Endless Satisfaction With An End

ENDLESS SATISFACTIONS WITH AN END






"Counterfeit is the word."

"No word is needed."

"I disagree."

"No you don't, we always agree on the same things."

"Time has come."

"Finally you admit it."

"I knew we would have to do it eventually, it is good to take extra precautions."

"This will be interesting."

"Indeed, I have long wanted to pass as one of them, experience the challenge we have inflicted towards their lifestyle."

"Power is thirsty alone, give it to a man and he will be driven insane."

"What about two men?"

"It gets worse."

"We are ready, we can strike at any moment, we will just have to make sure to check our options before hand."

"Our option is already selected, we go, we don't make a fuss and we observe."

"The Lord is with us, a path has been outlined for us, he will descend and give us the strength to appeal to the chance, the chance of control."

"I wouldn't bring The Lord into this."

"Are you inflicting that we are doing the wrong thing that God wouldn't want us to do?"

"Perhaps I am. The Lord was the first for the fact of his power, he is the highest in the hierarchy of mankind."

"With all the power he has, if he wished for us to be stopped, we would have been cut short by now, understand this as an answer to your doubt... To your question."

"It wasn't a question but merely a statement, maybe, the fact I am speaking out is god's message to us."

"No. It is your rebellion against God, you are not worthy and neither is any human being of carrying out The Lord's will, time is his greatest measure and how everything is judged throughout this universe, it is his mouth, his way of speaking. His eyes are the people, he contemplates through what they see, only he has deeper emphasis. He also listens, like a wise man, he listens using his other two senses. He only needs to see and speak to hear, to feel, to smell, to understand our nature. We are an experiment, don't forget that, our souls is the frustration of our will that is kept in a cage. He controls us. We feel like we are in control, when it is he, that has the power. God has acted. You have only gone with the illusion that his action is yet to be complete. However, he has told us to go ahead, simply through our souls' capability of coming up with such a plan. It is his message to us."

"But then why is it that so many people would object? If we indeed have no control of our soul and everything we do is an indirect command of God then why do we all have different opinions?"

"That's the point. It's an indirect command, it isn't him telling us to do these things but it has programmed our genes, making us the way we are. We have been created to feel like there are endless paths to follow, when in fact there are only a rare amount that our heart will pursue. What do we gather from that?"

"Our hearts have been analysed subconsciously by God, he has made that spirit of ours, meaning we all catch a different trait of him. What we seem to decide and be is only luck. A compliment or an insult, what does it matter? Whatever we are being thanked for can in no way be attributed to us, yet as humans we like to believe it is. If someone has screamed in your face you are not worthy, you feel disheartened, perhaps angry. How is that feeling created, is the question. Maybe there is no answer."

"That's what you don't understand, the answer like everything is God. This is how he shows his disappointment in you and by punishing you, the robot, the slave, he punishes himself, reminding his machine to follow the code and what the program issues."

"That means that even The Lord doesn't treat himself as an equal. He gives himself pain for what others do."

"And that's what happens in the real world, all the time."

"So now we are the slaves, only we will have a secret amount of power that robots will never have."

"So now we have many, many Gods and two servants. Will this alter the hierarchy?"

"It will. Only, we will have the power the robots have, to inflict pain on there masters and yet in a way they will be the slaves and us the masters, however still keeping their title."

"God bless us."



The pace of time is infinite, or so it feels. I notice a change every few minutes or so. Sometimes it goes fast, sometimes slowly. There isn't a pattern to it, it is purely unorganised. I have often wondered why clocks make a sound within each second and then a louder sound each hour. A day or a year may pass but there will no greater sound, it has no significance unlike the real world does. It is quite peculiar, the less important things are short-listed. The idea of reversing the worthiness in concepts is peculiar. Who would ever think of such an idea?

"Echo." Mother grumbles.

She looks rather angelic when she sleeps so effortlessly. It is effortless to her, however hard it is for most people to get to sleep with seeing demons. Mother's mind isn't with the demons. Only people believe that these monsters are true and that they shall haunt them, if they prove unworthy. Nonsense.

"Take care of Sapi and Anouk and take Anouk to the markets today," she mumbles still half-asleep, "I need not be disturbed."

