The Unimportance of Running Away

A short story about a girl who can't deal with the world, but finds a friend to help her show her new meaning.

The Unimportance of Running Away

 

 

 

The Unimportance of Running Away

 

 

Stupid dog, always running away, kind of like Ella, she just ran away from her problems. So why were they coming back to her? Because Ella thought it would be better if she ran away, but so far she has no food, shelter, or warmth. For three days, she’s carried on like this, running away from people on the street, looking for food and shelter, her dumb dog running off all the time, but Ella couldn’t let her go because she was the only friend she had and they were In it together, both running away from an abusive home, of course it wasn’t that that bad, just a lot of yelling, threats, and occasional violence, but Ella still didn’t believe she deserved it. Now she was changing, she wanted to believe she would happen upon a fairytale, but that never happens in reality, no prince charming, no house of dwarves to feed her and give her shelter, just her dog and an empty stomach. Ella could go back, she would get the biggest lecture on her life and probably get yelled at again, but she could go back, but Ella didn’t want to make that decision, she clung to her last bit of hope and wanted to believe she could prove them wrong and find happiness.

 Now Ella wasn’t just running, she could only wish, but she was being ganged up on. Rounding the corner, Ella ran from the pack of cruel idiots, her unkempt auburn hair slapping against her face, as she rushed into the dark, leafy, coniferous forest. She was giving her choice a second thought about running away, but it was too late now. She was three days into her journey as a run away from her home, trudging along to find food and shelter; she reached the forest and ran to cover behind a large oak tree, holding her breath to remain silent, not to let the filthy men hear her breathing. The rustling footsteps got closer as she could hear the drunken laughter of the crude men. Ella silently gasped as one of the men threw a rock at the other side of the tree.

The tallest of three finally spoke in a rough voice, “It’s not worth it, the little scum bag isn’t worth it, we’ll find someone else to mess with.” He shouted, throwing his empty beer bottle at the same tree.

Ella silently exhaled as she watched them leave the forestry. She walked further into the forest, trembling from the close call from the attackers. She trembled in much further with her dog. About an hour passed and she was nowhere near any streets, so she stumbled on. Ella scrambled for safety from the rain that was about to pour, she looked for something to guard her from it, but she couldn’t see anything through the thick fog in the pine forest. Still walking she noticed something about a mile away from her. Ella kept walking until she saw the something she was looking for.

Ella walked up the porch of a small white house, already drenched in rain she hoped she would come across someone nice, she probably wished it included seven dwarves, but as she knocked she heard the call of a young woman, probably about her age. Snow white maybe? She wanted to believe this person could help her, but Ella could only hope that was the case.

“Just a minute!” the girl called.

Ella waited patiently and happily. She, whoever she was, sounded nice, Ella was curious to know if she could help her find somewhere to stay.

Ella waited till the door creaked open, revealing someone about her young age of seventeen. She examined her young face, teenaged features and long blonde hair far past her shoulders.

“Hello, can I speak to the owner of this house?” Ella asked patiently.

“Why would you need to ask that? You happen to be already!” She exclaimed enthusiastically her dark green eyes filled with happiness.

Ella was shocked; she looked no older than nineteen and was living alone? Ella wondered why, she also wanted to know if she truly was alone, Ella wanted to ask the girl why, but also didn’t want to upset a complete stranger.

“Do you really own this place? But ma’am, you don’t even look twenty!” Ella exclaimed shocked by what the girl had told her.

“Well yea, I guess I am kind of young to own a house out in the woods alone, but yea, I guess I am young. Oh and by the way, my name is Lillian, you can call me Lilly for short, and you don’t have to call me ma’am, I’m about your age. What’s your name?” Lilly explained further.

Ella thought about it for a while. Should she tell Lilly her real name, or should she make one up? Lilly seemed very trustworthy to Ella, but she wasn’t sure if anyone would know her.

“My name is Ella, sorry to ask such a wild question.” Ella apologized.

“It’s okay, no harm done. Would you like to come inside? You look famished.”

