Chapter 21: Eliane

When I was kid and I was scared, I would hide somewhere, and silently cry. I would try to find my parents as much as I could until they found me. When I was 8, my mom would always check under my bed, behind my door, and in my closet. She told me in that moment, "when you're afraid and I'm not there to protect you, fight. Fight as hard as you can. Don't ever give up." And in this moment, those words echoed through my head.

As scared as I was, as much as I felt like peeing my pants, as much as I felt like stopping, I couldn't stop. The bullet fortunately didn't hit me. But it damn sure made my legs go faster. It felt like I had ran for hours until I finally found the strangers. They were a group of 6 and I really hoped that they could help me.

"Excuse me." I had stopped running but I was so out of breath. I felt like passing out but one of them gave me some water.