Two in One

Two+in+One

Story and Art by ACE

Chapter 1

don’t know how long I was running for, but I felt like it was forever. My lungs were starting to burn, and my mouth was drying up, to the point where it felt like my tongue had turned to sandpaper. I didn’t want to stop running but my legs were starting to give out. As weak as I felt, I knew that I couldn’t stop; I had to get as far away as possible.

“Alicia! Alicia, get back here!”

The voice sent chills down my spine. My foot fell into a small ditch, causing me to fall over. With no time to think, I quickly got up. As I approached another, I jumped over. Once I landed, I rolled on my ankle and fell off a cliff.

I don’t want die. Not yet please. I can’t die now, not like this.

It became quiet. A blanket of coldness came over me. My body ached as my stomach was slowly warming up. It became dark. My arms felt like they were too short to reach the surface. It wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.

I woke up gasping for air. I looked around and I was in a small room. I touched my stomach and felt bandages wrapped around it. I realized that I had a blue robe on. I recognized the robe. It was my aunt’s. I heard humming down the hallway, slowly getting louder as it got closer to the door. The door creaked open to reveal her. She walked in, giving me a soft smile with sad eyes.

“Oh, good! you woke up. I was scared you would’ve never woken up.”

Her voice was sweet; a voice that made you feel safe. Like a princess’s voice from those movies, where they sing along with birds, attracting all the animals of a forest. Everyone likes princesses, just like how everyone liked my aunt.

“Your parents don’t know that you’re here. I know you wouldn’t have wanted me to tell them,” she said.

I felt my mouth quiver and I gulped so hard, it hurt my chest. It felt as if I had swallowed a golf ball. My eyes began to fill up with tears as I felt warm streams run down my cheeks. My aunt quickly walked up to hug me tightly. She was warm. I rested my chin on her shoulder and hugged back just as tightly. I knew I could trust her. Yet somehow, I still felt vulnerable.

“It’s going to be okay now. You’re here with me.”

She whispered in my ear and kissed my forehead cupping the back of my head with her fragile hand.

“Your clothes are in the bathroom so you can go get changed. So, hurry and get ready for dinner.”

“Dinner?” It was around 8 when I had left the house, and I had already eaten dinner.

“How long was I out for?”

“You were out for almost a day. We found you at 10:47. Luckily, you were out of the river by the time we found you. But you were still cold. Almost freezing. Now hurry up and get changed. I don’t want the food getting cold as well.”