Runaway Horse

Chapter 1

IMPORTANT: THIS STORY WAS WRITTEN WHEN I WAS MUCH YOUNGER AND IS IN DIRE NEED OF EDITING! PLEASE DO NOT MEASURE MY WRITING ABILITIES BASED ON THIS STORY!

Also- At the end of certain chapters, you may see italicized notes. I've been editing grammar and spelling recently (my readers have asked me not to edit anything else, though I'm not sure why) and the italicized notes are my current feedback on what my younger self wrote! 

I've been waiting for this day for weeks now.

 Specifically, since my foster Mom slapped me. She told me not to tell anyone, because if she went to jail I'd have no one. She'd tried to convince me that no one would want a useless, pathetic foster child like myself.

Sorry Tina, but I have other plans that don't concern you.

Actually, I'm not sorry.

I'm leaving tonight. I've been planning for a while.

After working at the local grocery store for months, I've saved about 500 dollars. I've bought some food, too, with my employee discount- trail mix, jerky, water bottles, and other things that can last a long time without going bad.

Hopefully, they'll stop looking for me. I mean, why would the police waste their time on another teenage runaway who's depending on the state for money? 

But just in case, I guess there's one more thing I have to do.

I reach into my backpack, and pull out the chocolate brown hair dye I bought a just yesterday. I drove out of town to get it, not wanting anyone to recognize me. 

I go to the bathroom, and look at my long, blonde hair in the mirror. Solemnly, I raise the scissors, and cut my hair to shoulder length. Then I start the process of dying it.

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I actually don't look bad. Brown hair suits me.

I glance over at the clock. It's midnight. I have to be quiet, as to not wake the beast.

I empty my backpack of school stuff, and start to put in the food, water, and cash inside. I throw in my a couple extra pairs of clothes, too.

After I tug off my pajamas, I slip on skinny jeans, and a royal blue tank top. I pull on a sweater- it's hot during the day, but its chilly at night. I glance around my room, trying to decide if there is anything else I should take.

I grab a light blanket, before turning out of the room for good.

Ever so quietly I tiptoe down the stairs, making sure to skip the fourth one from the top- it always squeals under even the tiniest amount of pressure. I silently pray that Tina doesn't wake up. I make it to the bottom of the stairs, noiselessly.

I'm about to slip out the front door when I hear a whimpering behind me. Oh crap, I forgot about the dog.

The only one shes worse to than me is that little pit bull puppy. He's about six months old, and a beautiful blue color. I think about leaving him, but then I start to remember the day she hit me for the first time.

I had walked through the door to find Tina fairly drunk, and stumbling around the apartment, yelling at inanimate objects. I decided to leave her be, and go down to my drafty room in the basement. The sound of a familiar yelp caused me to turn back and see what was going on.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that her pit bull puppy, which she had named Dagger, was cowering in the corner in fear. Tina was repeatedly kicking the poor dog, causing an almost violent rage to brew up inside my very core.

"Enough," I gritted, throwing my body between her and the animal. In her drunken stupor, she didn't quite comprehend what was going on at first. Her onyx colored eyes bore into mine, a dark anger seeming to consume them.

After what seemed like an eternity, she had raised her hand, and brought it swiftly across my face with a force that knocked me to the floor.

"You don't tell me what to do you ungrateful brat," she shouted, before angrily stomping off to her room like a child who didn't get her way, mumbling a string of profanities as she went.

I stayed frozen on the ground for what could have been second or minutes, going over in my head the events that had just transpired.

Tina had hit me. She had actually hit me. Sure, she'd yelled and cursed and screamed at me before, but never once had she physically harmed me.

And in that moment I knew, without a doubt, that I had to leave and never come back. I couldn't stay in this place much longer without losing my mind. It was imperative to my survival to get out of this hellhole.

Which is why I'm leaving tonight.

I crouch down by his kennel. "I abandoned you once, and I won't do it again," I whisper. I unlatch his kennel, and scoop him up in my arms.

We slip out the front door, and disappear into the opaque darkness.