They come

[TaLi63372]

A deafening crack of thunder reverberated throughout the sandstone house. The girl awoke with a start at the sound. Like the clang of a metal door shutting, its boom echoed in the room as she sat there wild-eyed. A flash of bright light from the window spilled into the room as the girl pulled the loaf of bread tightly to her chest. Less than a minute later, another echoing boom.

'They come'

It was more of a concept than spoken words in the girl's mind. She began to visibly panic at the severe anxiety that accompanied that thought. She looked around the room as it was illuminated in a flickering strobe light as lightning danced between the storm clouds outside. Another booming crash and the girl was on her feet and running out the bedroom door. She paused in the hallway for a moment as another flash caused her to freeze. She looked at the hallway of doors. She couldn't remember which was which or whose was whose. What if she chose wrong? What if They were on the other side? The next crack of thunder made the choice for her. It spurred the frightened girl towards the stairs and out the front door and into the stormy night.

She dashed past the courtyard and pushed against the front gate. She shoved the gate hard and shook it before her mind caught up to the ordeal. She fumbled with the contraption in her panic as the thunder was even louder without the dampening effect of the thick sandstone walls. She crying and breathing heavy now, almost to the point of hyper-ventilating. She finally managed to get the gate unlocked and open. She half-screamed and gurgled as ran out into the night. The gate swung in the wind.

There was no specific direction in her flight except away from Their sounds. She went right. She went left. She dodged tree trunks and rocks. She fled from suspicious shadows and illuminated horrors. She screamed when one of her leg rings snagged on the thin branch of a bush. Despite her extreme panic, she immediately stopped in place with the pain. She dropped the now-soggy loaf of bread and reached down and frantically tried to untwist the offending branch as she sobbed. Her hands were shaking violently as she screamed with a heart-wrenching guttural wail. The rain became a downpour as she pulled at the branch until it finally gave way. A flash of light illuminated a broken stump near her and she bolted even before the thunder detonated. She stumbled and fell in the mud as she ran through the wilderness until she came to a man-made road. She immediately chose that bushless path and ran full-tilt down it.

In the distance she could see the outlying shapes of a gate and buildings. The sandstone of the massive wall was illuminated by torches and nearby guard fires. That color was what she associated now with safety, food and shelter. She ran for it as fast as her tiny legs would allow her.

The guards were startled awake from their late night routine as a child came tearing through the gate, screaming a blood-curdling wail. The girl didn't stop, but ran straight through in her blind panic. Her near constant wail began to fade as quickly as it had came as the child continued to run. Shouted orders were called out as the night guards immediately went to their posts ready to defend the City of Trinsic against whatever had elicited such terror. No horror came. No enemy seen.

The girl dashed down the streets and around corners. Her still-compromised lungs wheezing as she failed to turn quick enough and bumped against the wall of a building. The jolt was enough to freeze her in place and cork the wail from her throat. She gasped for air as she stood there hunched over. The storm was moving past and the thunder was drifting westward into the jungles of the southern wildlands. She stood there, gulping air as she struggled to catch her breath. One more gulp and her stomach turned and emptied its contents onto the grass along the sandstone street. She wretched and her tiny body heaved as she attempted to grab air after each somersault of her stomach. She wiped the tears from her eyes with her muddy arm. The rain had turned into a steady drizzle as she began to cautiously search for shelter.

It was cold and wet. Her stomach was upset. She didn't have her loaf.

She found a small area behind a shop building and the outer guard wall of the city. She curled up on the ground and against the sandstone surface. Exhaustion claimed the girl's mind as she shivered against the offending night.

 

[TaLi63372]

The narrow space between the shop and the city wall served the child's purpose well. There was nothing to draw the bustling residents into discovery of the city's latest stowaway. The exhausted girl slept well into the next late afternoon in her secluded hideaway.

