‘Running’ is a story about one girl, Ashley, caught up on the wrong side of the law; shop

lifting, truancy, experimenting with drugs, and prostitution. Her mother has always been a
lost cause, running from place to place, dragging her daughter along with her. Men after
men, some good, but usually pretty bad. Drugs, alcohol, violence. Not the kind of
environment a kid should be brought up in. She’s got all the wrong friends, kids like her –
no boundaries. Prancing around the suburbs in Brisbane City, wreaking havoc, and being a
nuisance. But under her tough, bad girl exterior, is a little girl who’s just crying out for
help. She’s tired of running, being chased by her fears, her past. Someone has to save her
from herself, before it’s too late. What will become of Ashley, will she ever stop running?

1
 The beginning…

I was running, I’ve always been running. For as long as I can remember, my mother would take
me from one place to another, she would bring different men into my life, hoping I would
eventually consider one as my father, then replace him with another once she realised he was a
dead beat, just like the last one.
If my mother taught me one thing in life, it was this: when your past catches up to you, and your
problems become too much, run from it. Run, and don’t ever stop. She also taught me how to
shop lift, apply makeup by the tender age of ten, that men are disposable, and to not trust anybody
but yourself. With her high morals, and terrific choice in men who always had a history of
domestic violence and drug abuse, she was the perfect role model for a lonely kid with no
stability in life.
I wish I could say it hasn’t always been like this, but that would be a lie, not that lies are wrong or
anything. As my mother always says, there’s nothing wrong with bending the truth if it will keep
you out of trouble. Running, without ever taking the time to enjoy the view, I’ve come to realise,
the world is my race now, and I’ve got to stay one step ahead if I ever want to escape my
mother’s demons, demons that have burdened me all my life.
Literally speaking though, I am running, to the bus stop that is. I have less than thirty seconds to
make it there, before the bus leaves me for dead and I have nowhere to run to. Yes, it’s a
Monday, and yes, there is school, but if truancy were something you put on a resume, I’d be a
shoe in for the job, having spent more time out of a classroom, than in.
I managed to piss bolt my ass to the bus shelter just in time to see it speed off down the road, its
gassy pollution escaping from the exhaust pipe. I cursed under my breath, and kicked the bench
several times, which wasn’t the smartest thing to do considering I was wearing thongs. My big
toe started to bleed, and I cursed out loud this time, the amount of blood starting to cause me
some panic. Then the pavement around my feet was slowly getting covered in blood, and I began
to hyperventilate. I’ve always had a small phobia of blood.
“Need a hand? Or should I say, a foot?” said a voice from somewhere behind me. Great, now
strangers are making lame jokes at my ill fortune and stupidity. I slowly turned around, and to my
astonishment it wasn’t a stranger, it was Carter Green, a total cutie in my biology class at school,
even better. Okay, now for my smart witty response that will knock him off his feet, stop him in
his tracks, convince him in not some weirdo chick covered in foot blood. Smart, charming
response… right about now.
“Ha-ha… yeah.” Or not so smart, and not even remotely charming. ‘Yeah’, bloody hell, who says
that! Take two.
“Do you have like, a tissue or something?” Smart, no. Charming, no. Flirty, definitely not. What
in God’s name is wrong with me! Just as I shook my head and began to hobble away, he grabbed
my arm and, miracle of all miracles, produced a tissue from his backpack. What kind of boy has
tissues in his backpack? I’m really hoping it isn’t used.
“Thanks. I’m Ashley by the way.”

