Run.

That was all I could do. Run.

Since I knew I could never escape.

By the end of the day, I would be back in their filthy little hands, tainted with adultery. I would have to pretend that I saw nothing. That I knew nothing.

It suffocated me, the blasted collar of truth I wore getting tighter and tighter, one notch at a time.

So I could only run. No matter how short that period of freedom lasted.

As my legs carried me outside, there was the cool kiss of snow on my face, melting away on contact with my skin.

The dark sky loomed over me, the brightness of the stars washed out by the lights of the city. There wasn't a single cloud to be found in the black of the sky, yet it was snowing. Tiny precious snowflakes, dancing their way down through the air. Gradually, they were beginning to cover the city in a pretty blanket of pristine white.

It almost seemed as if the world was pure again. Angelic.

I almost believed it.

Almost.

Without another thought, I broke out into a sprint.

I paid no attention to where I was going, as long as it was away from here. It didn't matter, as long as I didn't need to see them or hear them or be with them...

Soon, my lungs heaved to push and pull the air in and out. The blood rushing through my head was all I could hear in my ears. My skin was numbed by the cold and my muscles screamed and ached from the sudden exertion. My hair was sticking to my face, weighed down by the melted snow.

Yet it wasn't enough. I still felt it; there was nothing I could ever do to rid myself of this filth.

I stopped running, holding onto a nearby stone wall of the narrow street. My knees gave out and I sank onto the ground. Unable to run, unable to move, unable to think, I rolled up on the spot, hugging in my knees and resting my head on top of them. I felt my clothes soak up the surrounding snow, but I couldn't care less.

I could see the stars from here...

As I stared up at the sky again, millions of bright lights glowing bright, I realized I must have ran up the neighborhood. It was beautiful.

I closed my eyes, trying to catch my breath. They couldn't find me here, not in this place.

Nobody could find me here...