Gloria Runs away

Gloria was having a bad mental breakdown when she suddenly ran away. Marybeth told her to wait, and now she’s just sitting in the dark thinking about what happened. She’d been in that little room alone for who knows how long when she finally realized she had to leave or else she’d go crazy. So she snuck out through one of the windows in the bedroom. Her parents didn’t really seem to notice since they were busy making dinner. She snuck through the hallway into the kitchen, grabbed the keys off the counter, and walked towards the garage, where the bike was. Then she turned around and ran back up the hall to the little guest bedroom, but stopped at the door, she didn’t know where this place even was, so how would she know how to get home? And she needed to find help because if she didn’t she would never forgive herself. Gloria took the key from it’s spot on the wall and slipped down the hallway to the front door. The key fit perfectly. The sun was setting as Gloria sat on the curb outside of the house, leaning back against the door, trying not to cry. Her parents had said she could stay here until she found someone willing to take care of her. They loved her, but their own lives wouldn't be able to handle another burden like her. But she knew they were wrong, no matter how much she wanted to believe otherwise. They couldn't possibly understand how much she had done wrong, or why she was such a mess. She'd messed up big time. Suddenly there was shouting coming from inside the house, and Gloria froze in fear. Had they heard her crying? No, they wouldn't have yelled at her, right? But what if they were going to take her away forever? She looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting darker already, and she knew she didn't want to be here any longer. There wasn't a car anywhere in sight, and there was no sign anyone was nearby, so Gloria decided to head home. There was only one place she wanted to visit first. Her grandmother's grave. The grave had always held a special place in her mind. Ever since she'd gotten sick last year, her whole life had changed. Her grandmother had taken care of her ever since her mother died, and Gloria loved her very much. She would come here almost every night after school and sit quietly and write letters for hours sometimes days at a time. It was one of the few places she felt safe. She wondered if her grandma knew what had happened. She hoped so. It was strange that her favorite place seemed to be the most abandoned. People rarely came here unless they were looking for something, and Gloria was glad for that. This way, nobody would see her tears. She got onto her feet and brushed the dirt off of her skirt before starting down the hill. The graveyard came into view in a matter of seconds, and Gloria started walking quickly, hoping to reach it before anyone noticed she was missing. As she approached her favorite plot, she paused and took a deep breath. The grass was damp with dew, and small flowers bloomed across the stone slab that read Margaret Hester. Gloria had loved coming here whenever she couldn't sleep or just couldn't stand being locked in that cold, empty house. A large tree sat near her grandmother's grave, and Gloria pulled the book that was resting in the pages out. She hadn't read it for years, but she remembered the title clearly. "The Golden Rule" She'd read it when she was a little kid. Her grandmother had taught her how to read properly, and how to be polite to everyone who visited. She also taught her many other things too. Gloria smiled as she flipped the page. One of those things was to listen to your elders. Gloria sat down on the ground and opened the book to the first page. She began reading aloud. "The Golden Rule is: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Gloria closed the book and leaned back against the tree. She thought about her grandparents and how different they were compared to her parents. Gloria wished her grandmother was alive to see what all this change was doing to her. Gloria looked up at the setting sun, and sighed loudly. "Come on Mommy," She spoke loud enough for her mom to hear her even though she knew she was miles away at work, "Let's go home." She climbed to her feet and started walking slowly toward the road. When she arrived at it, she looked behind her, worried that somebody might have seen her leaving the cemetery, but luckily, she still had a good three blocks to walk before she reached her neighborhood. As soon as she got close to her block, she started running. The street lights flickered on as she passed each and every one, and she slowed down just a fraction when she passed her house. She stopped once she saw the light from inside her apartment. She was pretty sure her dad was watching TV, so it must be okay. Gloria made her way up to her window and threw open the curtains. She jumped inside and