Kaleidoscope Eyes

“It’s not my fault. It was bound to happen anyway. Besides, I can’t do anything about it now, their already dead,” Lucy thought, trying in vain to reassure herself. She was running faster than she had ever run before, faster than she even thought possible. She was desperate to get away, to flee from her home, the places were here worst nightmares had come true, and from the man who had destroyed everything she had ever loved and all because of -

“No!” Lucy scolded herself. “I can’t let myself keep thinking like that! I can’t keep blaming myself!”

She continued to run, oblivious to the world around her, focused only on getting away.

The next thing she knew, she was sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath.

“How could I have run this far?” Lucy asked herself incredulously. She took in her surroundings. There was a beautiful little river with the bluest water she had ever seen about 15 feet from where she had fallen. It was somehow familiar. Yes, Lucy could never forget water like that. It was the same river that she and Jude had ridden their bikes to so many times when they were younger. Jude. How she wished Jude was there with her. He was always the more level-headed of the two, and could always mange to calm her down even in the most stressful situations. But Jude was dead. And so was little Prudence. And her mother and father. She could never see them again, never hear little sister’s infectious laugh, never see her brother’s knowing smile and never feel her father’s touch as he and her mother sang her the song she had been named after. All the things she had ever loved, her reason for life, gone. Because of one stupid mistake. Her mistake.

As heavy sobs wracked Lucy’s body, she cradled her head and her hands and remembered what had gotten her in to this mess.