited. Something was telling me, today was going to be better. 

I grabbed my black converse from my closet, laced them up and climbed over the bed and out the window. The jump wasn't too far from my window to the ground. I mean it was the first floor but it was still a long way, and I had done it more than once so it wasn't anything knew. Then I turned around and pulled the shutters closed, just slipping my fingers out before they got caught. 

Without even turning around I lit up like a christmas tree. Then I couldn't hold it in any longer, I turned around and ran at the woods...and guess what? It felt amazing. It zipped by me while I just forgot everything. I panted and adrenaline surged through my muscles until it didn't matter to me anymore; it flew away. 

My run turned into a jog, and slowed down into a walk until I stopped, bending over with my hands grasping onto my knees. Running when you have a severe case of asthma isn't the smartest thing to do, but I didn't care. I laughed to myself in fact, because it just felt so good to defy the impossible. I laughed so loud and hard, I couldn't bottle it up! My chesnut hair stuck to my face, all sweaty and sticky. I pulled it back and threw it up in a ponytail, taking time to catch my breath. 

A rustling noise filled my ears suddenly and my laughter was brought to a halt. My eyes were drawn to the silver chain link fence that hummed with electricity, bringing me back to the real world. I leaned up against it, my hands filling the holes in the wired. That fence had stood there my whole life, never waning. What I always found peculiar about it though, was that it was designed to keep people in, not out. It couldn't electrocute people on the outside, it just buzzed near the top where barbed wire sat. It made me curious as hell every time I glanced at it. Just beyond the criss cross pattern of the silver wire a brown house stood. Smoke rose from it's chimney filling the air with a musty scent. It was a house in poor shape; attached to it was a barbed dog cage and some chicken coops. The back yard looked just like the woods, except sullen, and mysterious. The property owned by Miss Hirst, was humongous and the front of the area was sheltered by wooden fences instead of chain link. I never really saw Miss Hirst, actually I had only ever seen her two or three times. See she had this trail through her property and on the other side of the trail was a lumber supply and a well. (When you live in the woods, you have to use natural resources most of the time) It was her choice to build her property on that trail so technically she had to let us pass, so says my mother. Miss Hirst wasn't kind about it but the good thing was I didn't go back there much anymore.

My eyes were trained on the ground, just dazing off, falling away into the abyss of my thoughts. Black boots blurred into my line of sight and my eyes wandered up the body they belonged to. A smie crept back on my face and my head cocked. His skin was paler, eyes greener, hair darker, his presence...stronger.