Icy Stones, That Shake My Bones..

The sun is setting as she sat on the cold wooden bench in the park. The wind blew bitter against her exposed cheeks turning them a rosy red. She rubbed her mittened hands together, trying to get them warm. 1

She could no longer feel the toes in her old black boots. Pulling her feet up against her she leaned against the arm rest of the bench. Wrapping her arms around her legs she laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes. 2

It was getting colder and she knew she would have to go soon, but go where. She was beginning to feel the icy breeze through her warm wool coat, it made her shiver. “What am I going to do?” She ran through her mind. “Where am I going to go? I’m stranded, alone.” 3

She slowly opened her eyes, tilting her head back to look up at the starry heavens above, hoping they would solve her dilemma. Nothing but the silence answered back. 4

Having the impulse to move, she leisurely lowered her cold feet to the hard ground below and stood up. Placing her hands in her pockets she began to walk, her destination unknown. “I can’t go back there.” She thought. “I promised myself I wouldn’t.” Thoughts of what awaited her there made her shiver. How could it have gotten this bad? The screaming and yelling...the hitting, replayed and replayed in her mind. She couldn’t stand it anymore, she ran away. “I had to get away”, she whispered aloud trying to comfort herself. 5

She looked at the ground idly as she walked; the red cobblestone walkway had patches of snow and ice. She watched carefully, as not to slip. She didn’t know how much more she can take; she had nowhere to go. She would have to go home, or freeze. 6

The latter of the two seemed more appealing to her, but she knew that they would send people to look for her. So she slowly lingered toward home, walking under the street lights trying to think of some other way to go about this. 7

“Why did they have to fight? Why did they have to scream and yell like banshees? I thought they loved each other..." 8

This wasn’t the first time. She remembered them all. They stuck out crisp and clear in her mind. She would run to her room and shut the door, but even that wouldn’t block out the shouting. They took no notice of the pain they were inflicting on her. “I can’t take much more of this, it will tear me to bits…what am I to do…? I love them so much…I love them so much…”