The girl next door

(11)

I looked out the window of the tree house, watching the sun rise. "It's beautiful." Arabella said. "Just like you." She smiles. I didn't know she was there.

"You startled me." I chuckled.  "That was the point." Arabella smiles bigger. I sighed and kept looking out the window. "Are you still thinking about your parents?" Arabella asked. I nodded and bit my lip. "I don't want to stay here. But I also don't want to go back."

"I know." Arabella kisses me on the cheek. "It'll get better." She said. "Trust me."

"How do you know that?" I asked. "I just do." She replied.

I looked down at the ground and ducked under the window. I pulled Arabella down with me. "What is it?" She asked. I put my finger to my lips and looked out the window again. There were three people. One of them is a police officer. The other two were my parents.

"Are you sure they might be here?" the police officer asked.

"We're sure." my dad replied.

Why would they be looking for us? They don't care about me, let alone Arabella too. I ducked back down before they saw me. "My parents are here." I whispered. "They are?" She whispered back. "Why?"

"I don't know."

I looked back out the window. They were climbing up the ladder. "We have to go." I said. We grabbed our bags and climbed out the window before they saw us. I fell onto the grass and hurt my ankle, but didn't care. We ran. I didn't feel anything. I ran. She ran.

***

We stopped to rest almost an hour later. I sat on a rock and rubbed my ankle. I winced. It was swollen. "That looks bad." Arabella said. "I'm fine." I told her. "We need to keep going."

"No. Rest. You can't run on that thing."

"I'm fine." I said again. 

"No you're not." she said. "Rest. Sit down for a while."

I sighed. There's no way I'm going to win this. 

We heard footsteps coming towards us. We hid in a bush. The footsteps came closer. A familiar voice called to us. "I know you're here! I saw you run!"

We came out from behind the bush. "You scared us." I said. "Sorry." Sebastian said. "They went the opposite direction. You're safe."

I let out a sigh of relief. I sat back down on the rock. I rubbed my ankle some more. "I'm glad I got this." Sebastian handed be an ice pack. I put it on my ankle. Sebastian sat down next to me. Tears form in my eyes. He put an arm around me. "I know." he said. "We're here for you." Arabella said, sitting on the other side of me. 

"What will happen if they find us?" I asked. Arabella shrugged. "We run. Again." she said. "What if we run out of places to run to?"

"We go to a whole different town."

"And if they find us there?"

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because I do. I know everything."

"You're not helping."

"Just trying to lighten the mood."

"What will happen if we run out of food?"

"We'll have Sebastian get more."

"And if we're too far away from him?"

"We'll buy our own?"

"And if we run out of money?"

"We find a job."

"And if we're not qualified?"

"We'll keep searching."

"What if-"

"No more what if's."

I sighed. I tried to stand up, but failed. "Sit." Arabella said. "You need to rest."

"But-"

"No but's. Sit."

I sat back down. "I'm with Arabella." Sebastian said. "You need to sit and rest."

I groaned and layed down in the grass. I looked up at the clouds as Arabella layed down next to me. 

I sat up and looked at the flowers that surrounded us. 

"Plants are like people." I said. "They're living. Some of them are treated equally, and some aren't. People hurt plants. Some don't. Just like people. It's part of the circle of life. Humans should be treated fairly, like plants. People hurt plants for no reason. Just like us humans. Some people adore plants. Just like humans. If people were treated equally, people wouldn't be in the situation we're in. People wouldn't have to run away like us. Hide from people who hate us. Who don't care about us. Us humans try to make a difference, but fail. We try so hard, and what do we get in return? Nothing. Plants don't have that problem. All they do is sit in the same spot every day, some don't even need to worry about trying to survive. They just sit in the same spot every day until the day of their death, without a care in the world. They don't have to worry about equality. They don't have to worry about running away from their parents who don't like who their children really are. They don't have to worry about any of that. They have the best life. Not a care in the world."

We were silent after that. No words came from any of us. 

"Plants don't have to worry about equality." I whispered. "The circle of life. A baby is born. They die. Their body decomposes into the ground, sprouting new life. Another baby is born. They die. A family member cries. Their tears sink into the ground, sprouting new life yet again."

A tear falls from my face and hits the ground. "A girl. Two girls. Running away from their parents who don't care about them. Their tears hit the ground, watering the grass, sprouting new life."

Okay humans. Updates are going to come slower this summer. I'll be updating on my phone, so it will take a while. Right now, I'm writing this on my school computer. After this day, I'll be writing on my phone. There are going to be errors, and I will fix them when I edit the chapters. Please bear with me with the slow updates! Thank you!