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Sanctuary

by  Epona Love

Posted: Monday, September 29, 2008
Word Count: 322
Summary: A brief part of a story that I would like to get feedback on before continueing, does the way it's written work for the subject? Thanks.




The wind and rain crashed against the old tin roof of the small simple church. It seemed to physically shake under the pressure, wooden beams creaking and groaning within the hollow structure, which seemed to echo with the sound of her gasping breath as she crossed the threshold. She put her weight against the solid oak door and fought the powerful wind. Gaining ground, despite her sodden feet slipping on the wet tiles, the door slid back into it's frame. The deafening roar of the wind slackened to a muffled howl, like an abandoned dog shut out to fend for itself.
Still leaning against the heavy door, she thought she could feel the building vibrating, shuddering, with an accompanying sharp tapping sound... Where was that noise coming from? Trying to focus her mind, she realised the tapping was inside her own head, the steady rhythm of her chattering teeth. Looking down in the dim light, she could vaguely make out her shaking hands. wet and smeared with... what? She asked herself, "mud... or blood...?" She couldn't tell. Her hands felt raw from clawing her way through the woods.
As feeling returned to her senses, sharp stinging pain seemed to spread across the whole of her body, kept at bay by adrenaline and the cold until now. Every inch of her body ached, and her lungs felt sore from struggling to regain her breath. She sank to the floor, her energy exhausted, and her will to care, gone.
She just wanted to sit there, stay there forever. Did it matter anymore if he found her now? It would be over quickly, at least.
Her matted hair, plastered to her face with rain and dirt, steadily released little rivers of muddy water, which disguised a solitary tear that fell.

The tear left a trace of purity, all that remained of the child she had once been, before the innocence had been cruelly ripped away.