She dozes off carelessly. As a mother she is quite misplaced in both her mind and her physical orientation.
The markets. What a gruesome and yet curiously compelling place to go. The human logic in what we do doesn't seem human, it resembles strange circumstances not often viewed by a proper perspective. But like I have reminded myself before I don't have a proper perspective. I just have the illusion to have reality, when really, reality is an illusion. Is there such thing as reality? Because if the answer is no, how can you have an illusion? No. Reality is an illusion of faith. Faith is a fraud. But real things being fake as such isn't logical. Typical questions can be asked and as humans our illusion tell us there must be an answer but reality demonstrates that there is never an answer. Faith is the hope of our illusion being correct, because this illusion is the only world anyone has ever come to know, how can you not wish for it to be a symbol of truth and wisdom? No one wants to admit that they were chosen to live in a world destined to be chaos. No one wants to feel responsible for being part of this chaotic world. As an instinct we want to fulfil this era as well as we can, making it proud. Nobody ever wants to find out that this whole time they have been helping Satan. The bittersweet taste of disappointment would be too much for such cause. If your whole existence was devoted to a 'bad' soul, wouldn't you want to hear the willows whisper in your ear, comforting you? Wouldn't you crush your tears and disintegrate them to dust? After all, one's purpose is all that keeps them alive. If your purpose was extinguished, turned upside down, wouldn't you think of yourself as truly nothing?

"Sapidah! Anouk! I am taking care of you this morning, Anouk, you're coming with me to the markets."

The two adorable, young siblings come out at the same time to greet me youthfully.

"Can Oewei come too?" Anouk asks.

Her hands reveal a tiny albino mouse, the size of half an apple, her criatura.

"No, I don't think it's very safe for Oewei to come."

The little girl puts the mouse down and puts her hands together, begging wistfully, putting an over-the-top sad face.

"He won't misbehave, he'll be a good mouse! I'll keep him under control, I promise!"

The mouse gives a slight whisper, being premature he is barely able to speak,

"Echo I'll be prudent, I know what the markets are like, I've been told about them before and if I get lost I know a few young children from Anouk's Prisona, I'll be able to find my way back."

"That's if you go venturing," I answer with authority, "and I rather be prudent myself. There are a lot of people visiting the markets, I'm more worried you'll be stepped on by several strangers, it's a strict no."

Anouk grumbles, sitting back and landing her mind on a different subject. She exhales her breathing in an odd way, trying to control and soothe her mind. She stumbled getting up from her seating position only to lay back down on the ruffled couch again.
Sapidah walks over sitting next to Anouk. The contrast of their innocence next to my figure has the room separated into two different atmospheres, only they don't know that. I do not wish for them to find out until their innocence disappears, only then will they have the capability of understanding that I am no angel. Purity does not run through me, only rough, sheer blood. I am a mortal of intensified agony, agony of losing the ones who do not suffer. Escaping my fate won't be the issue, others escaping me is the problem at hand. My hands are not blessed, nor are they forgiven by my greatest enemies.

"When do we have to go?" Anouk twitches her head to face me. Taken by surprised of this question I pretend to have expected her curiosity.

"In a while, you can go back to sleep if you want."

She gets up from the chair to go lie down on the room's couch next to her brother.

She fades away as her eyes come closer to touching, closing themselves. Suddenly she gets up again, into a sitting position as if she had an idea. She looks around defiantly, scrutinising her surroundings. Isn't she adorable? Who would want to hurt someone as innocent and beautiful as her? All of sudden I know exactly who would do this to her. I push the thought out of my mind and wondered of we had anything to eat. I can tell Sapi and Anouk are hungry. They may be too young to notice everything I do for them and to understand me and what I have to do but they know not to beg for food. Not even to ask kindly and say please. They both did once at their Prisona and went up to ask a teacher if she had a glum piece of bread. The got no food, but after the beatings they received it didn't matter that they shortened our food for about a week or two, they didn't feel hungry after such a day. I get up about to go see if we had anything left, perhaps I could give them my side of the dish. As I head upwards from my chair I hear a little, weak voice that belongs to Anouk.

"Could you read me a story?"

This was the first time she had asked.

"I don't have anything to read from." I say, truly disheartened.

"It doesn't matter you can make one up." She says kindly.

Sapidah looked up all of a sudden to join the conversation.

"Or you can tell us about some of the town and what you do?" I had completely forgotten he was in the room. Shameful. I reflect on what he asked me, I can't tell them about what I do, it will only stress them out. 

"How about you tell us about the Family Of Amber?" Anouk continues, "I hear some things about them every now and then and apparently-"

"I don't think we should discuss the Family Of Amber." I shorten up remembering that the opportunity to talk to them thoroughly and tell them stories rarely came into play, "What I meant to say was, we shouldn't go too far into detail," I whisper one last sentence, "besides if we talk about it too gravely and too loud the speakers could hear us." I say, Anouk and Sapi have a serious look on their faces, as if to say, 'we won't say anything bad and we'll stay out of harm's way'.

