Vanished || l.h. au

two

Time.

People always say that it's such a valuable thing, but in one's youth it is often taken for granted. Seconds, minutes, hours... they all pass by as if it's nothing. We wake up, go to school, get out, do homework, see the day go dark, we go to sleep, then we wake up to restart it all over. We take for granted the time we have and it's not until now when I realized how short of it we were, that I truly saw its value.

"Where do we go?" I panicked, as we had reached the edge of the small downtown. I looked behind us towards the main avenue that consisted of multiple coffee shops and grocery marts. A few people walked the streets, but not enough to notice immediately our distress. In a moment like this I suddenly craved the big city life, with lights illuminating the streets. Instead we had one or two lamp posts per three blocks, leaving us to dim lighting as the day grew dark. There was a beauty and a curse to living in a small town. Everything was basically in one place, but there wasn't far to go.

"We have to cut through here. We have no other option." Luke managed to breathe out through his pants for air. We had been running for blocks away from the man but he was very persistent and now we were more than desperate for an escape. Luke ran his hands through his hair, moving to cross his arms behind his head as he tried to catch his breath.

I looked at the cornfield in front of us that was placed strategically by the owner at the very edge of town. What better way to create a natural fence around your property yet remain close enough to town. I peered up at the tall stalks of corn that loomed over my head and gulped. I wasn't very tall and I knew these would cover me, but I wouldn't be able to see over them. I would need Luke to help guide us, but in order for him to see, that means the man would be able to see us.

"He'll see us, Luke. You're taller than the stalks." I pointed out as Luke's head nearly leveled with the stalk of corn beside him.

"I'll duck. C'mon, we have to go. There's no time." He panicked, as we heard the man's heavy footsteps approaching. He grasped my hand tightly in his as he pulled us into the cornfield, ducking his head down as we ran straight through. The leaves crunched below our feet but minimizing that level of noise wouldn't help us move any faster.

"You have to promise me something, Beth." Luke said through his rough breathing, his voice low, as we had just pushed our way through a multitude of corn stalks. This cornfield was massive. I continued to push the stalks out of my way, even though my body tensed up at his words.

"What is it?" I asked. The tone he used was scaring me. It was the type you would use when you know something is coming to an end, and it scared me that he was talking that way right now.

"I want you to promise me that if something happens, you'll run. You'll run as far away from the danger as you can, and don't worry about me." He pleaded. I stopped suddenly in my footsteps to look up at him, keeping my gaze steady on him.

"I can't promise that, Luke." I told him honestly. We were in this together. I couldn't just leave him. I just couldn't.

"I know, babe." He said, grabbing my face gently with both his hands. "But I'm going to need you to. I'd risk my life for you but I can't have you doing the same for me. I couldn't live with myself." He whispered, pressing his forehead against mine. I grabbed his hands and pushed myself away.

"And you think I can? Luke, this isn't fair, you can't just ask of me something like this!" I hissed, keeping my voice low still. The stalks of corn further behind us started to rustle from movement that wasn't ours and I knew that he found us. "We need to keep moving." I said, readjusting my grasp on his hand, continuing to push forward.

"Beth, promise me." He reaffirmed, following my path. I felt my heart clench. He was desperate for my promise, but I couldn't promise him that I would just leave him behind. It would tear me apart. I looked up quickly to blink the tears out of my eyes, before I continued to push the stalks out of my way in a hurried manner.