In Praise Of Walking

He caught hold of her leg and yanked backwards. She hung on and flailed both legs, kicking him in the head, the face. He fought to hold her legs down. Sweat lathered her hands. They slipped from the post. He yanked again. She rolled over to face him and punched with both fists. Her right fist caught him in the eye. He growled in pain, then threw himself on top of her, pinning her arms and legs. She screamed.She strained to free herself, lunged up to bite him. He jerked backwards. They slid down one stair. She tried to scream again. He slapped a palm over her mouth, his breath hot on her face.She fought him until they had tumbled down every stair. By the time they reached the bottom, every ligament burned. She stared at him wide-eyed, gasping for breath between his bruising fingers.She trembled violently, longed to run again but knew it would do no good. He stood at a good seven inches taller and outweighed her by at least fifty pounds. She didn't stand a chance.All she could do now was placate him. Do what he wanted... no matter what it was!

Mom said I needed to toughen up, so she made me walk home alone. "You're ten. Everyone else can do it. Why can't you? If you were even half as capable as your cousin, I wouldn't have to worry so much." I shook my head and signed, [I can't hear. Crossing streets isn't safe.] She gave me that look. Total disappointment. Then she walked off with my cousin, Sadie. What Mom didn't know was that before school let out, Sadie had stopped me. Said she was helping Mom make me independent. Then she snatched my hearing aid. Now the whole world was silent. I followed the crowd down the sidewalk. At a small intersection, a car spun out, horn blaring. Everyone scattered. Everyone but me. I couldn't hear it. My spirit rose above the street. Below, my body lay in a pool of blood. Mom... Sorry. I couldn't do this independence thing.

Wulver Pack Series: 1 (standalone) I run. It’s just who I am. Whenever things get tough, I bail. Every new situation I find myself in, I have an exit strategy. Because I know what could happen if I don’t. Things are about to get bad, and I don’t understand how or why. I’ve developed a life for myself where no one could suspect a thing out of the ordinary. I fit in - or at least try to. But here I am, ready to run. Let’s just hope I do so in time. *** I didn’t ask to be in these shoes. In fact, I was thoroughly looking forward to a life of little more than personal responsibility. I never saw my future tied to this place, no matter how much it is a part of me. The position was thrust upon me, though, and with no one else to step up, I had no choice. I do love it here. These are my people - my family - and this is my home. I couldn’t turn my back, even if I wanted to. That’s a type of betrayal I would never be able to stomach. If things had gone how they were supposed to, none of this would have fallen in my lap. Now that we’ve made it through the adjustment of transition of power, I am happy this is how my life has ended up, and my people are, too. Any semblance of my plans years ago have fallen by the wayside, but that’s just the nature of the beast - and I am the beast. Times are changing. I can feel it in my bones. I just hope we are ready, and I am capable of protecting those that are relying on me.

By the seventh year of my engagement to Tristan, he postponed our wedding for the third time. The reason was simple. His childhood sweetheart, Gabriella, had returned to the country. She had just gone through a divorce and was emotionally unstable. Tristan personally retrieved every invitation we had sent out, his tone calm and steady. "Gabby has no one by her side right now. I can't upset her at a time like this." I held the ring that had already been resized twice and asked, "What about me?" Tristan glanced at me. "You're different. You're sensible." I had been hearing that word for seven years. Sensible. When his startup failed, I sold the old house my grandmother had left me to help him pay off his debts. When he suffered a gastric hemorrhage, I stayed at the hospital for three days straight and missed my own promotion defense. When his mother said my background was too ordinary for him, he only rubbed his temples and said, "Tori, don't make this difficult for me." Every time, I nodded. He once told me that no matter how thick the fog became, he would always leave a light on for me. Until the day Gabriella stood in front of the mirror wearing my wedding dress and smiled as she asked, "Victoria, you don't mind, do you? Tristan said your wedding's being postponed anyway." Tristan stood behind her. He did not deny it. He even reached out and adjusted her veil for her. The fog lamp he had given me with his own hands sat by the display window of the bridal shop. It was still lit, illuminating someone else in the white dress I had waited seven years to wear. Only then did I realize that some roads were not lost because the fog was too thick. It was because he had never planned to come for me at all.

Even though this longing keeps coming to say hello, I still hope to be able to let go of this longing. With you I know, that happy turns out to be as simple as this Aahhh... This warm spring restores me to memories of three years ago. It's been that long but it still sticks in my mind. A sweet girl with a brown hair and hazel eyes haunted my mind. I don't know what magic she did to me cause I can't stop thinking about her. Not to least how long I sat in the Moidef cafe, next to the table on it there were three empty cups that were then filled with coffee in this morning. If she is here, surely she will scold me. I smile considering that. I didn't want to be dissolved in the thoughts, I immediately saw the watch in my hand that had shown a figure of three. Ah... three hours in the spring. Triple hour. I and her. In the spring. Unseen my memory back at the backlash of the past. 15th of December, 2017 ' Let's increase the speed...!' She shouted.

I've been in a long-distance relationship with Xavier Harrington for four years. Every time we meet up with each other, the first thing he says to me is, "You've gotten fatter… and shorter." When my friend finds out about it, she jokes to me, "Maybe he has another girlfriend who's taller and thinner than you." It's supposed to be a joke, and yet I take it seriously. It explains why I've decided to travel a span of 1,800 miles just to seek Xavier out at the city he's stationed to. But that's when I accidentally stumble upon Xavier going on a stroll with a young woman side by side. I trail behind them, only to see them going to a cafe that's filled with people. There, they line up so that they can snap commemorative photos. However, whenever Xavier's hanging out with me, he often turns my suggestions down impatiently. To him, lining up at such places is a waste of time. Later on, Xavier and the woman secure a table in a restaurant. There, Xavier pulls out a chair for her before he starts setting out the cutlery for her. Even when the food is served, he will subconsciously push the woman's favorite dish in her direction. For the first time ever in our relationship of eight years, I find out that Xavier can be caring when he feels like it. I watch as Xavier chats animatedly with the woman at the table. He shares everything with her, be it the irritating experiences at work or the funny and interesting incidents that have happened to him so far. Then, I lower my head to look at the short text messages Xavier has sent to me in the past. "Time for work. It's lunch time. I'm about to nap." Suddenly, I find my relationship with Xavier extremely boring, so I dig out the invitation sent by my company regarding their outstation request and tap on it. After all, I no longer want anything to do with this flawed relationship anymore.