The Bag of Unbalanced Lives

Rune's life was not a simple one; and nor was it one that one would ever wish even their enemy to have to go through. Even if they had sliced your head clean off with a enlarged snake fang, just to watch to writhe and wither over a whole days' span of time. But alas; certainly not even Rune's life could be as.. toxic.. as that, right? Ah, but of course, there's only one way to find out.

### Chapter One

Heather was sure Rune was dying. The girl was paler than usual, which was saying something rather significant. Rune's usual dark emerald green hair was faded, almost resembling the colour of a naultinus. Her eyes, once a oaken brown were a inky black, orchestrating Rune's sure death... and in-fact.. the vision that was occurring in Rune's very mind.. as it slowly faded out.. bringing her life to a close..

*The glass on the table was dusted, almost nothing was visible, but* almost *was not good enough for Mrs Gabanski. "What do you call this cleaning job, child?" She hissed, her voice was like chalk scraping on the wrong angle on a chalkboard. Like a glass bottle breaking.. all of the unimaginable, torturous sounds. Mrs Gabanski enjoyed those sounds. Which.. the glass breaking was understandable, but besides that point-*

*She was old, but not elderly woman, barely in her fifties by the looks of her. But, in Rune's option, that was too old. The woman had bright blonde hair- unlike Rune's chestnut brown if she hadn't dyed it constantly- and a small, tightfitting pink dress, accentuating everything a husband would not like his wife to display to the general public. Her body was small, and weak. But not fragile enough to not be able to throw a good slap- again, as Rune would know.*

*"I call it a job, mother. It's spotless, even Father agrees-" Rune winced as her mother raised a hand in warning, and it was sadly.. Infront of guests. When Rune realized that it was just a palm up to shush her, she wasn't embarrassed.* Let them rumor. Let them rui-

*The guests were looking at Rune strangely, watching the scowl as her thoughts raced threw her mind, and when she realized that, Mrs Gabanski had already grabbed a few glasses from the kitchen, giving Rune a disappointed look. "We can chat later about that, can't we, Arunda?" Oh, Rune hated when she lengthened her name. It wasn't even real. Her birth father, whom the name was forbidden to be given to her, had named her. He wrote it on the birth certificate before her mother even had the chance to get out of labour. It would work as either genders.. however Rune always felt that her name meant more than.. the simple name.*

*Rune was lost in her own thoughts as Mrs Gabanski started to chat with her guests. She couldn't help but feel like an outsider in her own family. Her mother and stepfather always seemed to favor her older brother, Harold, and never missed a chance to put Rune down. She longed to escape this toxic environment and start a new life away from here, but she didn't know where to go or what to do. As she cleaned up the dining room, Rune overheard Mrs Gabanski gossiping with one of her friends about her. "That girl is such a troublemaker, always causing problems. I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in jail someday," Mrs Gabanski sneered. Rune's heart sank as she heard those words. She knew she had made mistakes in the past, but she was trying to turn her life around. She didn't want to end up like her birth father, whom she had never met, who had a criminal record... but what if it was the only way? The only way to escape?*