Counting Stars

Aon

Her panting continued as Angelina ran through the dark forest. Her long dress dragging in the dirt behind her and her bare feet ached from the deep cuts. Running away from home was tiring.

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, looking up trying to get a glimpse of any moon light through the tall trees, that can light her way through the darkness of the Forest.

Small bugs bit at her cold skin as she picked up her pace again. She could see her breath as she ran, running away from home on the coldest night this summer might not have been the best idea.

Angelina kept running, sticks breaking under her feet and tall damp grass brushed against her shins. She sprinted quickly past the tall trees, the smell of pine wafting throughout the air. The sound of owls and crickets made her run quite peaceful.

Angelina felt brave for once, knowing that she was running away made her feel fearless.

Angelina was one of those people that always thought of other people before herself, and although that might be a good thing, it's also a bad thing. She was so caught up trying to make other people happy, that she forgot her own happiness.

Buy as she ran away from home at this very moment, her happiness had finally come first.

All of a sudden she found herself stepping into shallow water. Wet mud laced between her toes and green algae tickled her ankles. It was so dark she could hardly even see, so she must have accidentally stepped into a creek.

The bottom of her dress dipped into the cold water. She continued run across the creek, the water splashed up around her and her dress dragged against the water, running over small lily pads.

She stepped out of the water and back into the dirt and continued her running. The end of her dress was sopping wet and stuck to her ankles as she ran, her silver necklace bobbing up and down with her movement.

Her long dress sleeves kept her arms warm enough, not to mention the chilly wind being blown in her face as she ran gave her goosebumps.

Most girls would be scared of the dark, especially being in the Forest, in the dark. With all the different animals and bugs in here. Plus it would be the best place to kill someone, deep in the woods where nobody would hear her screams. But nothing, not even fear, would stop Angelina. She had ambition and determination, and nothing could stop her.

Armed with hidden weapons, Angelina could defeat anyone or anything that got in her way.

Thoughts about turning back trailed through her mind. But by now, she had to be at least five miles into the Forest, there was no more options beside to keep going.

The reason Angelina was running was because she knew that she had to escape quickly, because she knew that when dawn came her parents would notice her absence and send a whole army to go out and find her. And knowing how much love her parents had for their darling Angelina, they would stop at nothing to get her back home.

Angelina's feet would sooner or later begin to grow tired from all the running and her body would need rest soon, but she kept going, determined to never be found.

She tightened the quiver strap on her shoulder and continued on. Angelina had no clue what time it was exactly, but she knew that she had left around early morning, maybe two or three a.m. And she had been running for about an hour now, which had made it between four or five a.m.

Angelina felt a pang of guilt in her heart as she ran, knowing how worried and heart broken her dear parents would be when they woke and didn't find her in her bed. But Angelina knew that leaving was the right decision.

The reason Angelina was running away from home on this dark cold night in August, was because she was running to her new life, her new life far away from where her parents could find her in the town of London, England. There she was to live with her cousin and start a new life, a new life where she could do whatever she wanted.