Decision to Death

Dakota had no idea what was going to happen to her if she went out into the woods. She was warned strongly, yelled at, and even slapped into her senses, but she figured anything to get away from this abusive family. She screamed back at them, running out the front door. Her father, who had been drinking, threw the bottle in the fire, ran out after her, and jumped into the car. She was still running, her dress-like garment dragging through the snow. Her bare feet froze, but she was still moving. Her mother stood in the doorway, screaming her name.1

She could hear her father's car going now. It was speeding, the exhilarator gave away the secret. She ran in front of a car. It stopped short, skidding on the ice but not going off the road. It beeped at her when it regained balance but kept going. Now Dokata tood in the middle of the road, two cars coming at her; Her father's and a strangers. Her father's was going exceptionally fast, so she decided to kill him. 2

She ran into the woods and turned on her heel as she saw her drunk father drive through the trees, almost hitting her, until the car's engine was dead. But her father, well, he was long gone by now. Her mother came running out, screaming her name at the top of her lungs. Because she was old, she would never catch the frisky but hurt fourteen-year-old. 3

A while into the woods, Dakota's hair was freezing to the back of her neck. She had never bought hair ties before, because her mother thought it was "not polite" to have your hair up. She had wished to cut it, but her father wouldn't let her. He tugged on it when she was being naughty, disagreed to do something, or spoke wrong. 4

As she came to a path of clearing, a snow white owl came darting out at her. She bent down and hid from the creature's talons. It came around again, but this time landing at her feet. She stroked its head with her middle finger, cursing her father under her breath. She stood up, and the owl fallowed, landing on her shoulder. She let it stay there, just for protection.5

She continued walking, looking over her shoulder for her mother. By now, she would've been crying, and determined to beat Dakota until blood came out of her mouth. She hurried up her stride to keep away from the abusive mother. 6

After hours of long stride and swinging arms, she decided to rest a bit. She sat down on a log that was covered in mold, but she never knew that. Part of having to live with parents like her's is she never went to school. There wasn't even a record of her on the planet. It was like one day her mother was going to have a baby, the next, it was gone.7

She was born in her own house, so she never had a birth certificate, saying that Dakota never had a real name. Her parents decided to call her Dakota because they hated the indians that once liked in North Dakota; Their first home. She was sometimes called 'Brat', 'Fat, Stupid Pig', and even a few horrible curse words.8

She placed her pale white hand down on the moldy log. She felt the gross, furry substance and jumped up, screaming quietly. But now, her frozen feet would never walk any farther until they were reheated. So she waked into the trees and tried to find a dry or slightly dry but not snowy tree. As soon as she found one, she jumped up and tried to find three branched to support her little weight. She then pulled her kneed up her dress so her feet were warm and cozy. She gently closed her eyes, but never slept, dreaming of a world without her mother. 9

As she thought of the life she never had, she remembered her older brother and younger sister. Harold, only 18 years of age, was the family favorite. Born first, he was treated like a king. Her father and mother paid all of their school money so he could go off to Harvard. He was a straight A student, winning honors, awards, and medals.10

Georgia, named after another state the mother and father hated, was beautiful and mature looking despite the bruises and cuts on her face, legs and arms. She was a free-spirited girl who ran away long before Dakota did to live in an anonymous stable that their father and mother are still looking for. She, along with Dakota, had never gone to school.11

Tears built up under her eyes, but she never let them leave her heart. The las time she had cried was a bout four years ago, when she was finally used to being hit almost every day, at least ten times. But her mother most likely still remembers the screams and cried, pleads for help.12

Dakota's plan was to go into another plan and have the police locate her mother so she could go and find her sister. She was actually the only one who knew the address for the stable. In fact, she was on her way to it. 13

The sound of footsteps alerted Dakota, who still had an owl on her shoulder all this time. She jumped down off the tree and ran back to the clearing, where she would be faced with a fairly large challenge, but again, she never knew this.14

The owl grew tense when she began walking away. It flew off her shoulder, and she didn't chase after it. She had learned never to chase after it, but let it go. Maybe that's why her parents didn't want her to go; Only let the things you love go. 15

She heard footsteps again, but they stopped. She looked around and saw her mother, standing about five feet away from her. She turned back around and ran, but she came to a pack of wolves. Her mother was creeping up behind her. She looked over her shoulder, her mother almost right next to her. She had to make a decision. Why would she want to die? She looked around her, but she was surrounded. She walked forward a bit more, her mother shaking her head.16

Another step she took, fooling with her mother's mind, but a wolf grabbed he by the leg and pulled her into the pack, where she was eaten alive, screaming. Her mother ust watched, looking at the bloody mess. She smiled and turned away.17

"There," she said with delight.18

"Now, where's Georgia?" 19