Deadman's Dawn
Sunlight beat furiously against my eyelids, forcing me into wakefullness. It took me a few moments to reorient myself and remeber what had happened. Suddenly the memories came flooding back, and I wished I was still sleeping in blissful ignorance.
I had lived many peacefull years in my village, and made a good living catching fish in the stream to sell to food preparers. I was thought to be a good citizen, and a respected community member. No one had to know about those caged birds that I kept in my wood shed. No one had to know about the messages that were sent to far off lands and unknown faces. No one had to know about any of it. But now they did.
Why had I sold my kingdom away in the first place? Perhaps it was for the coin, but looking back I think that the real reason was for the sense of adventure. Subterfuge brings a sense of danger, and I could not live without the excitement it brought.
I sat up and brushed aside the forest leaves that had been my blanket. Birds cheerfully twittered in the trees. It was as if they mocked my misery. This shouldn't have happened.
But it had, and all because of the butcher's son. He had been chasing a rabbit in hopes of making his poor mother a stew. The rabbit had lodged itself in my wood shed. He had seen the birds. I found him in the woodshed, staring curiously at them.
It was not the first time I had killed, but this time it was in anger and fear. It was not premeditated as the others had been. I left his body on the floor, and ran to the house. I packed what I could, and ran for the forest. His mother was no fool and woul not accept the lie that her boy had got lost in the woods.
Today is my first day on the run. This dawn is the first I see as an outlaw. They will hunt me mercilessly. I will pay for what I have done. But until that dreary day when I am trapped with nowhere to run, I will do my best to live day to day. I will do my best to try to stay alive for as long as I can, and perhaps someday I will find remorse in my soul for what I have done.
IrLuX