Ella thought about the offer, she just met the girl today, only fifteen minutes ago, “Can I really trust her?” Ella thought. She made her decision and thought about it. What was the worst Lilly could do? She was about her age or older. Also, Ella needed something to eat now.

“Sure, hope you don’t mind but I was lost and I wasn’t sure where to go, and then it started raining, sorry for the mess.” Ella explained, embarrassed to have gotten tracked mud on Lilly’s clean floors.

“Oh it’s fine. So how exactly did you get lost?”

Ella was scared now, what if Lilly could tell she ran away? Ella had to come up with something. She could tell her how she ended up in the forest, running from the jerks that were chasing her, frightened and scared ending up in the woods, the pouring rain that chased her away. “Well, I got lost on a walk, it started raining and I needed somewhere to go, oddly I found your house” Ella lied, telling the girl Lilly whom she just met.

“Oh, that’s interesting, want to eat?” Lillian replied suspiciously.

Ella heard something in Lillian’s voice that sounded like she knew something and knew Ella had ran away from home, but Ella was too hungry to remember the suspicious tone in Lilly’s voice, having not eaten in days.

“Sure, I’m starving.” Ella replied.

Ella couldn’t wrap her mind around why Lilly was living alone in a forest at such a young age, but Ella couldn’t say anything, she was a runaway and she couldn’t judge, but she can’t help to feel suspicious about the way Lillian said “oh”. Her living alone, owning her own house at eighteen, the suspicion in Lilly’s voice, could there be some kind of connection, and how could someone Ella just met half an hour ago know about Ella running away from her home? Things were getting very awkward already. Still, Ella was so hungry after days of not eating to care at the moment when she was presented with a bowl of fruit, it wasn’t much, but it was still food.

Lilly noticed Ella’s under-fed demeanor and thought she would offer her some more food for her, due to Ella’s look of hunger, Lilly thought it was a good idea.

“If you’re still hungry, I have some more food in the fridge.” Lillian laughed at the sight of Ella eating grapes with watermelon juice on her face.

“Ella, the storm outside doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon, maybe you should stay until it goes away.” Lilly pondered as she paced the small rustic kitchen.

“Sure, I guess so, is it okay if I stay here, really?” Ella laughed.

Lilly wasn’t sure about letting an almost complete stranger into her house, but Ella reminded a lot about herself, and that’s what scared Lilly. The thing is, Lilly ran away from her home when she was younger and that’s how she ended up living there in the forest, and Lilly thinks it was the worst thing that she had ever done. Lillian lost contact with her parents and she hasn’t seen them since she ran away, Lilly was worried that it would happen to someone else, so she was now suspicious to Ella. But Ella still has no idea.

Checking the weather on the small television in the living room, Ella sighed, she was happy she had somewhere to stay during the pouring rain, she needed to find somewhere to stay permanently, and the weather wasn’t helping her get to what she wants, freedom from the hatred in her home, the yelling, the fighting, and the hateful comments that went with it all. If only she could gain happiness and understanding in her house, but it’s a dream that will never come true.

“Well, the rain isn’t stopping anytime soon.” Ella sighed.

Lilly looked out the small kitchen window, the rain was pouring harder than it had in a while. Wondering why Ella would just be walking in the woods when the clouds were so dark earlier, or why she would be walking so far from the city in the first place, it had to have been at least twelve miles till she got to the forest, hours of endless walking on foot, or was it something different? Was Ella hiding something? Constantly asking herself this question from the moment they had met, suspicious and confused. Then Lilly got the most devious thought lately, to learn about if Ella ran away, but it was for her own good, Lilly didn’t want her to make the same mistakes she made when she ran away, she had the most intriguing idea she’s had in a while.

“Hey Ella, when it stops raining, I can take you to your house, I have to wait for the rain to stop though.” Lilly explained a smirk on her face.

Would Ella tell the truth, or not, Lilly thought to herself.

Ella froze, Lilly had to know and she was acting so suspiciously towards Ella after they met, maybe it was just Ella, but Lilly had to know something, had to. Ella would have to come up with something, a lie, could Ella be homeless? She was at the moment, but she couldn’t tell Lilly that, they were becoming good friends, but should she tell Lilly the whole story? Not going to happen, thought Ella, how could she just tell somebody these things? She would probably be taken back to her house.

