St. Canard's Catalogue of Colorful Criminals

Running Out

It was 6 in the morning. 6 hours earlier than Niamh thought she should be getting up at. She had to get used to the schedule she'd have for the next year or so and perhaps for the rest of her life. For her, school was just around the corner.

Slamming the 7th alarm off on her phone, she finally gave into her need to avoid any more alarms. Unlocking her phone, she meticulously turned off every alarm that had already gone off and would go off. She was the kind of person, if tired enough, to sleep straight through the sound of sirens blaring just a foot from her ears.

Exiting the alarm clock on her phone, Niamh scrolled her way into her favorite go-to app. She enjoyed seeing the posts from the various people she followed, even if there weren't many new ones over the period of 6 hours.

After waking up a bit more, Niamh rolled herself out of bed and started getting ready for a morning jog. It had been a new year's resolution for her to go out running everyday, and she actually managed to get into the habit of doing it.

   Slipping her house key into her pocket, she embarked on her mile-long torture session. Opening her front door, she looked out into the foggy distance. A couple houses were scattered about, but none nearly close enough to walk over just to ask for a cup of sugar.

   Stretching, she turned on some up-beat tunes that she knew would keep her motivated throughout her run. With a deep breath she stepped off, feeling the hard road beneath the soles of her shoes.

   Glancing over at the strip of the woods that stretched over the distance of several houses, Niamh couldn't help but think about the previous night. She had thought about her meeting Bushroot since she had lied down on her bed to sleep the previous night. She could still vaguely remember the dream she had of him too.

   At some point while thinking it over, she wondered if she had just hallucinated it in a bout of panic. It was dark when she saw him, so it could have been her mind playing tricks on her. But then again, she remembered his voice, and she knew she never heard his voice before in her life. Sure she'd read interviews and watched videos about him, but never had she actually gotten to hear his voice before. It was safe for her to think she had actually met the man.

   The memories of talking to him and meeting him helped Niamh to stay energetic during her run. And after she got back to her house, she realized she had actually hardly broken a sweat. Though, she was still out of breath.

   Entering her house, she met her mother in the kitchen. Her mom was scrambling to get her coffee around while her breakfast was still in the microwave. Niamh took out a glass and poured herself some water.

   "Good morning!" Niamh cheered.

   Her mom didn't even turn around as she replied. "Morning! How was your run?"

   Niamh stepped out of the way as her mom retrieved her breakfast. "Great! How did you sleep?"

   "Better than if you hadn't come home last night." Niamh stopped to give her mom a look behind her back. "Could you go start my car for me?"

   "Sure..." Niamh placed her glass down, not even getting the chance to drink out of it yet.

   Taking the car keys from her mom's purse, Niamh rushed to start the car, leaving the garage door open so the emission wouldn't build up.

   Just getting back inside the kitchen, her mom gathered up her things and stopped to give Niamh a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, kid. Love you!"

   "Love you too! Drive safe!" Niamh hollered after her mom.

   "Will do!" And with that, Niamh was left alone for the day.

   Double checking to really make sure nobody else was home, Niamh ran up stairs to get ready for the day. She couldn't pass up this time to try and find Bushroot again.