“I’m sure she will. I’m sure she will,” a woman’s voice softly spoke as the footsteps passed a few feet in front of the door. Then nothing. Silence. Aveline dared to breathe again, just as she heard a man’s voice, the sound of footsteps starting once more, then fading into the distance.
“Make sure she does,” the man said, “for all our sakes.” Aveline exhaled quickly, her head thumping with pain. There lies my escape kit, just inches away from my grasp, she thought as she tried to squeeze her fingers through the gap. Typical, nothing is ever easy, especially escaping from a shitty, little penitentiary. She knelt back up, catching her knee on the buckle of the belt. “Fuck!” she murmured as she grabbed her knee, rubbing it frantically to numb the pain. That’s it; I’ll kick the bastard door down if I have to! She stood back up, unsteady on her knee, Wait! You fucking dozy bitch; the belt, it was trying to tell you something! She quickly knelt back down, now oblivious to the pain as she excitedly picked up the belt. She laid on her side and peered through the gap again. Still there by little beauty. I see you crisp and clear, she mused as she pushed the belt under the door until it lay at an angle behind the key. She gently levered the belt towards her until it pushed the key towards the gap. Come on, gently does it. Come to me, my little baby. The key edged towards her, scraping across the floor until it knocked into the door. Fit through! Come on now. You have to. The key was a little too big. It just wouldn’t go through, no matter how many times she pushed it. It’s going to be one of those long and sleepiness nights, she joked anxiously to herself. She pulled the belt until the buckle rested under the door, twisting it so that it lifted up the door, just a tiny bit. It creaked as it strained on its hinges. Just a little bit more, she sang to herself as she swung the other end of the belt around, hitting the key. There was a thud as the buckle twisted, the door coming down on her fingertip. She felt a shiver of pain pulse through her body as she pulled her finger back, lancing off her nail. Her face creased in pain. Fuck, that wasn’t part of the plan! she thought annoyed. She held her throbbing finger tightly in her hand, flinching as the pain tickled through her naked fingertip, tapping her foot on the ground in agony, and there it was. She could feel it under her foot, the key. She bent down to pick it up with her good hand, feeling it’s rough, rusty surface, its rotten metallic smell becoming evident. She held it up, and stared at it, rotating it through her fingers. An old, rusty key, from the Victorian age; cankerous, yet enduring the trials of time, to free me from this pit, she thought, her heart beating with excitement. She put the key in the lock, scared it might snap in its fragile state as she gently turned it. Shall I stay or shall I go? she joked to herself as there was a loud clunk. Her heart leapt as she held her hands against the door, holding her breath to hear if anyone had been disturbed by the noise. There was complete silence. Good! It was a bad start to the day, but things are brightening up. Let’s hope it stays that way, she thought as she held her palms together, looking upwards and praying, to who she did not know. She depressed the handle and slowly opened the door a little, peering through the gap to check if anybody was there. Nobody. The air was still and cool, and the eastern horizon was beginning to warm to a faint orange as dawn approached. She opened the door fully, and gladly left her little cell. She cautiously walked down the path, almost tiptoeing. Why are you tiptoeing, Aveline? she mused to herself. You’re wearing sneakers. They make no sound! She looked all around her, probing deep into the shadows, checking to see if anybody was lurking there, waiting for her, ready to pounce. She felt afraid, yet exhilarated as she quickened her pace. There were Jeeps, bikes and buggies, parked outside tents and sheds, but it was too risky, she thought, to take one. They would be on my back in a split second as soon as I started one up, chasing me down the highway again, sure to be caught again, and this time, they would not make the mistake of leaving the key in the lock. She walked along a path that led her down a hill, still wary of what lay in the shadows. She began to feel more confident as time went by, her nervousness starting to dissipate. There’s still a few more hours until Sunrise, she thought. I must press on under the cover of darkness. Then maybe, just maybe, there’s enough time to get a good distance between me and this place, and find somewhere to rest and hide. Perhaps then, I can find my bearings and truly say goodbye to this shit hole, forever! There was a hard slap across her face as a hand pressed painfully hard against her mouth, an arm gripping tightly around her waist until she was incapacitated. She could feel a man right up tight behind her as she gasped for air, her mind in total panic.
