Simple Writes discussion

There was no one there.

That was all she had to keep telling herself — that there was no one there, no one was going to jump out and snatch her. That was all.

Of course, the way Amarantha's mother talked, there was a murderer, a rapist, a thief, around every corner, and Amarantha had better watch her back because they would surely target a sweet, pretty, innocent girl like her. To say that Amarantha's mother was a bit paranoid would be an understatement.

Amarantha could see where she was coming from, though. There were those sorts of people in the world, she knew that well enough. Her mother kept her from the world, but she had newspapers delivered to the house, and sometimes Amarantha could sneak a look at them — and they were never cheerful. Death, destruction, so many awful things... Mostly, Amarantha was content to stay in the cabin as her mother said.

The pair of them lived on top of a mountain. Well, not quite on top, but near enough to the top that it seemed as though they were as high as they could possibly get. Amarantha knew the woods around the cabin as well as she knew her own wardrobe, and she loved to go hiking through them. Mother would leave sometimes — they had to get food somehow, after all — but Amarantha was hardly ever permitted to go with her, and when she was, Mother would watch her every second. To make sure nothing was going to happen to her, to make sure she was safe. Amarantha understood.

But somehow, now, she had gotten separated from Mother.

-/-/

She couldn't see Mother anywhere. Amarantha stayed in one place, as she had been taught to do when she got lost — not that she had needed that teaching until now — turning all around to try to find her mother. No sight of her, no matter how far she looked or how many times she jumped.

Amarantha wasn't even sure, for certain, how it had happened. She had just turned around and Mother was nowhere to be found. She panicked at first and forgot what she was taught, running out of the shop they had been in and into the street. There she caught her breath and realized she had just made a mistake — she shouldn't have done that. And now here she was, no idea what to do now.

She tried to tamp down her panic, to make it lesser, lesser so she wouldn't freak out too much — but that wasn't working in her favor. Her breath was coming quicker, quicker-

She squeezed her eyes shut, controlling her breath. The best thing to do was wait for Mother. Just to wait.

-/-/

Mother was still missing four hours later. Mother was still missing, and Amarantha was hyperventilating again. She had never been without Mother before, except for when Mother left her at home alone. And that was different. Home was safe. This was danger.

The sky was growing dark, and Amarantha found her paranoia growing greater. She pressed her hands to her eyes, trying to calm her breathing as she had before. There was no one out there. No one to try and hurt her.

Not yet, anyway.

Amarantha stood up from the bench at the side of the road, shaking her head a little, and stumbled towards where she had seen residencies as they had come into town. She hadn't eaten anything since she and Mother had left that morning. Mother had promised they would have a fancy lunch at one of the town restaurants, but that hadn't happened.

The sky was growing darker and darker, and Amarantha was getting more and more tired. She stopped finally, looking around anxiously before she sat on the side of the road outside of a house with all the lights on. It looked like a friendly house. She was sure that if she was attacked, someone in the house would notice.

She crossed her arms, putting her head in her hands. She had never wanted to leave home. Perhaps she did when she was a child, small and willing to explore, unknowing of the dangers of life. But once she knew? She never wanted to leave Mother's house. And now that she had, she had no idea what to do.