held the note at the top, preparing to tear into two pieces, then four…
Frozen in mid-air, I tried to pull the letter apart. My eyes lingered on the last phrase and I realized how much it meant to me—and how much I wanted to keep that letter.
Chapter 11
After supper was delivered that night, I curled up on my little cot and waited impatiently for the next morning. Sleep eluded me for hours as Keanu’s plan replayed over and over in my mind. His idea was certainly a lot better than the one I had hatched only the day before.
Mine entailed breaking the mirror in my cell and hiding it in my jumpsuit. Once I got to the showers, I was going to cut my thigh, near my groin, and pretend like I was having a miscarriage. Upon calling the guard for help, I would stab the poor man and then make my getaway.
In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I could’ve gone through with it, both the idea of cutting myself and possibly killing another human being just didn’t feel like my style. Not to mention, where was I going to escape to? I still had the acres of nowhere to deal with.
I wonder what Keanu has hidden in the shower?
I hoped it wasn’t a knife or gun, I wasn’t sure I could live with myself if I took someone’s life, even if it was essential for our escape.
Escape.
Daydreaming, I thought back to the moment the door swung open when I tried to flee with Jessica. Remembering the way the sunlight cascaded onto my face and how the wind ran its invisible fingers through my hair made me long for the outside world even more. Even the scent of the gasoline that hung in the air from the vehicles on the army base elicited an ache in my heart as I pined for freedom.
A tiny kick from inside my womb reminded me how important tomorrow was.
Soon, little one, soon. I won’t let them hurt you.
Closing my eyes, I let a wave of unconsciousness lull my weary soul to sleep.
Tomorrow.
My lips twitched into a smile as I drifted off.
***
The dream, which had been so consistent all my life, was suddenly unrecognizable. The golden ocean of sand that had always lay before me as my nemesis had transformed to a sea of white. Millions of crystalline shards of snow glinted and gleamed by the light of a lessened sun.
The sun.
The once colossal source of heat which had blazed within my dreams had retreated into the black fabric of space, leaving a bitterly cold and unforgiving landscape of ice to dwell below.
My bare feet burned with the bite of frost rather than the sting of hot sand as I shuffled through the frigid terrain.
Standing statuesque amidst the backdrop of white, scores of cacti bravely held their ground, their posed limbs surely appalled at the snow resting upon their shoulders.
Still in a thin gown of white cotton, I could feel my body shutting down as hypothermia assaulted me. With the last light of day glimpsing over the horizon and the haze of snowfall raining before me, I surrendered.
Falling to my knees and laying upon a bed of snowflakes, I closed my eyes and waited for the icy hand of death to still my beating heart. Fresh fallen snow descended onto my naked arms like tiny crystal butterflies, only to shatter and dissolve the moment they landed. A biting wind snaked around me as it whipped minuscule shards of ice into my face and eyes.
Sensing a presence around me, I forced my head up. I blinked and squinted as snowflakes landed on my lashes. Shielding my face with my hand, I looked out into the blizzard and saw movement. A shadowy figure, dressed in a hooded parka and snowshoes, moved swiftly toward me. The crunch of the snowshoes surrounded me as the figure reached my side.
“Cassia.” A familiar male voice whispered as he knelt beside my half-frozen body.
Wrapping me in a brown, wool blanket, he lifted me up. He walked with me cradled in his arms for what felt like miles. Pressed against his chest, I felt a comfort that I’d never known. Protected. Safe.
Feeling him slow to a stop,
Frozen in mid-air, I tried to pull the letter apart. My eyes lingered on the last phrase and I realized how much it meant to me—and how much I wanted to keep that letter.
Chapter 11
After supper was delivered that night, I curled up on my little cot and waited impatiently for the next morning. Sleep eluded me for hours as Keanu’s plan replayed over and over in my mind. His idea was certainly a lot better than the one I had hatched only the day before.
Mine entailed breaking the mirror in my cell and hiding it in my jumpsuit. Once I got to the showers, I was going to cut my thigh, near my groin, and pretend like I was having a miscarriage. Upon calling the guard for help, I would stab the poor man and then make my getaway.
In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I could’ve gone through with it, both the idea of cutting myself and possibly killing another human being just didn’t feel like my style. Not to mention, where was I going to escape to? I still had the acres of nowhere to deal with.
I wonder what Keanu has hidden in the shower?
I hoped it wasn’t a knife or gun, I wasn’t sure I could live with myself if I took someone’s life, even if it was essential for our escape.
Escape.
Daydreaming, I thought back to the moment the door swung open when I tried to flee with Jessica. Remembering the way the sunlight cascaded onto my face and how the wind ran its invisible fingers through my hair made me long for the outside world even more. Even the scent of the gasoline that hung in the air from the vehicles on the army base elicited an ache in my heart as I pined for freedom.
A tiny kick from inside my womb reminded me how important tomorrow was.
Soon, little one, soon. I won’t let them hurt you.
Closing my eyes, I let a wave of unconsciousness lull my weary soul to sleep.
Tomorrow.
My lips twitched into a smile as I drifted off.
***
The dream, which had been so consistent all my life, was suddenly unrecognizable. The golden ocean of sand that had always lay before me as my nemesis had transformed to a sea of white. Millions of crystalline shards of snow glinted and gleamed by the light of a lessened sun.
The sun.
The once colossal source of heat which had blazed within my dreams had retreated into the black fabric of space, leaving a bitterly cold and unforgiving landscape of ice to dwell below.
My bare feet burned with the bite of frost rather than the sting of hot sand as I shuffled through the frigid terrain.
Standing statuesque amidst the backdrop of white, scores of cacti bravely held their ground, their posed limbs surely appalled at the snow resting upon their shoulders.
Still in a thin gown of white cotton, I could feel my body shutting down as hypothermia assaulted me. With the last light of day glimpsing over the horizon and the haze of snowfall raining before me, I surrendered.
Falling to my knees and laying upon a bed of snowflakes, I closed my eyes and waited for the icy hand of death to still my beating heart. Fresh fallen snow descended onto my naked arms like tiny crystal butterflies, only to shatter and dissolve the moment they landed. A biting wind snaked around me as it whipped minuscule shards of ice into my face and eyes.
Sensing a presence around me, I forced my head up. I blinked and squinted as snowflakes landed on my lashes. Shielding my face with my hand, I looked out into the blizzard and saw movement. A shadowy figure, dressed in a hooded parka and snowshoes, moved swiftly toward me. The crunch of the snowshoes surrounded me as the figure reached my side.
“Cassia.” A familiar male voice whispered as he knelt beside my half-frozen body.
Wrapping me in a brown, wool blanket, he lifted me up. He walked with me cradled in his arms for what felt like miles. Pressed against his chest, I felt a comfort that I’d never known. Protected. Safe.
Feeling him slow to a stop,
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