Get Up, Please Get Up

She frantically looked around. Nothing. Not a soul. She ran through the dense woods, where she was lost for the last 2 weeks, trying to find a way out of it. Dried leaves crunched under her feet with every step she took forward. She wore an ugly gown of scratches and wounds. With torn skin over her left eyebrow and a hurt knee she limped forward as fast and far as she could.

When it started she had told herself to be calm. She would find a way out soon. It wouldn't be so bad. She had to keep her cool. Time had taken it all away. Her energies had worn out with failures and faith shattered with fears. She had spent many a nights crying, scared of the dark, scared of the violent screams of the jungle. What if ruthlessness swallowed her existence forever?

Exhausted she sat down. She was breathing hard gasping for air. Her lungs pained. Her eyes swept the area around her. The blue of her eyes was slowly surrendering to the powerful red of fatigue. She wanted to get out of there. Somehow. She thought about how happy she was just a few months back. She thought she had everything and things would always be good. Now, here she was, tired, disgusted, scared and lost. A tiny tear shyly ran down her cheek. She prayed.

I quitely wipe my tears as I watch her struggling for the life she had once envisioned. I pray for her too. Deep down in the darkest corners of my heart a fear lurks, growing stronger with each moment. What if she gives up? What if surrenders to cruelty? What if she doesn't get up and run again? What if the tears freeze? Get up, please get up!

Hiding

She sat hiding in a dark corner. She looked down towards the floor. Maybe she was searching for something, maybe she didn't want to see who is coming towards her. Her cheekbones were prominently visible under her eyes and reminded me of the large rocks that stick out over the oceans. Her skin had lost its color. Her lips were pale like the dying smoke of a fire. Her eyes were contradicting the rest of the faded look. They were big. The were black, and they stared with a certain statement, a certain command. Those eyes would make you feel like behaving, feel like being good. One glimpse of her eyes and I said to myself "She's still alive!". Yes, she was still alive. She was still alive in those big eyes.
A flood of new emotions exploded in those eyes the moment she saw me. The rest of her face didn't flinch. I could see a flash of a million memories in them. I think she saw the same in my eyes. I tried to see myself the way she saw me. Goodness! I looked different. I looked alien to myself. Everything that I was once proud of was gone. I had started treasuring new feelings. I didn't know the worth of these new thoughts but I suddenly realized the worth of the ones I had lost! One thing, however, remained the same. My eyes.
I stretched out my hand to her. She hesitated. I waited. Tears had been rolling down my eyes and I hadn't even realized this!