closed the window gently behind her. The silence was broken by an ear splitting screech, and Gloria covered her ears in shock. Was that her dad? He didn't scream often, but when he did it usually meant serious stuff. Gloria slowly crept forward in the dark hallway toward her bedroom. The floor creaked under her weight, but she ignored it. Once she reached her room, she shut the door and flopped face first onto her bed. She let out a whimper when a sharp pain shot through her side. She lifted up her shirt and looked, it hurt like hell but nothing was out of place. She sighed. She had to tell her mom about this, but she wasn't exactly sure when. Maybe tomorrow. Or later that day. Maybe... Suddenly everything went black again. Gloria woke up screaming, and immediately clamped her hand over her mouth. It took her a second to realize that she wasn't still screaming and that it was actually quiet. She cautiously uncovered her mouth. After listening for a moment she heard the sound of footsteps rushing toward her room, and her heart sank. She knew what was happening. Her dad was coming. Her dad and his stupid gun, and the stupid yelling and screaming and fighting, and... oh god, what had happened to her arm? Oh no, oh crap, she forgot it had fallen asleep at the end of her bed, and it had hit her when she fell, and she was probably bleeding, and oh no, oh shit. Her dad burst into the room, gun in hand, and he was aiming directly at her! His eyes were wide, and he was breathing hard, like he'd run all the way here. Gloria tried to move, but her body refused to cooperate. She was frozen in terror. "What the fuck are you doing?!" Her dad shouted, and Gloria flinched. "I-I'm sorry!" She cried, "I didn't mean to fall asleep, I swear!" "You're gonna pay for this, Gloria!" He shouted, and then pulled the trigger. She winced at the noise that followed, and then watched in horror as blood splattered across her bedsheets. He kept pointing his gun at her. "I'll call the cops, so don't try anything funny you bitch!" And with that he stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard, it shook the walls. Gloria sat staring at her bed, completely numb. All she could think was 'what the hell am I supposed to do now?' Chapter 3 Gloria lay in her bed staring blankly at the ceiling unable to fall asleep. Every time she moved her body screamed in protest, and her eyes felt puffy and raw from crying all day. She didn't really feel like getting dressed at all though. She couldn't bring herself to care anymore about anything else that was happening, all she really wanted to do was go to sleep, which is the last thing she' s been doing for almost 24 hours. The clock ticked away slowly next to her bed, telling her that her father still hadn't left, that her mother was still working late and would probably leave for a while yet. But Gloria didn't really care anymore, she just wanted to sleep. Finally she managed to force herself to get out of bed and limp to her bathroom. She stood staring into the mirror for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to wear. Should she wear some kind of fancy outfit, or should she just wear her old pink hoodie and shorts, the clothes she wore every day? Her eyes wandered up to her cast, and she bit her lip in worry. She wasn't in great shape, to say the least. She'd lost a lot of weight lately, more than usual, and her arm felt even worse. Then she remembered the book her grandmother used to bring her. She picked it up from where it lay by the side of her bed and placed it on her lap. Then she remembered that she'd never been allowed to touch the pages since she'd lost her arm. So instead she just sat in silence, turning her eyes to the cover of the book. A picture of a baby was drawn on the front page. In that photo Gloria could see two identical little girls, both of whom looked strikingly similar. They were wearing white dresses with blue bows, and their faces were painted brightly red. Their hair was tied up in cute little ponytails. They both looked very happy. Gloria traced her finger slowly around the edge of the picture. They reminded her of her grandma. And she had to admit, it was nice to know someone else remembered her when she could barely remember her own name. After a while she decided that she wouldn't try any crazy stunts today, so she put the picture back on the shelf and crawled back underneath the covers of her bed. She stared up at the cracks in the plaster above her head. What was going to happen to her? There was no hope, was there? Nobody cared. Nobody wanted her anyway; the school had given up on her years ago. Why should she bother worrying about the people that gave her nothing? Maybe if she kept thinking like that she might stop hurting. She hoped not, but she knew that she'd only make the problem worse by trying to think positive thoughts. That always seemed to help people.