The brown hair rustled across her forehead as the cars went by her. She flicked at her fringe, irritated, as she peered into the night at the highway, the traffic thick and fast-moving, her eyes almost blinded by the strong headlamps that went past her like a rushing river of blurred lights. Beside her, the cat meowed, and climbed up on top of her tall luggage to sleep.
She looked down at the cat, and gave a small smile, finally giving up on her task and squatting down, her face level with the snoring cat. She familiarly fondled the creature, with its bright orange and brown fur, and then carefully picked it up with her palm, the cat small enough when curled up to be held with one hand. Then she slowly and silently dragged her heavy suitcase behind her as she sought a place of shelter on her side of the highway. The traffic was far too heavy for her to cross the highway, so she had thought to try crossing the highway again the next morning, when hopefully the traffic would lessen and there would be more light to see with.
Winter had found the cat just when she started out on her journey. It was early in the morning, so early that her parents were still sleeping when she snuck out of the trailer with her large luggage. She had taken an immediate liking to the cat, who had sought shelter under her oak tree the night before. It looked like it needed to leave too, so she crouched down and looked at the creature seriously, making sure the cat understood her, and asked that question of hers.
"Runaway with me?"
Off the highway track was a solitary tree that looked like her oak tree back at home. She looked around carefully, and figured that the tree was the best place around. Hiding her luggage in the bushes nearby, she put the small cat in her overall pocket, and started to climb the tree. The overhanging branch was thick enough to lie on comfortably without falling off, so she snuggled to the best of her ability, and attempted to spend the first night out on her own with some measure of rest.
***
When she finally hailed down a lorry the next day she was a sight to behold. A sixteen year old girl with her short cropped brown hair uncombed and strewn with small leaves, her jean overalls torn in the left leg when she slipped climbing down the tree, in her large pocket an extremely small kitten with orange stripes, the white shirt she wore inside muddy and brown, and her boots too big for her feet. Her large luggage suitcase looked like it had had better times too, and her pouting expression indicated that many other lorries and trucks have passed her by, rudely. But her green-grey eyes lit up when he stopped his lorry for her, half-amused.
"I'll be able to send you to the nearest town, kid, after that I'll be going to uncivilised places."
"That's alright, I'll be able to manage from there. Thank you so much."
She struggled onto the back of the lorry, and managed to shift her luggage in between the baskets of bananas and oranges. The driver called out to her, when he saw she was getting ready to squeeze in between the baskets herself too.
"You can sit up front with me, kid. The back of a lorry isn't a place for a girl like you."
"Can the cat come too?" Her voice was hopeful. The driver looked at the tiny kitten, and gave a chuckle.
"Sure."
Winter enthusiastically clambered off the back of the lorry, and climbed up to sit next to the driver. She slammed the door on her side, and started to put on the old seatbelt, not really caring that the interior of the lorry smelt of men and dirt. The driver looked at her, a smile on his face, reminded of his own child at home, a boy around her age. The kitten seemed to have awoken from its sleep; it started moving around in the big pocket, and gave out small purrs, like it wanted to come out. Winter looked at the driver questionably, and he gave a nod, indicating that the cat can be let out, before shifting into first gear and setting the vehicle into motion.
The windows were open, and Winter felt the wind in her hair as the lorry went its normal speed on the highway. The cat was happy sitting on her lap and on the palms of her hand, and the driver was silent for a while, before he switched on the radio, murmuring that the kid mustn't mind, only music can keep him awake after so many hours of driving.
From this place We go, away and away... New lands, new friends The smile of the journey Erases the pain of the past...
Runaway with me... To where we go They don't have to know As we set out on a trip For the rest of our lives...
It doesn't matter if you've Been hurt on your last foray It doesn't matter if you've Been lost all your life Just... runaway with me...
***
The cat died on the second night.
She cried for a long time, and buried her under the tree they had slept in. The small mound looked pitiful, and her hands were sore and painful from the digging. Winter put a leaf in between two large stones beside the mound, and wrote in the ground next to the mound the name she had given to the cat.