Apparently, Ella hadn’t thought out this, if only she had put more thought into her “escape”, she would have had much better luck; she wouldn’t have to run away, or ever feel the need to. So Ella couldn’t take it anymore, what about the good consequences of telling Lilly, or anyone else, she could get help, learn to be less frustrated with her family when things didn’t go her way. Maybe she could get better, maybe the whole ordeal would make Ella’s family understand her more, it had only been three days since she ran away and she missed her parents, being alone wasn’t all she thought it would be and space to her own self, but it was more like loneliness.  If she told Lilly things would get better, and so she could tell the truth, but too bad, since Ella was too stubborn she wouldn’t make the impossible decision of telling the truth, the truth about running away, deciding to continue her lies.

“I wouldn’t want to trouble you any further; I can walk home when the rain stops, you don’t have to worry about me.” Ella begged, she didn’t want Lillian to take her to her house, getting this far would mean nothing if she was brought back home.

“Is that so? How far away your home is anyways, it has to be far from here, there are no houses for many miles, and besides, I could drive you there, what’s your address anyways?” Lilly reasoned the faint tone of realization of the truth.

Ella couldn’t contain her thoughts, she wanted to tell Lilly so badly, but she didn’t want anyone to find out, especially someone she just met that was so kind to let her stay in their home during the rain shower. She knew, Lilly had to know, she wasn’t hiding it well though, she knew and she was going to let Ella keep lying about it.

“No, really I’m fine, nobody’s expecting me to come home now anyways, I’m fine, truly I am, I’m nearly a complete stranger, I shouldn’t have bothered you in the first place, sorry to inconvenience you.” Ella apologized nervously; it was no secret that Lillian had to know that she was lying.

“And I thought we were becoming good friends, but apparently if you’re just a complete stranger to me, I guess it would be okay to tell you that I know your secret, no wonder no one is expecting you at your home, and you’ve run away, haven’t you? I know your probably scared for me to know, that I would most likely take you back to your home out of the kindness of my heart, and while I know that I’m not that nice, I’m going to allow you to stay here for the time being, but during the short time I will allow you to stay here, which is probably not very long, I want you to think about your decisions.” Lilly explained, the coldness in her voice only slight, but she was really doing what she was out of kindness, showing what happens when you leave your home out of sadness and selfishness, the things her family was probably going through now, probably feeling like they failed as parents and siblings, feeling like it’s all their fault, because it probably was, but they don’t deserve it.

That was probably the reaction Ella’s family was having, Lilly’s had not, being raised by such cold and cruel people, calling her a disgrace to the world, shouting things at her about not being amongst the people who deserve to live. Through all the hardships Lilly had with her family, being forced to move out, being disowned, she still missed them with all her heart, Lilly really regretted leaving her home and running away, trying to remember all the good times she had with her family, the few times she saw them smile and wanting to see them again, feeling so lonely, turning into a person she couldn’t stand to look at. Knowing Ella’s case was probably far less severe, there had to be hope for her, how could there be so many people as cruel as Lillian’s family in the world? There was still hope that Ella could learn to get along better with her family, so Lilly had to do something about it, not only take her back to her home where her family was probably waiting for her with open arms, but also show her the side effects of running away from your family, even if they did want nothing to do with you, you still needed shelter, and food and warmth, also remind her the reasons to go back, and never leave when things get a little bad, sad or depressing, because Ella had nearly no reason to leave her home.

“How would you know that I’ve left my home? You can’t just decide things for me either!” Ella shouted, she didn’t know how someone she just met, that acted so nice would be telling her what she’s going to do, acting heartless, pretending like she understands what happened to Ella.

“I know you’ve left your home because first of all, ever heard the saying “It takes one to know one”. Second of all, I can tell from how nervous you’re acting, you’re obviously trying to hide something, anybody could tell that.” Lilly explained further.