The sun was well into its downward descent when the girl-bundle began to stir. She slowly uncurled and stretched. Her movements were stiff with the caked-on dried mud and sore body. Her clothes were still not dry from last night's storm. The shadowy resting place and the high humidity of the southern city had ensured that.

She sat up and looked herself over. Other than being filthy and sporting a few new minor scratches and bruises, she was undamaged. Her stomach gurgled and moaned at being void of any contents. She frowned and then stood up and peeked out at the main street.

The shops were beginning to close for the day. Customers and merchants alike began to journey along the streets towards their evening destination. Some went home to traditional dinners with family and others to the local tavern to drink away the day's troubles. She waited patiently until the lamp posts flickered on and then journeyed bravely into the unfamiliar landscape.

She moved cautiously down the sandstone streets. Intimidating guards patrolled the streets as night fell upon the city. She came upon a secluded park among the sandstone. A winding path led her to what appeared to be a pond. The looked at the steep sides that prevented her from relieving her thirst. She tried a few places along the bank and quickly changed her mind as the dirt crumbled under her. What was the purpose of such water except to torment those who were thirsty? Why have water one could not drink? She furrowed her brow and rubbed one watery eye with her hand as she grunted audibly at her conundrum. She began to follow the water's path out of the park as she searched its bank for a safer place to get a drink.

The steep banks of the river and canals continued to deny her access. At times the water disappeared under buildings only to appear down the street. She walked for a long time following the water until she came to a stable. In the pen, an old mare was tethered. It looked up with a mouthful of hay and snorted as the girl approached. Next to the pile of scattered hay was a filthy bucket full of green-tinted water. The girl's mouth salivated despite her fear of the enormous animal. She moved slowly towards the bucket as the old mare chewed and watched with an expression of indifference. She looked up at the beast once more and then lowered her lips to the surface. Her parched lips pierced the slimy surface tension of dirt and horse saliva and slurped noisily. The horse looked down at its noisy companion and snorted. The girl flinched at the sound, but thirst overrode her need to flee. She drank past the point of fullness as if she sought to horde her new source of drinking water.

"Hey! Hey you there! " a guard called out sharply behind her. She popped her head up quickly and looked. The quick movement startled the old nag which began pawing at the ground with its hooves and pulling back on its lead. The guard called out again and the little girl bolted for safety. The guard gave chase with a few more sharp calls and then quickly dropped off from his pursuit. The city didn't pay him enough to deal with this ****. He went back to his post muttering.

She dashed over the bridge and behind a cluster of trees next to a bustling tavern. She waited for quite awhile to make sure she wasn't being followed and then continued down the street in the direction of where she had spent the night. She passed a closed bakery and paused at her stroke of luck. Sitting outside in a half barrel were a half dozen stale loaves ready to be dumped the next morning. She looked around for anyone watching and gathered all six round loaves into her arms and made a mad dash for the safety of last night's hiding spot.

She sat on the grass no longer caring about anything else. She had her bread. She gnawed on a loaf, whittling it down to nothing with her tiny teeth and greedy appetite. Satisfied with a belly full of old bread and horse water, she yawned. She hugged the remaining five loaves to her chest and curled protectively around them as she let herself get coaxed back to sleep.

The next couple of weeks, she began to form a routine. She'd sleep during the day and roam around in the evening after the city began to grind to a halt. She visited the stable for water and would check the bakery barrel nightly. She also picked up any discarded trinket or item she came across.

One night at the docks, she came across a woman being jumped on by a man underneath the pier. The woman's discarded clothing lay on the grass as they rutted. She watched for a moment not really understanding what was taking place. She crept closer and pinched the clothing and ran with her newly found attire. She swapped out her clothing when she was safely back in her shelter. They were much too large and they smelled strongly of the colorful plants outside of shops. She wrinkled her nose and sneezed at the smell. She wiped her nose on the lower part of the shirt as if to christen it with her filth and began to exam the other treasures she had found. She put them all in a small, patched bag she had found and kept them close as she slept as stars faded.