“Fancied a little stroll did we?” the man snapped through clenched teeth as he squeezed her tighter, pushing his hand violently and firmer into her face. She struggled to breathe as her eyes became wide open with fear, her pupils dilating as the reflection of the moon filled their blackness, their identical twin crescents staring back out at itself. She struggled to break free, but his grip was too powerful. “Did she let you go, our little freak, always on the lookout to do good, to help those in need?” he asked as he dug his knee into her back. She tried to protest, but it was futile, she could not speak a word with his hand so tight over her mouth. She was desperate for air as she tried to wriggle free from his grip.
Is he going to kill me, suffocate me? Then an accidental gift presented itself as the man’s finger slipped into her mouth. She bit as hard as she could with her incisors, feeling his flesh puncture, tasting blood as she gnawed down brutally to the bone. The man shrieked out in pain as he ripped his finger from inside her mouth, stumbling away from her, holding his finger in agony. She gasped greedily for air as she watched the dazed man stagger in torment before her. It was Cain. Then for the second time that night, she unbuckled her belt and swiftly pulled it free from her jeans.
“I haven’t undone my belt for a man in a long time, but the dawn is young and full of interesting possibilities.” He looked up at her confused as she belted him across the face with the buckle end of her belt. He stumbled to the floor, looking disorientated as she belted him again, and again, until his face split open, trickling blood onto the floor. He tried to get up, but she belted him again.
“Look at the mess you’re making!” she cried out hysterically as the belt continued to whip through the air, hitting his face with unforgiving whacks until he was black and blue, his face covered in bloody scars. He writhed on the floor, dazed and confused like a drunk, spitting out blood from his mouth. A strange feeling of lucidity briefly washed over her as she calmly walked across to him. She kicked him hard in the face, turned, and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, not looking back as pain pulsated through her bruised knee. She cringed as the sound of her boot cracking his cheekbone reverberated through her head. Soon, there were the clunks and groans of doors opening, followed by the sound of a woman screaming, then others crying. Flickers of light sprung up amongst the shadows before her as people disturbed by the commotion began to light up their lanterns, curious to see what was going on outside. She ran and ran, still too scared to look back. There was the sound of motorbike engines igniting into life, their engines throttled as they struggled to warm up from their sudden wake-up call. Her lungs began to feel the bite of the cold morning air as her breathing quickened, her heart already racing. Headlight beams searched through the dead trees like air raid lamps, crisscrossing their paths as they frantically tried to find her.
This doesn’t look good! Not good at all! she frantically thought as she continued to run, breaking into tears, feeling the staring eyes of her pursuers on her back. I need to stop; I’m knackered. She continued regardless, heading deep into the forest, beginning to walk as she gasped for breath, hearing the motorbikes scramble down the hill towards her. She held up her hands in despair as tears rolled down her cheeks. Why didn’t I stay in the room? They’re going to kill me now! She started to run again, but it felt futile. Nevertheless, she struggled on until she fell over a dead tree trunk, her face slamming into the ground with a thud that thundered through her skull, her s
hins pulsing with pain. She lay there stunned for a few moments as white specks of light danced before her eyes, waves of nausea racing through her guts. A feeling of humiliation and defeat echoed through her thoughts as the sound of the motorbike engines became louder, the smell of dry wood drifting up into her nostrils. This is it, she thought as she got up and turned to see her fate rushing towards her, the dazzling headlights hurting her eyes. She stopped and stared. Uh, a hole. There's a fucking hole! Frantically she swept away the dead branches before her with her hands. The trunk of the tree she tripped over was hollow, eaten away by fungus, the stools of which were blooming on its outside. She quickly eased herself down and inside the trunk, backwards and feet first. It was a tight fit, but it was her only chance. She flinched as her hair got caught on the sharp bark. Nice and cosy, if a little damp, she thought as she felt the fungus rub up against her skin. She gathered up the dead branches behind her, covering up the hole, and peered up through them, seeing beams of light flicker through the twilight. The sounds of the motorbikes were now on top of her as they meandered through the trees. Branches snapped as their wheels cut their way past the trunk, the sound of the V8s alternating from idleness to bursts of growling activity as they negotiated the tight turns through the trees. They continued past her, one after another, the red glow of their taillights filling the forest with a macabre aura. That is some search party! They must surely like me, she chuckled to herself. Must have just made it. Thank God for fungus! Maybe I can eat this stuff later! As the sound of the motorbikes died away in the distance, she heard footsteps as more branches crunched and broke around her.
