Hard Resolution - Prologue

Hard Resolution 1

Prologue2

Heather Thomas was running as fast as she could and was deathly afraid that it wasn’t going to be fast enough. The broad expanse of grass that she was running across looked flat and smooth until she tried to run on it and then she found out that it was anything but flat and smooth. The ankle high grass hid a lot of holes that could break her ankle if she stepped in one running at this speed. It was hard trying to look where she was going and not step in a hole and desperately wanting to look behind. She expected to feel a gunshot in her back at any second. Her breath was coming in big tearing gasps and her lungs were burning and she wasn’t even halfway across the lawn. This was her body’s way of telling her that she hadn’t exercised in ten years and was sorely out of shape. “It’s not my fault” she kept repeating over and over, but it didn’t help her run any faster or get her breath back. 3

The stitch in her side started getting worse and her legs felt like rubber and she knew that if she didn’t slow down and walk that she wouldn’t even get across the lawn into the trees on the other side. The big problem with that was if she didn’t get across the yard she knew that she wouldn’t survive and would surely be killed. Heather would be punished for her disobedience a lot more severely this time then she had in the past and she knew that she wouldn’t survive it. 4

Despair came walking across the grass towards her and caught up easily. She knew that she was still running but had slowed way down and now despair barely had to move to catch her. Taking a running leap it landed squarely on her back and she actually staggered under the weight of it. The stagger cost her when she lost her focus and her foot landed squarely in a hole tripping her and causing her to fall almost flat on her face. She put out her hands to catch her weight at the last possible second saving her nose from being smashed flat. With the weight of despair sitting squarely in the middle of her back Heather almost couldn’t manage to turn over and lay on her back, but putting all of her steadily decreasing strength into it she finally was able to turn over and she just laid there on her back giving up and waiting for the inevitable to come and get her.5

With tears in her eyes she laid on the hard ground feeling a mound of dirt poking into her back and wondered where her superman was that was supposed to swoop in and scoop her up and deliver her to safety. She had dreamed about her superman for years and now that she had finally found someone to take his place and rescue her he had run off and left her here waiting to die. It was the despair and the despondency that came from that desertion that were weighing so much on her now and keeping her from rising and running on. Closing her eyes she could imagine Superman flying down toward her with his red cape blowing out behind him from the wind of his passage and landing beside her then picking her up only to jump back into the air and fly away to safety.6

As Heather lay on the ground waiting for Superman to come and rescue her she felt herself being picked up by a very strong pair of arms. Feeling that her destiny had finally caught up with her she decided that she just couldn’t go quietly, not after ten years. She thought of all the beatings she had received that had torn her up both physically and mentally. She thought of the loss of her dignity and the shame that she had endured for years, night after night, and she knew that she couldn’t go quietly. She started flailing with her arms and legs and screaming at the top of her lungs, knowing that her futile efforts were not enough when she felt the arms carrying her tighten restricting her movement. 7

Reluctantly Heather opened her eyes and through tear filled eyes she finally recognized that the person carrying her was not who she thought it was. She relaxed at that point and stopped fighting and allowed herself to be carried.8

“Where is your cape Superman?” she whispered to the one carrying her.9

“I left it home because I was in such a hurry to come over here and rescue you,” she heard him say chuckling, “Do you know that I have been looking for you for years and years and I couldn’t find you in all that time until now.”10

Feeling greatly relieved that she wasn’t going to die yet she reached up and put her arms around his neck and hugged as tightly as possible. The gratitude she felt at that point was overwhelming and all she could do was break down and cry feeling hope return for the first time in years. She wondered if this was all one big dream and she was still back on the mattress in her room or if it was really happening to her. It was impossible for her to know so she decided to just go with it and hope with all of her heart that it might just be the real thing.11

She heard a big boom from behind her and she raised her head to look back behind them. She saw a monster standing at the upstairs window of a big farm house and he was holding a shotgun aimed directly at her. This was the nightmare part of her dream and she knew that she would not be able to get away from the monster this time. She felt the dread come pouring back into her again and she saw despair come running across the lawn towards her again. To her astonishment though, despair couldn’t catch her this time because Superman was running too fast. They were almost to the tree line and she knew that if they could just get to the trees then they might have a chance of getting away. 12

Looking at Superman’s face she asked him, “Superman are you bulletproof?”13

Once again he chuckled before he replied saying, “That would certainly make my job a lot easier wouldn’t it?” He looked at the fear warring with hope in her upturned face he finally said to her, “I would love to tell you that I was bulletproof and all our troubles were over, but I’m afraid that we are still in trouble. I think that we’re going to get away though so you just stop worrying and leave that to me.”14

Heather believed every word he said and was more then willing to leave all the worrying to him but when she put her head back down and looked around a little she heard another loud boom and reflexively screamed again. Superman was still running however so she looked around and saw that another person off to her right had gone down. All she could do was watch helplessly though as despair again made a run at her. She knew that the man who went down was dead and that she was next despite what Superman had just told her. She wished that she wasn’t so weak and had the strength of Superman and then she could just stop worrying and get away from the monster in back of her. Despair was running right at her and was almost upon her when another miracle happened. The man who had gone down after being shot jumped back up and when he did Despair tripped over his feet and went crashing face first into the ground where it just laid there watching her move away in the arms of Superman. 15

Finally they arrived at the trees and they didn’t slow one bit even though they had to dodge around the trees and watch out for rocks they kept running as fast as they could and soon Heather couldn’t even see the grass anymore. When the next big boom came from the shotgun the monster was holding she saw that it broke some branches in a tree off to their right but it wasn’t anywhere close to them which told her that he couldn’t see them anymore.16

Feeling the tears that come from overwhelming happiness Heather quietly cried as Superman ran on and on through the forest carrying her away from the monster and away from a life that had been hers for ten long years now.17

Suddenly Superman stopped running and froze in place. Heather turned her head and looked around and saw another monster standing in the middle of the trail with a shotgun in his arms.18