• The girl sat on an old swing in a lonely playground in an empty school on abandoned property in early November. She swung her paper thin legs back and forth, back and forth, but never getting two feet off the ground. Her weak arms barely grabbed the rusty swing chain as she gasped dusty breaths. Her long tangly hair blew in the cold wind against her sore back. Her once blue eyes had faded to gray, her faded red sweater unraveling. Her torn, dirty jeans hugged her tired legs. The girl's stomach growled like a hungry lion. She hadn't eaten since dawn yesterday when she savored her last stale biscuit.

    She shivered in the harsh wind, wishing for her old life and knowing it was a lost cause, a waste of energy, and yet she kept dreaming. She yearned for the warm, two story house with its cream-colored walls and off-white carpets. She longed for her baby blue room with the purple rug and pink bed. She imagined snuggling under the comforter with her teddy, Mr. Bear, that she'd had for ten years, (since she was born) and resting her head on her fluffy pillow.

    But then she remembered it burning, burning, burning, sending black smoke, thick as a blanket, into the pure blue air. Her beautiful house burning to the ground. She had screamed and cried, calling for her parents. She remembered running and being blocked by a towering wall of fire. She turned tail and dashed from the kitchen to find another wall of fire. The air was thick with coal black smoke, making it hard to breath. She was trapped.

    She fell to her knees and cried. Dear god, oh dear god! Please not now, not so young! she prayed. Lord, save me, please! The tears streamed down her burning cheeks as the flames consumed her. She closed her eyes and passed out.

    Now, here she was, three months later, alone on a swing. She remembered waking up under a slide with a mysterious knapsack under her head. This abandoned playground was her home.

    The girl closed her weary eyes. Thump! Thump! Thump! Her eyes snapped open. She whirled her head around to see nothing out of place. Get a grip! she told herself. She rested her head on the rusty chain. Thump! Thump! Thump! There it was again! She knew she heard it this time. She stood upon shaky legs and took a few unsteady steps. She slowly turned and squinted into the harsh wind. Standing alone, maybe thirty feet away from her, was a figure. Her eyes widened. It was a male, that much she could easily tell. There was something about him, she didn't know what, that stood out, looked familiar. What was it? What could it be?

    Her jaw dropped. It was the eyes. The cold, blood red eyes seamed to stare at her as if they belonged to someone dead. She could feel them looking at her. She squeezed her eyes shut, and yet she felt them boring into her.

    She took a step back, he took two steps forward, so she took another wobbly step back. He stared at her with his cruel eyes, his shadowy figure still as a statue.

    The girl couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran. She didn't get very far, maybe three feet, before she tripped and fell. Pain shot up her arm. Her frail body wouldn't make it. She tried to stand, taking unsteady steps till she was running slowly gasping for breath. Her legs ached, but she wasn't getting far enough. Though she was running and he was walking, he still seamed to be gaining on her. She stumbled over a rock but kept going.

    She panted, taking in the sharp, cold air. It stung her lungs.

    She was almost across the playground when she collapsed. Her weak legs buckled and her even weaker arms couldn't catch her. She could feel her energy draining from her pale body, as if when she fell she sprung a leak.

    He was almost upon her and her world was spinning. She sighed, deciding to let go, the second time in the past year. She then lost all consciousness and the spinning world turned black.