“Who are we looking for?” a boy spoke, sounding confused.
“Some woman they caught on the highway,” a girl replied.
“A woman did that to Cain? No, I don’t believe you.” Aveline felt like laughing as she held her hand to her mouth.
“Yes, a woman! Is it so difficult to believe?”
“Was she a big woman?”
Aveline shook her head, Just big in spirit kiddo, with a mighty buckle end of a belt to help her on her merry way.
“No, not at all. Just mighty pissed off, I guess.”
Too right my girl, sounds like you’re the only one with the brain engaged around here. The sound of the footsteps suddenly stopped as two figures loomed above her; a short boy, and a girl, with long straggly blond hair.
Mmm, I just love the aroma of unwashed kids, she thought as the smell of stale sweat drifted down from them into her new found hideaway.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go any further? This woman sounded like a nutter,” the boy said anxiously.
Fucking charming, Aveline thought, but on this occasion, it's good to be feared. Even kids in this troubled world can be vicious.
“No, she's not. Cain grabbed her,” the girl quickly responded. “I watched him through the window. She was trying to escape, and he attacked her.”
“You mean, tried to stop her?” the boy insisted.
“No, he attacked her, tried to suffocate her, and drag her back to her room.”
He certainly did. I have a witness!
“Why would he do that?” the boy asked. The girl simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Anyhow, let’s get back,” the boy said, “looks like the parties over, she's long gone.”
“For now,” the girl said as she turned to look into the hollow, meeting Aveline’s eyes. She smiled a peculiar, quivering smile, a smile of knowing, her eyes sparkling in the twilight like sapphire and emerald jewels.
Shit, she’s seen me! She’s looking right at me, smiling at me? She continued to smile in her strange way, her lips unsteady, then walked back towards the hill, pulling the boy along with her.
Christ! She must know I’m in here; she smiled, looking straight into my eyes as if to say hi.
“Why are you smiling?” she heard the boy say in the distance as they walked back up the hill.
The Sun was peeking over the horizon as Kyla ran back down the hill, it's bright rays streaming through the dead trees. She had heard the motorbikes return just before sunrise, everyone reluctant to admit that she had slipped through their fingers and was long gone. Carla had seen to Cain’s wounds, the most painful one being his pride. She ran back excitedly to the tree stump where she had seen the woman, to check if she was still there, but she was gone. The hollow stump was clearly empty, the branches being swept aside, and the mushrooms scraped off its rotten bark.
She's gone; but never mind, at least she's in good shape. “Good luck,” she whispered, blowing a kiss out into the wilderness. I will pray for you.
Ship in the Sky
“Daddy, look!” Vevila shouted, pointing her finger in the air. She watched excitedly as a large white ship floated gently down through the hazy sky, her finger following it through the air.
“What is it?” Serena asked in amazement as she marvelled at the descending ship, the swirling sand in the dying evening wind gently buffeting the cage hanging below it.
“An airship,” Ailsa said. “I haven’t seen one of those since way before the supernova.”
“Me neither,” Airell added, grabbing his scope from the car. He looked through its scratched glass, amazed to see a couple of people in the canopy, hanging below the balloon.
“I see a young girl and a boy,” he said, looking down through the haze with curious eyes.
