She was running. She was running as fast and as far away as she could. She saw a ship in the distance and she hoped she could make it before it left the dock. She knew that if she didn’t make it to the ship she would just jump into the water and swim as far as she could.
She had enough of this life. She was tired and beaten and broken. Her husband a great big fat man had hit her for the last time. Usually she would try to think of what she could have done to bring out his rage but today she did nothing. Today she was at home cooking dinner for him as usual. He came home from work and she knew already it was going to be a rough night.
Her husband stood about six feet. He was almost as round as he was tall. His hair was thinning and always had a greasy shine to it. It sometimes looked like his slicked it down with tar. His eyes were sunken in and a tired green. Permanently bloodshot from the drink that he needed so much. His mustache grew into his beard and hung down on his face ageing him even more. He was an angry man who always wore a scowl.
He came charging through the door almost breathless. He stared at her hard and her heart leapt into her throat. She knew he was already mad but she hadn’t even spoken to him yet. She gathered her courage and asked him how his day was. The words barely left her lips before his fist hit them. She saw a piece of her tooth slide across the floor and under the refrigerator. She stepped a few steps back and then toppled over and he came down on her again. There was so much rage in his eyes that she knew that today would be the day that he would kill her.
She scrambled backwards on the kitchen floor trying to get away from him. He started to take off his belt and fear filled her. She felt the stove behind her and she pushed up on it for support. She pulled herself to her feet and grabbed the pan that was cooking his steaks. She swung it around at him. She felt the heat from the handle and the grease burning her but she didn’t care. She heard the pan hit his head with a sickening crack she saw the shock in his eyes and he wobbled backward. She hit him again and again. She saw the blood flow from his skull as his eyes locked with hers in a strange confusion. She saw him fall and then she ran.
She ran so fast her heart was pounding. She was pretty sure she killed him. She kept seeing his eyes in her head. He looked so genuinely shocked that she would strike him. She tried to shake that feeling. Now she just had to make it onto this boat and she could sail away from here. She could start over. The boat was pulling away just as she reached the dock. She didn’t know if she could make it. She took a leap of faith and….