“Was it really that obvious? But what do you mean “it takes one to know one”? Is that why your living out here alone, you’ve run away from your home?” Lilly asked confused.

“Unfortunately, yes it was very obvious; I didn’t want to say anything before. And your right, that’s exactly what I meant, I know exactly why you shouldn’t run away from your home, that’s why I want you to go back to your home, living alone, especially without any money, has no advantages, don’t you miss your parents anyways?” Lillian asked.

No matter how much Ella missed her parents, she didn’t want to admit it, she wanted nothing to do with her parents now, no matter how much she cared for them the kept denying it.

“You don’t know what I went through at that place, how would you ever know what it was like for me? You can’t tell me to go back home, I will leave at my own will!” Ella nearly shouted.

Ella had no idea what life was like for Lilly at her home, her life was far harder to handle, Ella’s life was probably one to make Lillian very jealous, and Ella had no idea what a terrible home life was, and hopefully the event will open Ella’s eyes and make her a stronger person inside. If only Ella knew the truth about Lillian.

“I know it was probably nothing like mine was, you probably have loving parents and family, and sure, you may not always agree all the time, argue and yell at each other, but whose fault is it really? Do you ever think about what you do to make them so angry with you? Maybe if you changed your attitude a little, and learn to respect each other, you would probably understand each other more. You should go back to your family, they probably miss you, and you probably miss them, why would you throw that away for unhappiness? Lilly exclaimed.

The only sounds that could be heard were silence between the two and rain heavily pouring, along with the thunder, moments until Ella finally spoke.

“What was your life like? How could you possibly know what I feel? Stop making things up and let me do what I want, I just met you and you don’t own me, stop pretending like you know what you talking about, because you don’t! Ella yelled wide eyed and angry.

Ella pondered what Lilly told her, how could she possibly know what she was going through, how does Lilly deserve to tell her that her life is probably better than hers? Ella is homeless now and Lilly lives in a house, how could Ella’s life be better?

“You want to know about my life? I don’t think I have to tell you that, but my parents disowned me, I was told I was a disgrace, and wasn’t fit to live. My parents are the most disappointing people I have ever known, and so I left even now I miss them. The difference is I was forced to leave, you can always go back to your home, I don’t even know where my family lives anymore, and I was prepared to leave my home, I had money saved up, food and water, you have nothing but the clothes one your back. Is that enough to live with? Your parents must love you, you have to learn that people will disagree with you sometimes, but that’s how life is, it’s not fair and you have to deal with it, I can let you stay here, but only for a few days, then I’m taking you back to your house, I hope you trust me when I tell you your life will get better if you go hope, please listen to me, if you want to talk to me about it, you can.” Lilly spoke in a calming way.

Ella still stood there, her eyes opened out of shock, how should she have known that Lilly’s life had been so terrible? Ella could tell Lilly wasn’t lying and saw the tears in her eyes when she spoke about it. But the one thing Ella was bewildered about was how things would get better if she went home, of course she would have food and a place to stay, but would things get better than they were before? Would Ella be able to realize when her temper is out of control and try to improve it? But how would it change her family, would they understand Ella anymore, listen to her, get along better with her, or would it be a mistake going back?

“How are you so sure things will get better for me? I understand your life was terrible but no matter how much worse you think it is for you, are you sure I’m not feeling the same way you do, angry, sad and depressed? You can’t read my mind so don’t stand there and tell me I don’t have a hard life. The only thing that would change would be me having a place to stay, food, and shelter, but it’s not enough, don’t I deserve love to?” Ella replied.

Lillian was very taken back by this statement, she knew her parents probably loved her, but was it probably worth enough to just dump her back at her house? Lilly’s parents no matter how cruel, acted like they loved her sometimes, but it was to cover up the fact they couldn’t stand each other. It was true that Lilly didn’t know what was going on with Ella, but she was better off going home to a loving family, shelter and nourishment. Running away was a bad idea for anybody; they would only be hurting themselves.

