Die Trying | Teen Ink

Die Trying

March 25, 2010
By Anonymous

The only person Jale had ever really known was her brother. The other voices she heard were the angry shouts of her parents and most days she muffled them out while her brother told her stories. Then one Tuesday it all stopped, Jale and her brother had to hide. She heard those loud gunshots and even though they didn’t go through her, she felt like they pierced her heart. So they ran. The wet dew on the grass Caught between her toes as they ran out of breath. All she heard was her brother repeating,
"It's going to be okay, just don’t stop running”, and she didn’t. She ran until his voice trembled off and finally until she stopped hearing his footsteps. She ran until the water engulfed her and everything was still. She was happy with the idea that her last breath would be of water: really, she was just afraid of what would happen if she came back up to breathe, so she let go and let her lungs fill with every inhale.

The next thing she knew someone was gripping her tightly as water flowed from her mouth.
"Thank god you're alive!" his voice boomed in her ear. Petrified, she wriggled out of his grip and got to her feet. Feeling around frantically and tripping over furniture, she felt a door but it was bolted.
"Why do you have me here? Let me out!" she screamed
"It's okay, you're safe,” he murmured
"No! what have you done with my brother? Did you kill him like my parents?" she trailed off as the realization set in. She was alone now. Tears racing down her face, she tried to kick in the door, helpless she fell to the
Ground and mumbled a prayer.
"I didn’t kill anyone." The man said as he knelt down next to her.
"I saw you drowning in the water and jumped in to save you"
"I wasn’t drowning, I know very well how to swim, thank you!"
"Well I couldn’t just let you die, and how am I supposed to know with your...uh...condition"
"You mean because I'm blind? Not all blind people are dumb!"
"Of course not, I didn’t mean...im sorry." turning away from his breath, she wiped away her tears.


Trying to change the subject she quickly turns and asks
"Can you open a window please? I need some fresh air" Jale could feel the thump of his foot steps stomping to the left of her, a latch clicking and finally she felt the cool breeze of the world on her face. She got up and walked over to the window.
I need to get out of here! Jale screamed in her mind.
"So are you going to tell me what happened?" The man asked. His voice gave her a horrid headache. She ignored him: her mind was racing.

If I just leap out of this window, I could run free and try to find my brother. If I don't he will never let me go.
"Just...uh get me some water and ill talk." She answered quietly
As his footsteps faded she gathered up saliva, and spat out the window, listening intensely for the splat, it never came. Along with her eyesight, her hearing was not the best. She had to take the risk, either die in this house or die trying. Placing her foot carefully she climbed up in the windowsill and dangled her feet freely, It cant be more then two stories high, she thought. Returning to the world around her she heard his stomps getting closer. Attempting to drone out his voice, only to concentrate on his steps. Closer, closer, until he stopped. Feeling a touch on her shoulder, she jumped.
What felt to her like two stories up was instead a long drop to earth. The man who had saved her, a policeman, lived alone on the edge of a cliff. She fell until the never ending drop gathered up and exploded all at once. In her last seconds of life, she was happy with the idea that she would die trying.

The author's comments:
This was a project in class where we had to make up our own character.

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