"Goodbye, Summer."
Then she took her large luggage and walked towards the road again, her dirty thumb out, as the cars went past her again.
***
"Why is a girl like you out on your own?" The driver of the truck was particularly chatty that night, and a part of his mind wondered. She bit her lip, and felt that his kindness so far deserved an answer.
"I'm running away."
"From home?"
"I guess. I don't really call that a home."
His brow furrowed. "Why not? You've got parents?"
She smiled bitterly, the smile far too old for someone her age. "I guess. I don't really call them parents either."
The man was kind. "You know, most parents may piss off their kids most of the time, but in the end, they do love their kids. I mean, their own flesh and blood right?" He took a glance at her. "I'm guessing they did something really bad to you, but there's nothing that can come between true flesh and blood, right?"
She stayed silent. She stayed silent for a really long time. The driver thought she was thinking over what he said, so he was silent too.
"They hate me." Her answer was curt, and sudden.
Surprised, he turned to her. "Is... is that so?"
She bit her lip, and looked down at her muddy boots. She glanced at her empty overall pocket, and tears started to well up despite herself. "They are not my real parents. They never loved me. When I was adopted, she became pregnant. She thought I had cursed her child, but I was only looking at her tummy. It wasn't my fault she miscarried. He hit me. He was drunk, she was screaming. He pulled me into my room, and took off his belt. It hurt. So very much. They..." Her tears started to fall, silently, onto her lap. "They killed my cat."
The driver didn't speak for the rest of the journey. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he should have said anything at all.
***
The kitten was sitting in a box, beside the suburban road. The sign outside was scrawled with a black crayon. She murmured to herself, her brown fringe covering her eyes almost totally, as she glanced at the creature. The kitten mewed. She looked at the kitten seriously, and then bent down, her hands cupping the kitten unconsciously.
"Runaway with me?"
The kitten purred, and started to snuggle against the warmth of the girl's hand in the bitter winter. Winter smiled. She put the kitten in her overall pocket, the black spotted creature purring as it snuggled against the warmth of the girl's body. She looked down at the kitten, and then, suddenly, she started crying. The tears dripped onto the kitten, it started to shuffle, and peered at its new owner, its eyes focusing on the girl's face, scrunched up with pain.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... You can't runaway with me... You'd die... You'd die, just like all the other cats... You'd die, of the bitter cold, of the lack of food... You'd die, even though I would have loved you, even though I would have kept you warm, even though I would have spent my last coin to buy you food... you see, I can't keep cats. They all... they all die on me... So you see... I have to give you away... You can't... you can't runaway with me... I'm sorry..."
The house two blocks down had a girl looking out of the window. It was Christmas. Winter could see from outside the window that the house was warm, and glowing, and decorated. She could see the family loved the little girl very much. So she took in a deep breath, brushed her fringe aside, and rang the bell.
The little girl, barely ten, came to the door, the heavy frame a little unmanageable for her. Winter gave a reassuring smile. She asked, quietly, whether the girl could get her parents? The girl looked at the big sister with wide eyes, and then her eyes were drawn to the black spotted kitten in her hands. Her blue eyes widened even more, and she called out for her parents, her eyes not moving from the cat. The father came, took one look at Winter, and started to usher her in. But Winter refused, gently.
"Would you take in this kitten? It's going to freeze if I leave it out in this weather."
The little girl looked gleefully at the cat, and she immediately started tugging her father's sleeve. "Please?? May I keep it? May I?"
The father, now joined by his wife, looked thoughtfully at the kitten. "Well, I suppose you can, Summer..."
Winter's eyes grew wide, and looked at the little girl. She gave a kind smile, and squatted down to face the little girl. "Summer? Is that your name?" The girl nodded. "Would you take very good care of this kitten for me?" The girl nodded again, very seriously. Winter patted the girl's head, and carefully passed the sleeping kitten to the little girl's welcoming hands. The creature seemed to stir at the sudden warmth of the little girl's hands, and Summer ran off into the kitchen with the cat.