"So," I begin, "the Family Of Amber used to be a beautiful family, happy beyond their years. There were six members of the family Mr.Ruschkin, Mrs.Ruschkin and their four children. They used to live in harmony, bliss would be all they would experience, even when they arrived in Ruina they were still happy. Good people, was what they were. Every sunset they would pray to Christ, be dedicated and salute their so-called 'founder'. The prayers lasted over an hour. Villagers would refer to them as the bravest and most kind-hearted family of the town, giving their every minute to praise The Lord and specifically mention their afternoon rituals. Unfortunately, however generous they may have been, kindness didn't buy them food or shelter, they were very poor." 

I stop for a second looking at Sapi who returns an innocent please-continue-the-story look. Not much a story, more like a history lesson but still they didn't seem to mind. I continued.

"They would always help people in need, including the times when they needed the help more than anyone else. They lived on the streets. One winter became harsher than most, they had nowhere to go and yet they remained dedicated to their prayers. The weather and their current position became too hard to keep up. They prayed longer to their God. Each day the amount of time they took away from their exterior life became greater to a point when they would pray for the entire day, only stopping to feed themselves. Then one day, the youngest of the four couldn't stay still in the snow for so long, he suffocated from the cold temperature, fell on the ground all of a sudden, frozen in his praying posture. The Ruschkins thought he had collapsed from lack of food, even if their morals told them not to do so they had no food left and evidently needed some more urgently then ever. They ran around town, trying to keep their composure, no one had any food left at disposal, every villager needed their food to feed their loved ones in fear the same predicament that occurred to the youngest Ruschkin would take its toll on them. The last decision they thought they would never have to come to couldn't slip away. As much as they worshiped their honesty and respect they valued their family more than anything. They would need to steal."

I try to stop there once more and was about to slip away thinking Anouk was asleep when I heard her shout,

"For life's sake, continue Echo!" As adorable and vulnerable as she is, she still has that determined, willing side to her.

"Alright." I pause for dramatic effect but quickly keep speaking again in fear they mistake my pause for me stopping the story, "No one exactly knows what happened and how they tried to steal the food but all we know is that it required entering the palace. It was a very complex affair. Rumours say that Mr.Ruschkin, the father got caught in the palace and shot instantaneously by one of the guards on the inside shift. The mother and three other kids got away with a few pieces of lettuce, soon enough they found out the child indeed had not been hungry but rather was too caught up in his pleading to The Lord that he didn't notice the tormenting weather. The day of the markets came." My voice dropped low, I had just remembered I was going to reach the markets with my little sister, there was no need to scare her so intensely, "one of the three remaining children had been seen escaping the palace. He was executed."

I was thinking about lying to Sapi and Anouk and rather than saying he was killed, say something about him being transported but the words left my mouth before I got the time to reflect on my sentence.

I was hoping neither would ask what executing meant but with the world we live in, there's no doubt they've heard it once too many.

"How did they kill him?" Asks Sapi, mumbling his words almost as if he said them against his will. Fear likely caught up with his curiosity and he shook his head straight after he realised what he had said.

"I don't know. No one knows." I couldn't tell him that the same morning we heard the most agonising cries we thought could ever rise from the centre of the town, the palace.

"Keep going." He says with somewhat relief on his face, "Please." He adds.

I nod towards him, "After that the mother and two left over children went up to the palace. They didn't enter it but they stated that they needed to talk to a representative which led to Priest Nómos. Nobody has any further details on what happened inside or if they spoke directly to Priest Nómos, only that's highly improbable. All we know is that they soon after the appointment were given power, a mansion on the other side of the village and they were as rich as all of Ruina's people put together. Mrs.Ruschkin married another man, they had more children but didn't wish for much attention and kept the rest of their family quiet. I assume there are now about six members in their family, only a guess."

"Why are they called the Family Of Amber and why are they talked about so much?" Anouk wonders and yet her tone sounds demanding.

"For the name I don't know too much, maybe they are named that in comparison to real amber, so rare to find here. Majestic and yet proud, more modest than gold, maybe someone thought of it and eventually it stuck. As for why they are talked about so much it is probably because they were given everything from a single seminar which no one in Ruina would have ever dared to ask for. Maybe for their sheer bravery and maybe a combination of the two. You should know by now that people like to distract themselves with stories from day to day, whether they are true or not."

"Is this story true?" Mumbles Sapi.

"There are definitely major parts of it that ring truth, the Family Of Amber did and probably still does exist today. You might have passed their mansion once or twice, it is on the other side of town." I answer.

"Isn't it ironic how they were so generous before and now that they have more than they will ever need in their lifetime they keep it for themselves?" Anouk continues.