“I can’t assure you things would get better, but I know you can always go home, at least you would have shelter and food, you can at least have that, what is there here for you? You had no plan and nowhere to stay, no way to get money, think about it, did you honestly think it would turn out to be a fairytale? Of course you’re feeling the same way I do, but why wouldn’t you? Your family does love you, you just have to let them show it and maybe things will get better, that’s what I meant.” Lilly explained more carefully.

Lillian knew she could only say those things but she meant them, things would probably get better for Ella, she just had to listen to people more. Its true Ella had no money or anything, there is nothing waiting anywhere for her other than at her house, her home. She was running to nothing, running for no reason at all, to nothing at all, and Ella was finally realizing it, out of the short three days, Ella finally understood, her eyes were opened now and she needed to trust Lilly, that her intentions were good, that she knew from personal experience what happens when you leave everything you have. Ella’s decisions were clear now, she should decide to go back home to her family, where she was fortunate to be since many people don’t have family’s to go back to, and that she abused her privileges and left everything out of her own selfishness.

“You may be right, I understand now, but I don’t want to be forced to do something, I will stay here for a few days and you can return me to my home, I know now that I don’t deserve to leave my family and that I’m lucky to have any, there’s nothing here for me and I was a fool, thank you for telling me what I needed to hear, please forgive my foul attitude, I hope you can forgive me for doubting you, I should have been smarter than to leave everything I have, and I learned how much I miss my family, shelter and home, and I’m glad somebody opened my eyes and told me the truth.” Ella apologized.

It was a shock to Lilly for Ella to finally come to her senses, and a relief for Ella to say. Ella truly did want to go back home now, and she was also scared of what her family’s reaction would be, but glad all the same, joyful and relieved to have a home she could go back to.

“I’m so happy for you, I hope you never want to do something like running away again, I hope we can be friends and stay in touch, I know it was difficult for you to think about going back again, and for that I’m truly sorry, you didn’t have to apologize to me, I was the one who needed to apologize to you, for nearly forcing you to go back to your home, I know you would have in time, I should have trusted you, I hope I’m forgiven.” Lilly nearly shouted in her high spirits.

The few days passed quickly, feeling rushed, mostly out of fear and nervousness of the two for Ella going back home. As the final day approached Ella asked herself if she should go back and she was nearly shaken with fear.

“Ella, if you’re not sure about going back home you can talk to me about it were friends now, you can trust me.” Lilly explained calmly.

“I’m fine, I’m just nervous, how will they react, my parents, and what do I do if it doesn’t get better? I know we’ve been over this a dozen times but I’m scared, maybe I need more time.” Ella replied nervously.

“I understand, but I know it’s going to be okay, trust me, you might be scared at first but it’s okay, it will all get better in time, your parents will be happy to see you.” Lilly reassured her.

“Thank you for all your support, I’m so glad we’re friends, I just wish you could see your family again.” Ella explained.

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’m fine, and if I was supposed to find my parents again, it will happen, if it doesn’t, it just wasn’t meant to be.” Lilly explained yet again.

The next day came as Lilly and Ella got ready to leave and take Ella back home. Ella got over most of her fears and was happy and excited and scared to go home, all at the same time. When they arrived at the small two story house Ella was nearly frozen, she really had to do it, and she had to face her fear and go back home. Ella was wide eyed as usual when she was nervous and Lilly could tell.

“Remember it’s going to be fine, we’re still friends and you can come over whenever you’d like, I’m going to miss you, I hope we can stay in contact.” Lilly smiled.

“I hope so, I really do, I’m really going to stay, I promise. Goodbye Lillian.” Ella assured her.

And with that Lilly and Ella said goodbye as Ella knocked on the front door to reveal a relieved and frantic mother.

“I missed you so much!” Ella’s mother cried, holding her daughter close as she wept tears of joy.

“I missed you to mother, please forgive my foolishness.” Ella apologized.

Lillian was right; things did get better for Ella. She was lucky to have her family and to be loved by so many people, it was a shame she didn’t see it before. Her family life was much better now and she owed it to her friend who opened her eyes to the truth, the one whom she stays in contact with today, and the one that taught her the unimportance of running away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

I realize how awful this is. It's too fast pace and cheesy, but it was a school assignment.