She watched them running past her hiding place and sighed from relief, knowing that she managed to elude them. She stayed in her hiding place – behind a pile of boxes – for a few more minutes, to make sure the loan sharks weren’t coming back. Regaining her breath, she made sure her surroundings were loan shark free before heading out of her hiding place and making her way home as fast as she could.

When she got home, without bumping into any of the loan sharks fortunately, she was greeted by a cold, empty house.

She was used to it.

But knowing that her mother had left her all alone made her feel more empty and lonely in the house. Just knowing the fact that her mother wasn’t coming back anytime soon – considering there wasn’t a single thing of her mom’s possession left in the house – made her somewhat depressed. Knowing she was left alone in the house she had once called home-sweet-home. Alone in this world where loan sharks were always looking for her.

She walked to her room as she tied her hair in a ponytail and quickly took out her huge shoulder bag from under her bed, and then she opened her closet and started stuffing everything into it. Once she was done, she changed her clothes; pairing one of her loose shirts along with a huge jacket with a hoody. She started to gather some of her important things on her desk and stuffed them into her shoulder bag. She took everything she could, even though she didn’t know what it was and once her bag was full, she headed to the front door. She was about to go out through the front door when she caught a glimpse outside the window.

The loan sharks were already waiting for her outside.

There were so many of them she couldn’t possibly just plough through them. So she headed for the back door, but then she realized she still had to go through them. She thought of the safest way possible to get away unnoticed. Going through the window in the kitchen was her only option. Even when she was climbing over her neighbor’s fence she had to be stealthy  as she dropped her bag down onto her neighbor’s backyard.

Then she cautiously tried to jump down without hurting herself and making the least noise as possible. When she landed, she scraped her knee on the ground but it didn’t stop her. She took her bag and made her way to the front yard of her neighbor’s house.

She put on her hoody and walked through the gate, trying to look like any other person leaving their house. She managed to walk a few meters without the loan sharks noticing it was her so she was sure she would be able to walk away safely.

She smiled to herself as she her hands into the pockets of her jacket and watched the mist coming out of , exhaling in relief.

But then she heard someone shouting.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“There she is!!!”