Connection

CONNECTION - an excerpt

Clouds veil the sky. Wind blows at the lonely cornstalks on the hilltop and rushing down through the valley, chilling the air with its frosty breath.

Winter was on its way.

Hair twisted into an intricate braid, a girl climbs the hill, her hands balled into fists. An expression of distaste coating her otherwise pretty features.

When she crested the hill, she paused and took in the view. With a twist, the world shifted and she was falling - falling through miles of empty space, the ground below her spinning uncontrollably and getting closer every second, the cliff above her falling away just as quickly. Her scream rent the air.

And then she was standing again, the wind brushing her hair off her face, the hill as sturdy and ordinary as ever.

A tear trickled down her cheek. Would it ever stop? This second life tugged at her soul, and she could not escape. Help would never come; who could she turn to? If anyone knew...she shuddered. The thought of being forever an outcast, insane and alone, hurt worse than the suicidal visions that were so clear she seemed to leave the real world entirely.

They were hard to predict, these shifts in her reality. Sometimes they came in the form of dreams, waking her from her sleep. Other times, like today, they just happened, shocking her system uncontrollably. Every time they occurred, they left a blank spot in her memory, as if she'd skipped minutes of her life in real life.

A sheet of rain, carried on the wind, rushed from the east. She didn't try to run. As it hit her, she let the tears roll faster, mixing with the cold raindrops on her skin.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Her dress caught on a patch of briars. Angrily, she tore it free. She was angry a lot lately. Perhaps it was a safe emotion - everyone left her alone then. Something brushed her hair, and she reached back to untangle it.

But her hand brushed something else.

"Oh!" she gasped and spun around.

A man stood there. His eyes were an unusual shade of gray, his dark hair tousled by the wind. He was tall and almost intimidating, but she was not afraid; his face was open but so completely focused. His hand was still frozen in the air from when he'd touched her hair. Nervously, she took a step back. Her hands clutched the basket tighter than before.

They didn't say anything for a while. It was as if they both just needed to look.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

A hint of a smile crept over his lips. "No one."

She shook her head, afraid to return the smile. "This place isn't large enough to hide nobodies. You must be a relative of someone in town."

"You've stayed hidden this long."

She shuddered, as if something had crawled into her mind and seen things she didn't want them to see. What did he mean by that? Everyone in town knew her; she wasn't hidden at all.

"I'm not hiding from anyone." She pushed her chin in the air and turned to walk home.

He matched her strides with his own. "I'm Bryan."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Marie."

She stopped, trying to hide the shock. "How do you know my name?"

He didn't answer. he only kept walking, the leaves crunching beneath his leather boots. She caught up to him, breathless. "My name. How do you know my name? Have we met before?"

"No." He smiled at her, a crooked, knowing smile. "But I have seen you many times before."

Her heart pounded strangely. He was lying. He had to be. If he didn't live here, than there was no chance he could have seen her before. She'd never left this valley.

And now she was alone with this liar in the woods and darkness was approaching.

This is an extremely random story I just spouted out of nowhere. It might turn into something, but it also might not. I hope you enjoyed it:)