2
“Yeah, I know. We have Bio together, at Brisbane State High, that place where we should be on a
Monday morning, but we’re not. Wagging?” Cute, check. Bad ass attitude, check. Chivalrous,
check. I think I’ve scored! Now I will redeem myself with a quirky response.
“Yep.” So much for quirky, geez Ashley, way to go. With luck, I’ve charmed him enough with
my average looks, outrageous, untameable, wild curly brown hair, racoon eye makeup and
stereotypical scene outfit – black skinnies and a t-shirt. Attractive.
“So you’re wagging, which means your parents will probably crack the shits when you explain
why you were bleeding all over the bus stop pavement, and not at school, am I right?” What is he
getting at?
“Parent. Just one, and a temporary dad, but you’re more or less right. What are you getting at?”
“And with an injury like that, you’re going to need some kind of medical attention. Lucky for
you, I have nowhere to be, and nothing to do, so I can accompany you to the emergency room
and make sure you don’t go abusing your foot anymore, on unsuspecting bus benches.” Oh my
God, this guy is cute.
“Your funny, it’s cute.” Did I really just say that?
“And you’re painting the footpath with your blood, let’s go invalid.” Laughing, he helped me hop
my way across the busy road, flipping off several cars that only sped up when they saw us try to
cross. Jerks. Lucky for us, the Royal Brisbane Hospital was directly across from the bus stop, so
we didn’t have to walk far to get to the emergency room.
The ER was practically empty this early in the morning, most people would be at school or work,
and the people who weren’t, were probably sleeping off last night’s drinks. We didn’t have to
wait long before a nurse saw the amount of blood my foot was producing, and showed us to a
doctor. I didn’t like doctors, they asked too many questions. It was just downright nosy.
“Well young lady, seems like you’ve had some sort of accident. How did you do this to your foot,
on a Monday morning, when you should be at school, safe in a classroom?” See what I mean!
Too many questions, so freaking nosy.
“It doesn’t matter how I did it, I just need you to fix it, ‘cause right now it hurts like a bitch, and I
think I’m going to pass out. This thing is leaking like a faucet. So can you fix it, or will I have to
find someone else, more qualified and less intrusive?” I was getting seriously pissed off, and the
amount of pain I was in didn’t invite small talk. Another thing my mother taught me, if you don’t
like someone, then show it. It’s not rude, it’s upfront.
“You’ve got quite an attitude missy, but I can help you. Just sit still, this might sting a bit, you’re
tough though.” He wiped the wound on my toe with some kind of liquid that stung like hell. It
was all I could do to stop myself from screaming.
Now that I could actually see the wound on my toe without several layers of blood covering it, I
realised it wasn’t something a Band-Aid could fix. Oh no, this thing would need stitches, it didn’t
take a doctor to figure that out. My toe was also sticking out in a funny direction too. I crossed
my fingers, hoping it was just a cramp that was making it stick out like that, and it wasn’t broken.
“That’s one nasty laceration you’ve got there, it’s going to need stitches, and it seems like you’ve
broken your toe as well. We’ll take an x-ray just to be sure though, just let me stitch you up first.”
3
It finally dawned on me why people become doctors in the first place. They enjoy delivering bad
news to poor vulnerable idiots like me, or even worse, to people who are dying from cancer!
Telling someone they’re dying must actually give them some kind of satisfaction, sick bastards.
Why else would you go to university for years on end, just to see blood, people’s insides and tell
someone they’ve got three months to live. They like it!
Stitches are kind of cool, uncomfortable but cool. X-rays though, they’re just boring. After
shoving my foot under some kind of machine with funny lights, they told me something I already
knew, even without a PHD behind my name: my toe was broken. Who would’ve guessed. They
also told me they couldn’t really do anything about it, and that it would heal itself if I just rested,
and gave it time. Not something I wanted to hear. I limped away from the emergency room
without so much as a thank you to the pain-in-the-ass doctor.
“How does it feel? Sore?” inquired my knight in shining armour. He was even cuter when he
worried.
“Nah, it’s alright. The anaesthetic has numbed it pretty well.” Wow, I’m finally starting to talk to
him, like a normal person. My flirting skills still need a bit of work, but holding a conversation is
a good start.
“That’s good then. Nice show you put on back there, quite some mouth you have. What’s it like
at other things?” Dear god, did he just make a sexual innuendo towards me? Clever response
required right now, think. Think! Nothing... my mind was an empty void. Clear of any rational
response.
“Umm…” Yes, umm indeed. Let’s see what he says to that! I’ve probably left him dumbfounded.
“Don’t worry, I’m kidding, unless you don’t want me to be.” He’s good, real good. But I’m
better.
“Uh, Carter…” My comebacks put his comebacks to shame. Ah, who am I kidding. I suck! At
talking, at flirting, at being human.
“You know my name, and I’m pretty sure I never mentioned it. Actually I’m one hundred per
cent sure I never told you my name. How’d you know it? Have you been stalking me or
something?” He chuckled, and I was left with approximately three seconds to come up with
something that didn’t require me telling him I fantasized about him every other day. It’s not like
I’m the only girl to find him totally amazing though, I bet he has a whole line up of girls just
waiting to be his. Time’s up.
“Please, don’t flatter yourself. We have Bio together, I guess I just picked it up after hearing it so
many times.” Not bad Ash, not bad. Almost believable. If it weren’t for my flaming red cheeks.
“Aha, sure. You’re cute Ashley, let’s get something to eat. If you’re up for it.” Up for it? Boy,
was I ever!
“Yeah, let’s go. Just as long as we take the bus, this anaesthetic won’t last forever.”
To be continued. Just wanted to see if I got many views for this first little bit, before I kept
going. Comment if you have suggestions on any changes that should be made.