Have you ever had a day that was meant to be perfect and in the end everything falls apart? Well, I have. I remember it as if it was yesterday.

That dreaded summer night the storm thrashed throughout the forest. We kept running even though the wind wished to send us sailing to the stars above. Colby told me in case with are separated to follow the stars home; they are a map that you can never misplace. It seemed rather difficult to focus on his quick words while leaping over stumps, galloping over logs, and dodging full grown oak trees. We came upon the largest old oak tree in the forest and decided to rest a moment. I starred up at this enormous tree in awe. It felt oddly familiar to do this. I rubbed my hand along its wet bark and found a carving. 'Liz and Col BFF' had been engraved in this wonderful tree. I turned to find Colby catching my gaze with tender eyes in the rain and moonlight. He broke the silence by speaking,
“We may not be able to rest for long. This tree shows that we are just a few miles away from home. The rain is beginning to fade and they are tight on our trail.” Just as he finished speaking, we heard an enormous bang that made the forest floor tremble followed by yelling. We swiftly got up from the tree full of memories and continued to run.
“How much further till we reach town?” I whispered to Colby.
“Three minutes, tops.” He replied.
My pace started to decrease and my legs grew weak, Colby turned around and grabbed my hand to keep me going.
“You need to keep running. I cannot- I will not lose you again to him.” He spoke with such strength and determination in his smooth voice. We could then see the town lights in the distance. 'So close to home.' I said to myself. We could now hear footsteps of the enemy coming from all directions. We saw a figure towards our front, left and right. No doubt there was another figure stalking us from behind like a ghost. We waltzed right into their trap. A tall man in a silver sports suit and a receding hair line stepped towards us. This figure was Edwin. The man who wanted us dead at any cost.
“Colby..”
As he spoke I could not help but feel fear and anger rock throughout my body. Colby squeezed my hand, he had not let it go since I slowed down, a little bit tighter knowing that I was angry. The man from our left snickered as he walked to Edwin. He whispered something into Edwin's ear. This secret was very humorous by the deep belly laugh of Edwin. His laugh is like no other. A deep raspy one with all signs of evil pointing right at him. Edwin smiled at the thought of this untold whisper exposing a hideous set of teeth. These teeth of a monster were complimented by thick scars across his face.
“Colby, Colby, Colby. Did you really believe that I would not hunt you down?”
The rain had completely halted but, water still ran down Edwin's face giving him an edge.
“ I have been searching for you two for quite some time now. I haven't had the chance to visit. I miss you guys.” He spoke these words with total sarcasm.
As he spoke, he had gradually walked closer to us. He was now so close he could have reached out and touched my arm. That is just what he went to do before I smacked his thick arm away. I could feel that Colby stopped breathing and tightened his grip around my hand.
“You will not lay a finger on me.” I said to Edwin.
“Oh Elizabeth, why such the attitude?.” As Edwin spoke a smirk stretched across that wicked face. I wished to smack this hilarity right to ground. To stomp it out of his system. He turned to face his henchman to our right.
“Mike. Will you oh so gingerly place the sacks over our guests head. We wouldn't want our captives knowing where we are heading would we?” Mike straightened his back and placed his arms to his sides.
“No sir.”
Mike then placed sacks over our heads and lead us to what seemed like the back of a pickup truck. Colby and I held on tight for what seemed like hours on end. Blind of what danger lied ahead of us. Muffled words came from Colby to my left,
“We should never had left town on our own.”
We had been so close to home, yet so far away.