The Park

The people were long gone, but she didn't care. All that was in her mind was a single word:

Run.

And did she run. Adrenaline and fear fuelled her legs, which kept going and going, dodging people, street lights and the cars swerving in all directions. She kept running until she eventually left behind the concrete and glass of the city and eventually found herself in the green of a small park she did not know the name of. Suddenly, the adrenaline abandoned her and exhaustion took over. She plopped herself on the ground, with her back against a lone oak tree, catching her breath. She closed her eyes and tried to gather her thoughts. It wasn't easy.

But she tried nonetheless. Her mind felt as if she was standing in the middle of a turbulent ocean, a million currents crashing against her, throwing her off balance.

Eventually she took ahold of herself again. It didn't help at all, as she was still clueless as to what had happened. And so she chose to focus on the moment, the space around her. The cold grass, still wet with dew felt cool on her hands, a calming feeling amidst all the confusion. She enjoyed the feeling.

"Settled down yet?"

Her eyes flew open.

A lone figure stood in front of her, but all she could see of it were its legs and a pair of black leather shoes so polished they could have easily been used as a shaving mirror. Hazel hadn't heard it approaching. She looked up.

He looked like a businessman, the kind she would sometimes see on the streets. He was wearing an immaculate grey suit and black tie, and was carrying a brown briefcase on his right hand. She looked at his face.

He seemed to be in his mid fifties, with wrinkled around his silver eyes and slightly long graying brown hair, tied up neatly in a ponytail. A neatly trimmed salt and pepper beard framed his chin.

Hazel scrambled upright, her back still against the tree. She tried to appear confident, though she was scanning their surroundings for an escape route, if she needed one.

"I suppose I am" she replied, as calmly as she could, though her voice resembled more of a mouse's squeak than her own.

The man let out a short chuckle. "Right. By the way, the quickest escape route would be through those trees over there," he pointed towards a pair of trees to the left "but if I were you, I'd stay still and listen to me"

Hazel was barely surprised that he'd read her mind. Everything had stopped making sense a while back. She only managed a shrug.

"Good. Now, Hazel, as you've already noticed, the city is in chaos. You were too busy running away to actually figure out what is going on. For now, let's say the city is... under new management. Got it?"

She nodded, just to make the conversation end quicker. She didn't like the fact this man knew her name.

"Times change. It's all about growth, decay then transformation. Phoenixes rise from the ashes. And on that note, let me give you this" He opened his briefcase and slid out a grubby sheet of paper, which was something Hazel did not expect to see near a man who seemed to take so much care in his suit and appearance. He handed her the paper, which she stuffed inside her jeans pocket without even glancing at it.

"Things aren't what they seem to be. Powerful forces are at play. Everyone has to pick a side of they're involved. And don't lose that paper if you want to survive in the new Riverworth"

Hazel had had enough. She ran away to the right, the opposite direction this man had pointed to. She would get rid of the piece of paper NOW. As she reached inside her pocket she heard the man yelling at her.

"Where are you going? You still have another appointment before you're free!"

She was puzzeld as to what that meant, but she couldn't question it for long, because reality seemed to fold itself over. Shapes melted, became blurs, disappeared . She was frozen in place, mid-run, while the park around her shrank to a complete blackness.

Then reality unfolded. Now she was on the Metro station tracks, and she could hear a train approaching in the distance. A light kept getting closer and brighter, extremely fast. She wouldn't have time to climb from the track to the platform. This was it. The end. All she could do now was look away and hope for a quick end. She ducked...