Traveling to the other Judean cities only ever reminded Arela of how boring they were compared to her own. For starters they had no soldiers roaming around the city, and though she knew her father wouldn’t approve of her thoughts, if she was honest it made her feel exposed - even vulnerable. At that thought she chuckled, it was the opposite feeling she had been told time and time again that she should have. And yet there was no denying her feelings as she glanced over her shoulder yet again - sure someone was there lurking. She reminded herself again of what Avariam said when they had arrived, 'This city is safe - there are no dirty scheming soldiers just nice Judeans you can trust' or something like that. She couldn’t help laughing. If that was true than why did it feel so wrong to not have the soldiers around? Not to mention that the streets appeared so… so… empty! She glanced over her shoulder again - how had she ever survived before the soldiers? No. Not how. There hadn’t been any danger before the soldiers. What she was feeling was just their mind games. And yet…
She jumped as a shout sounded behind her, and turned quickly to find a street dog who barked again and ran off into the streets. Arela backed away from where the dog had disappeared - acutely aware of her shaking hands. Perhaps it had not been the best of ideas to wander down that deserted alleyway but at the time she hadn’t been thinking about the dangers. She was so used to knowing every twist and turn of her own city that it hadn’t occurred to her that she didn’t know her way in this one. She had been so annoyed by her family that morning that she hadn’t thought twice about leaving them to wander on her own - away from the market.
And now here she was; stuck in an endless loop of abandoned alleyways, haunted by every suspicious noise she strained to hear. I might never find my way out as soon as she thought it Arela silenced herself. No. I’ll find my way out. I always have before though her inner voice was less convincing than it was usually.
Did something move? No. It was just her imagination. "Hello?" because what if it wasn’t her imagination? As soon as she spoke she regretted it. Who knows who could have heard her? She didn’t know anyone here. Little did she know - a once little girl was about to come skipping back into her life.
She jumped as a shout sounded behind her, and turned quickly to find a street dog who barked again and ran off into the streets. Arela backed away from where the dog had disappeared - acutely aware of her shaking hands. Perhaps it had not been the best of ideas to wander down that deserted alleyway but at the time she hadn’t been thinking about the dangers. She was so used to knowing every twist and turn of her own city that it hadn’t occurred to her that she didn’t know her way in this one. She had been so annoyed by her family that morning that she hadn’t thought twice about leaving them to wander on her own - away from the market.
And now here she was; stuck in an endless loop of abandoned alleyways, haunted by every suspicious noise she strained to hear. I might never find my way out as soon as she thought it Arela silenced herself. No. I’ll find my way out. I always have before though her inner voice was less convincing than it was usually.
Did something move? No. It was just her imagination. "Hello?" because what if it wasn’t her imagination? As soon as she spoke she regretted it. Who knows who could have heard her? She didn’t know anyone here. Little did she know - a once little girl was about to come skipping back into her life.