“Are they bandits, Dad!” Vevila asked, jumping with excitement.
“No, they’re just kids.”
“Let me look!” Serena pleaded, her hand reaching eagerly for the scope.
“Here you go. Who do you think they are?” Airell asked. Serena was silent until she found the ship in the scope’s field of view. She zoomed in on the cage, watching it slam into the ground and sliding to a quick stop.
“Any luck, little one?” Ailsa asked, bending down to hold Serena steady.
“Yes, I see them, two children; a boy, and a girl. They are climbing out of the ship. Looks like it's collapsing.”
They all watched as the balloon deflated, falling to the ground gently. Once down, the kids began rolling up the canopy, folding it and securing it under the cage.
“Where have they come from, Dad?” Vevila asked.
“Looks like they came from the South,” he replied.
“It’s getting desperate down there,” Ailsa added. “Everything is dry and barren. People are moving north, in search of water.”
“Not our water!” Serena cried.
“Or our shrooms!” Vevila added with a menacing look.
“Don’t worry, they don’t know we're here. Everyone back behind the ridge,” Airell ushered.
“Maybe they saw us from the air,” Vevila protested. “They came right overhead.”
“Maybe, but the haze was thick. We couldn’t see them until they were quite low and close, perhaps as little as a kilometre away,” Airell replied.
“If we can’t see them, they can’t see us, right, Dad?” Serena suggested, her big, brown eyes sparkling in the light of the setting Sun.
“Let’s hope so,” Ailsa interrupted.
“Even so guys, they don’t look so threatening. They're just kids.”
“We’ll shoot them,” Serena said, pointing her hand like a gun towards the ship.
“Steady on girl,” Airell said. “They’re probably just down for the night to get some sleep. They’ll be gone in the morning when the wind rises again.”
“Really? Serena asked, sounding disappointed.
“But why?” Vevila added.
“Cause there’s nothing here for them. Like Ailsa said, they're going north,” their father continued.
“What if they come when we’re asleep and steal our shrooms,” Vevila asked, not convinced.
“Then we’ll blow their thieving little brains out,” Serena yelled. “Bang, bang!” she shouted, firing her hand like a gun this time.
“Yea, then we get to have their ship,” Vevila added, clapping her hands at the thought.
“So vicious, your girls,” Ailsa said, giving Airell a knowing wink.
“My bodyguards,” Airell replied playfully, rubbing his daughters on the head. “I trained them well.”
Serena and Vevila giggled, “Yeah we’re his bodyguards!”
“Come, come,” he ushered, more frantically this time. “They’re looking over here.” They watched as the girl pointed her arm in their direction. The boy nodded, and they both started to walk towards their hill.
“You think they’ve seen us,” Vevila whispered.
“I doubt it. They probably think there’s water here.”
“Water. Our water?” Serena asked.
“No, maybe they think there's a stream running through the rocks,” he replied. They watched silently as the kids neared the foot of the hill, beginning to ascend its gentle slope.
“They haven’t seen us. They seem too wrapped up in talking to each other,” Ailsa assured the group.
“They’re coming right towards us, though,” Vevila stated, starting to sound alarmed.
“Shit!” Airell whispered harshly. “Of all the places they could have landed, of all the hills they could explore, they chose this one.”
Everyone watched the kids as they continued their ascent, hearing their steps getting louder.
“Stay back everyone,” Airell said. “If they get any closer, I will confront them.”
“Are you going to shoot them, Dad? Serena asked.
“Not unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“I think the pretty one is absolutely necessary,” Vevila giggled.
“You mean the boy,” Serena said.
“No! The girl. We can shoot the boy for being ugly,” Vevila protested sardonically in a loud whisper. Ailsa gave out a nervous giggle as she listened to the girls’ banter.
“Be quiet my girls. We don’t want to create an alarming situation here.”
Their dad stepped out into open view of the kids. It was a while until they saw him. They stopped, the girl looking over her shoulder as if to turn and run, holding onto the boy by the arm.
The Sands of Borrowed Time Page 12