"What about you? You look close to freezing yourself, and it's so late, you'd better come in and warm up whilst we call your relations no?" The mother was very kind, her heart went out to the girl, not much older than her own child, obviously very cold, and seemingly very poor. And, it was Christmas.
"No... it's alright, you are very very kind. I only ask that you take good care of the kitten. Would you please?"
"Indeed, of course we will. Summer's been wanting a kitten ever since... we were going to get her one soon anyway... was the kitten, yours?"
"Oh, no... it was just... someone I met on the road."
"Are you..." the father looked worried, "running away from home?"
Winter smiled, and the breath that came out of her mouth was white from the cold. "I don't have a home, and I've already run away... Good night, and Merry Christmas." The bitter smile on her face worried both the father and the mother, and they didn't really know what to do as they silently watched the girl disappear around the corner.
***
The shelter was open, and Winter was feeling too cold to go find a tree. The winter this year was full-blown, and the winds made her catch a cold. Still lugging her large luggage, she asked, in her fading voice, whether she could stay at the shelter tonight. The person at the counter looked at her dubiously, and then, nodded, passing her some forms to write out and sign. She gave a thankful smile, and sat in a corner, still cold, writing fake names and fake ages and fake addresses on the form. She was grateful when the officer only gave a raised eyebrow at the form, and shooed her into the warmer room without another word.
She left her luggage in the storage room, and got her bedsheets and pillow from the person-in-charge, before she tiredly clambered onto the bed, so tired out she fell asleep almost immediately. Almost irritatedly, she woke up again, when she heard a hurried whisper at her ear.
The woman in front of her was beautiful and shining, and her simple white dress trailed on the floor. But most amazingly, she had huge white feather wings growing out from her back. The woman smiled, and bent down, fondling the stunned girl's face.
"Winter, I found you at last."
"Who... who are you?"
"I'm your older sister, Winter. I've been looking for you, for a very long time..."
Winter coughed, and the cough started a sneezing fit. The people around her in the shelter stirred, but did not awake. The room was dark, except that the woman who claimed to be her elder sister was glowing, and light emanated from her. "I... I have no elder sister. I'm an orphan, with no siblings, no parents, no relations in the world."
"I am your elder sister. I was there when they gave you away. I'm... I'm sorry it took me so long to find you..." The woman had a sorrowful look on her face, and her green-grey eyes shone when she gazed at Winter. "But I've found you now, and I can take you away, finally."
"Take me away, where?"
"Home." She gave another smile, and held out her hand. "Would you... runaway with me?"
***
The officer-in-charge gazed sadly at the stiff figure in the bed. He had opened her large suitcase with much hesitation when she was pronounced dead, as he sat waiting for the police to come. It was full of paper and rocks. The papers were her diary, loose sheets that had been scribbled on with a blue ballpen, apparently on a tree, the bark pattern still apparent. They told a sad story, of her long journey halfway across the country, in order to escape her foster parents. Tears came to the humble man's eyes as he read each sheet, his eyes always going back to the small face in the bed, a smile still hanging, her long brown fringe covering her shut eyes.
Out of the corner of his eye, his white Persian cat came purring, and sidled up to his left leg. The winter was cold, and although he had had the central-heating at its maximum, the girl still died. Of the cold? Of her cold? Of hunger? He didn't know. Packing the papers back into the suitcase, and zipping it up tightly, he sat at his chair, numbly waiting for the police to come.
Beside him, the radio was on.
It doesn't matter if you've Been hurt on your last foray It doesn't matter if you've Been lost all your life Just... runaway with me...
chiiyo's comments :
This must be my favourite piece of writing ever. It's a little rough around the edges, and maybe it's not as polished or well-developed as some people would like it to be, but I still love this piece. I was sitting in a cafe at night with my friends, and that Norah Jones song "Come Away With Me" came on. I had mistaken the chorus for "runaway with me", and that just spiked off so much inspiration I wrote the phrase down. The next day I wrote the title of a new piece of writing "Runaway with me" down, and then wrote out the story of a girl I envisioned in my head.