The Result of Being Insane (Chase)

[chaseee]

Alyss Evergreen

I stand, rooted to the spot. I think of going after her, of talking more, reassuring her I was sorry for whatever I had done to her, but I did have my own worries. For one, I would need to make my way back to the clearing where my father lay, and take him ack home to be prepared for buriel.

I feel tears stinging the back of my eyes. I don't want to cry, to show weakness, but I know I must sooner or later. If I keep it bottled inside, I am sure to bust with the pressure. To explode. To lose my sanity. Just like three years prior. When, my brother died in the Games. And four years ago, when his twin died in the Games also.

I stumble back through the dense greenery, unsure what direction I am going in. I don't really care where I'm heading. Where I will end up once I stop. All I know is that, soon after the events in the clearing, I have reached the gate. The district boundary.

I gently sit on the hard, packed in dirt, and lean back, curling myself up into a ball. All the pain I had been holding up inside rushed out of me, threatening to kill me. To destroy my very soul. It is despair like I have never known it. My heart is wrenched, and the only coherent thought that passes through my mind is He's gone. And it was all my fault!

When I am finally able to pull myself together, I realize how far I am away from where my father lay. I will have a lot of walking, and then even more once I am able to locate the corpse. The sun is already going down, and I fear I will be walking through the woods at all hours of the night, carrying a nice, easy catch for any of the flesh eaters residing in the trees.

So I start walking in the general direction I know it is. Start walking towards my worst nightmare.