3rd March 1985

The beach stretched alongside the water widely, marking the gold bronze sand from the blue-green water so accurately.

The waves seemed busy in smoothing the sand over and over as if the only purpose of their existence was to look after the sand so gently, to undo any disturbances on it.

The muted sand didn’t have evidence of any other being around over a fair visible area possible. 

The weather wasn't gentle today for visitors to be on the beach.

She had jumped over the fence again, which was clearly not allowed and especially for the visitors today. 

The security barrier signals clearly indicated the warning of tides for the day, that truly was there because of several incidents that had taken place there, as it was a high catchment area on the list. 

She was very much aware of the consequences that come along it.

But, maybe that wasn’t what she was bothered of anyway.

The scorching sun was burning her skin as she walked ahead to the rolling and roaring waves crashing over the shore.

Watching every splash of water, there she sat studying the waves hitting her feet, again and again, never-ending trials of waves trying to take her over and take her along them, she seemed to enjoy their vain attempts.

The blue sky, which was so clear and so lonely,

just a blazing sun in the heart of the sky that extended through horizons.

That seemed too familiar to her, like a burning heart that she had inside the empty aching world of her body.

Walking along the shore, peeling the golden sand, watching her footprints and humming to herself.

She laid on her back feeling the steady warmth of the grains. Sun beaming in her eyes and beating her body.

It was her stressful days that kept her awake throughout the night, her body was tired and begging for rest.

The soft wind caressing her cheeks, there she laid thinking about the steep lands that were awaiting her, she kept thinking about the jigsaw of her life, about the missing pieces, the forever lost pieces.

Humming an old melody to herself,

‘Among the millions of stars. . . . Who would Know if you diminished?’

Among the millions of stars. . .

Among the . . . .

. . . .

“Anaaa!, I have found you”, a noble illustrious voice spoke joyfully.

Ana giggled and ran to hide behind another tree so that she can be hard to be found and win of course!

There was Ava’s laughter in the air that kept the people amused with her playful nature.

“Found you ANA, at last!

“Dadddddyyyyy”, her gleaming eyes shown so bright at the sight of him.

She slipped away from his hands and ran away to hid behind another bush, her royal red gown was too big for the bush to hide, so she ran deeper into the trees giggling playfully.

‘Why don’t you hide in a new place this time?’

‘You always get found’

‘You never win’, she remembered her personal caretaker Marti’s challenging voice inside her head.

She disagreed with the directions of Marti and didn’t like the thought of it even. She shrugged off the thought of it.

She hid there quietly for some moments, waiting for her dad to spring from behind a bush and find her.

She so badly wanted to laugh at everyone who couldn’t find her till now. She sat there holding her breath, feeling her heart racing.

‘I shouldn’t be found, I must win, I must win’

‘I need to win, I need to win’

‘I need to prove them wrong,

I must not be found’

She felt if there was something unusual again, some concern in the air, the trees started rustling, the air gushed all of a sudden, she was getting scared now.

It had been quite a time that she hid there, hoping that he is gonna find her. She was not really happy anymore hiding in the trees,

‘He could have found me till now’

‘I must go out and find them myself’

She stepped out of the dense tree and felt something strange again.

The trees that she disliked most whispered as the wind gushed through the leaves.

‘You must hide, the not so wise princess’

Leaves hissed. 

The twigs moving with air didn’t seem quiet now.

‘Hide somewhere where no one finds you’

She was terrified and screamed, “Dad will find me and it will be over”.

The air blew harder and the trees were getting noisier,

‘He will find you for sure’

‘He knows where you go’

‘The princess not so wise’

‘He knows your only hiding place’

She heard a distant neighing of a horse, she hasn’t seen any horse ever allowed on that side of the forest, she didn’t know what was happening. That was her defined area of forest, how can anything unusual happen there without her knowing?

'Why the neighing sound? I am afraid of such happenings', she thought.

The horse started to trot in her direction.

‘Dad!’, she whispered.

‘He will find you for sure, and get you, you must hide’,

she heard that hissing again, she remembered something instantly!

‘When you outrun all the hiding places, there will still be a place, which will always be there, that’s destined for you, where nothing will concern you thereafter, forever!

Where only I can find you’,

she remembered her dad telling her about a hiding place.

She decided to run deeper into the woods.

As she ran she heard the galloping getting fast, the sound was getting nearer and she could hear the hoofs beating the ground.

She couldn’t understand where to run, she couldn’t find a way back, the bushes seemed alike from every side, the stallion was approaching so fast, she couldn’t run that way to make it to her dad in the garden.

‘Run! Hide!’

Suddenly there sprung a white stallion behind a tree which was more beautiful than it was furious, it was unmuzzled and seemed wild, as soon she heard the armed stallion approaching, the white stallion leaped towards Anna in an attempt to knead her under its hooves,

Ana tried to dodge the stallion by running in different directions, screaming and hiding under bushes where she was difficult to be found. 

Where ever she ran, the hooves followed so swiftly and dutifully dedicated to getting her.

She kneeled under a bush and crawled her way out to the hiding place she knew, where she knew she is gonna be safe. 

As she came out to the other side of the opening the stallion awaited there as if it knew her plans better, she screamed with terror and turned around instantly to run back.

But to her dismay she got stumbled by a rock and fell a prey to the intruder, she dragged her body away as far as she could, but the stallion was way too eager and swift to get done with her.

The stallion rose high in the air, Anna was too weak to run away from it,

Anna knew for a moment that it’s her last breath and as the wrath of the mighty stallion befalls her, she stands no chance to have a second breath.

“Daddddddyyy”, she screamed and couldn’t long for the arrival of her father anymore.

Anna closed her eyes and waited for her end to begin, screaming for life, hiding her self under her weak arm, hoping anyone to save her.

There were a ferocious collapse, a loud noise and a painful neigh in the air, pushing the white stallion off her and gliding over her safely, pinning the other stallion to the ground, and finally a sound of a sword being pulled out of the scabbard.

. . . .

“Arrrrggggg”, Murphy screamed.

Something jerked Murphy awake, the splash of the tides rising over the beach, she had dozed off on the sand and for how long?

The tides were exceeding the limits, she should have left instantly.

Her heart was thumping with the dream she just saw and was frightened over the clear memory of it. She wanted to go to a safe place for now.

She could hear the screams of the girl inside her head as she rushed towards the fence to leave the beach.

Suddenly something caught her attention, there was something on the sand, she drew nearer to the pattern that she saw, as she bent over the patterns, those seemed like the presence of someone else here lately, her heart missed a beat and her hair rose on her back,

‘A horse?’

‘Are these hooves pattern?’

‘But?’

Everything seemed so astonishing to her, she wasn’t even over her dream that this astounded her even more.

Who woke her up?’

Thoughts were boiling in her thunderstruck head, the tides were getting more furious.

An angry whistle blew over the fence.

“Hey, you again! How many times do I get you strolling here in bad days!”,

the security guard yelled at her angrily.

“The signal clearly says that you aren’t allowed beyond the entrance for the facility today”

She barely lent ear to what he was saying, attention was grabbed by the waves who were flushing the evidence of her astonishment.

She had to leave.