Ficlets

Using a Rubber (egnellahc sdrawkcab)

The fishermen continued talking, blocking the rubber raft. Violet shivered in her wet clothes, huddled closer to the wall. It would be hard to explain how she got so wet, yet her pack was completely dry. She was about to step from her shadowy hiding place into the warmth when the two men suddenly ran toward her.

She pressed herself tighter against the crumbling brick wall, listening to them shout at one another in Turkish. They disappeared into a doorway on one side of the alley. This could be her only chance to get away, to be free again. She ignored the stinging sensation running up her scarred arm and charged at the dock.

No one stopped her. She trotted up to the dinghy without so much as a single person noticing. It took her very little time to push the boat into the water, toss her pack in, and plop herself in the middle of its yellow expanse. She paddled away, until the current took her.

The moon was bright overhead, and the box’s tiles shimmered. She stared down into the clear sea, and let go.

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