Elaine Abery - Unleashed

She walked around the block again.

Then, she stopped.

Will I?

Won’t I?

She checked her watch

3

2

1

And sprinted, her feet barely touching the ground. Some steps, she was pushing so fast that she nearly lost her balance.

She fell on the ground. Her lungs were on fire. Her breaths couldn’t come fast enough. She sucked the air in.

Cough

Cough

Too fast.

The ache in her thighs was unfamiliar. Painful. Sweet.

As her breathing slowed, there it was. The silence.

She stood up. Here eyes focussed on her watch.

5

4

3

2

1

Again!

She stumbled after a few paces, falling face-first. Everything slowed down. She welcomed the shock of the cold, hard pavement on her knees, her palms, her face. The warmth as her blood oozed out of her skin, wetting the pavement, sticky-ing her body.

Her foot went out, stopping the forward movement, steadying her

Oh!

She gasped, pushing her body further.

Just because she could.

She guzzled the water from the bubbler, making a strange noise as she gasped for air, coughed up water. Sometimes all 3 simultaneously.

She leant over the bubbler, propping herself up with her arms. Her legs couldn’t carry her anymore.

AGAIN! She screamed.

Because she could, at the top of her voice.

Her legs stretched out, forward into long steps. It felt good. So different from the short steps she had taken up till now.

Her breathing came more easily. It didn’t hurt to breathe.

Her head faced forward, upright, as she passed jasmine. She noticed the scents and views changing.

She smiled.

Her cheeks felt strange with its unfamiliarity.

Dressed in blue, he came towards her. “You’re safe now. We served the retraining order on him. He said he will move to Perth.”

Her cheeks felt wet, warm, as they ache from her smile. Now bigger.

Am I crying?

“You are unleashed. Be free!”