Sought After

As the car turned onto the Boyd Boulevard, it screeched so hard that the people in the isolated suburb of Pennylane pulled their curtains closed while some ran into their homes. The black ford with tinted windows kept turning in and out of streets, avenues and clustered areas.

“We’ll ditch the car once we got to a more clustered area with more activity” Brian said as he held onto his wounded leg

“How will you make it out of here with an injury? That won’t work” Meghan said, anxiously looking back after every two minutes while planted in the back seat

“Don’t worry about me kid… I’ve survived worse – you’re still young, got so much potential ahead of you, the best runner in history” Brian responded “Don will take care of me, you just make sure that you run”

The coast was clear and so they parked the car and got out of it. Don covered the car with a silver car cover and flattened the tyres by puncturing holes with his hunting knife.

“You’re on your own Kid, make sure you run… RUN” Don said as he helped Brian, and both ran off.

Meghan couldn’t believe that she was actually on her own, she thought of following Brian and Don or at least attempt to trail behind them but realized that she would probably be caught; “He’s injured right?” she said out loud. As she looked around, trying to navigate the area and go the way least traveled, she heard police cars in the distance. She took off her jersey and ran towards the houses that were front opposite from her; “Run through the houses, stay low and ensure that you don’t look suspicious” she uttered as she continued running. After a good 25km, she could hear car horns going off and a church bell; “A busy town perhaps? I saw this on the crime show me and dad always watch, make it for the busy towns and blend in. 'It will be harder for your muscles to regain the memory of running Meghan, to remember how to do it…' well, watch me” she said as she began running towards the sounds. “I didn’t think that I’d use my college track running scholarship to get away from these people chasing me, the more I think about it – the more I want to run… how bad do I want it? How bad do I want my freedom? I sound like Coach James” she said as she ran towards the town. “I can hear it; I can hear the people asking… 'what happened to her? She was an all-star athlete, what led her to that life? That path? She even had a scholarship…' so ungrateful”.

As Meghan approached the town, she wrapped her jersey around her waist and tied her hair in a low bun. In that moment, all she needed was a water bottle and she would blend right in – as a 06:00 AM morning runner. She saw police cars driving past her and tried by all means to avoid eye contact; “I can see them meeting and badmouthing me, 'It doesn’t make sense… why did she do it?' ” she said as she gave out a sarcastic laugh “Ever since the accident, she’s changed”

As she approached the town, she stood by the neighborhood and tried to scope out the town before heading right in, a voice came out from one of the houses; “How do you do it?”

She quickly jumped and tried to keep calm, “Oh my bad, I didn’t mean to startle you… it’s just that I’m always seeing runners run past here and I wonder how you people do it?”

“Uhm, I’m a track runner so this is more of a warmup for me” she said as she gave out a cute yet hesitant laugh. The owner of the home laughed and shook his head before heading into the house. She slowly walked towards the town and pretended to alter the km’s on her fit watch but was actually scoping the town. She walked back towards the house where the owner had asked her the question and knocked on the sliding door, the owner walked up to the door and gave her a strange look;

“Is everything okay Miss?” he asked

“Yes… uhm, I just wanted to ask if could get some water, I dropped my water bottle and I’ve been trailing around but can’t find it” she said as she looked around the house

“Oh you’re in luck… I have a bottle that came in with my stationary bicycle, you can have that” he said as he welcomed her in his home. He poured some water in the bottle and handed it to her and insisted that she walk out using the front door, she walked out and started jogging. She came across various people but noticed quite a number of men in coats and black shades; “They are onto me” she said as she started increasing the pace. “I’m sure Coach will be proud; I’m punching more numbers in than before… it’s funny what the body does when its under pressure” she said as she crossed the road. “You’ve always had to be the best Meghan mom always said… You’ve got to work harder and smarter, dad always munched… you can’t win the game if you’re feeling sorry for everyone else, YES COACH! It’s all in your head…” she said as she turned into Kane Avenue.

She continued running until she reached the hair salon store; “32 km’s, imagine that” she said as she stood in front of the salon where she caught a glimpse of her reflection. “It’s all in your head Meghan… you can do it, right? You can push through… you’ve always been a runner and your parents have always been somewhat proud of you. You break barriers and make progress every single time! You are a star… the brightest even.” As she tried moving forward to focus on her reflection, sirens went off and she bolted. She didn’t even look around or notice that her jacket was slipping off her waist, she continued running until she reached an alley. She ducked beside the bin and drank almost all of her water. “This place is safe… I’ll sit here for a while, just until I calm down” she said as she placed herself on the concrete floor. “I think running has become my identity, a track runner – wait, no – Meghan, the track runner… she’s made the community so proud. The district is proud of her. Imagine that. Wait, but didn’t you have your accident? Didn’t you run into the stadium wall when you were training for you regional? How are you able to bounce back like that?”

After ten or so minutes of sitting there, she stood up and burst into laughter; “Well done Mr and Mrs Callen, your child is a star… how do you two feel?” she said as she walked up to the street.  She curtsied in front of the street pole; “Oh thank you, oh thank you… we humbly appreciate the messages and yes our baby is a star and we l-“

“Miss!” someone poked her as they interrupted her portrayal of her parents to the streetlamp.

Without even looking back or paying attention, she ran and this time, fast.

“You dropped your jersey” the voice said

She continued running, this time crying; “They are coming to get me… what will Don and Brian say?” she said as she ran through the streets and restaurant boards. As she approached the corner of Malan lane, right out of Kane Avenue, she tripped and rolled over to the “Josey’s pizzeria” door.

-

The smell of dough and antibacterial liquids woke her up… Her eyes hardly able to open saw figures standing above her; “They've caught me, it's over" she said

“Meghan? Can you hear us honey? this man identified you and called us”

She could finally open her eyes and make out who the figures were; it was her parents.

“We’ve been looking for you, everywhere honey” Mrs Callen said as she squeezed Meghan’s hand

“They are coming after me” she said as she tried to get up

“No one is coming after you Meghan” Mr Callen said as he held her towards the classic wooden diner chair

“They are, I didn’t run fast enough”

“Meghan… why were you running in the first place? You know you can’t do that without someone beside you”

“They were coming after me, Brian and Don told me to run”

“You didn’t take your meds today morning…”

“What meds? Don’t you believe me?”

“There is no Brian and Don hun… but that doesn’t matter, what matters is that you should always take your meds okay”

“What meds?”

“Your anti-psychotic drugs Meghan… we’ve been through this. The only way to fight this is to take your meds and maybe, if you’re consistent enough, maybe we’ll put you back on the track” Mrs Callen said

The room became all fuzzy and blurred – she couldn’t make out what was happening and why she was feeling numb; “Brian and Don” she murmured

“You should really stop letting her watch those old crime shows with you until late” Mrs Callen said to Mr Callen.