I stare a her in confusion, I didn't think she would know what irony was, let alone shape a statement that suits precisely the concept of this story. Moments like these, you notice that she is accounted for a lot less than her capability outlines.

"Yes it is." I answer as if expecting that kind of remark from her. "As a matter of fact many curious villagers have tried to enter the mansion and have a talk with the Family Of Amber, sadly they no longer wish to be recognised, who knows why but they still go out in public, only no one can possibly know who they are. The original members of the family hadn't been in the 'limelights' long enough to be known and memorised physically, as much as they were regarded as pure-hearted souls. Then the other members were clearly never known throughout this country as parts of the now-famous Family Of Amber. If they were to admit who they were, they would crowded with both haters and admirers."

"What does irony mean?" For the second time Sapi asks for the meaning of a word. Isn't he adorable?

"Anouk, care to explain to your brother the definition of irony as you seemed so understanding of its term?"

She nods in my direction to then continue. I fade off in my thoughts. I wish I knew some of the members of the Family Of Amber. I wouldn't say so due to their fame or their dedication but I would relish upon meeting them for their theory. They seem strangely interesting to indeed, like Anouk mentioned, be so generous when they had nothing and be cold and negligent when they had everything. How strange of a logic. For someone to go from a complete different behaviour aspect to the next I such a short period of time is peculiar. It isn't like they would have been distracted by their money, they were probably the last people in the whole of Ruina who would be suspected of that. What is even more bizarre to think is that I may know one of them and have no clue they come from such a heard-of family. 

I turn around just to notice I must have been asked a question as both my two little twin siblings are staring at me.

"What did you ask? I'm sorry, I think I dozed off into a world of thoughts."

"Anouk was asking when you both need to leave for the markets."

I suddenly remember. The markets.
I jolt up and half scream as I look around the room for a piece of cloth to use as a coat.

"Oh, that's right! I completely forgot! We better be on our way now, hurry please Anouk."

I jerk my head to the side, absorbed in my thoughts, to find Oewei, Anouk's criatura and Hira, Sapi's black rabbit.

"Hurry Anouk! I'm sorry, I shouldn't be pushy, but I urge you to pick up your pace."

She was running around the room looking for what she needed. Her vulnerability was viligantly exposed as she wondered around the room, reminding me that she was still a child. As I told her to fasten what she was doing we headed outside.




As we arrived, we clearly noticed that the atmosphere was vague and yet uneasy. People kept to themselves, some acknoweldging that they haven't done a single wrong deed but others wondering if this were their last instants alive. After all, we were all a victim of justification. The value of its definition was unresolved. Once people took in mind that the justification of justifying isn't justified, then they may become much more open-minded. Once an individual knew that definition cannot be defined it reshapes their perspective. It refrains one's imagination, except it cages it revealing only reality. Something to easily be addicted to. The sky was thoughtful, perplexed and crunched over the theories of our worlds laws. Why be cramped into a marketplace every week to witness someone's death, what is the logic? There is none and that is what amuses Priest Nómos the most. He seems to have a taste for dark humour and experimenting with his puppets' emotions. Fear is a constant agitation to our mind. It sounds pathetic but we have the need to confide our fear until we have to do something about it. This usually results in punishments. The only way to tame our fear is to confront it, something we are all aware of. I glance over to Anouk to see an expression of guilt on her face.

Suddenly my heart starts beating faster.

Whenever we go to the markets she knows not to put on a face as such, I could confuse it with her being in trouble. I think she is aware of my worry and tries to hide her feelings, however it is only plastered as a grimace making me worry even more.
Is there something she didn't tell me about? She couldn't possibly have gone through trouble.Has she achieved any mischief? As cheeky as Anouk may be, she knows not to be part of Ruina's business. She is smart enough to know that. Could she have done something against her will or maybe without knowing it would be bad? Without noticing, my palms had started sweating and my eyes scrutinising our surroundings. The heat must be getting to me and the stress of this issue certainly not helping. I have to ask her. But I have to be sneaky doing it too, I do not wish to even contemplate what happens if someone hears us and mistakes our conversation for a true act of reveal. It's probably nothing important or close to being crucial, she must be tired and that must show. Hopefully. I look around, taking in mind I don't have much time before the monotonous ceremony starts. As I am about to start off my question she interrupts me which catches me by surprise.

"Echo." She says hesitantly, "I know this might sound pathetic but I am scared."

Here goes my confidence in thinking she was fine. I pretend she is as nervous as any other time hoping she just goes along with it.

"You'll be alright, we can do this, do you understand? We will be-"

"No that's not what I mean!" She says, on the verge of shouting, "I mean... I'm scared but it's different."

Oh no. This cannot be happening.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I ask, frightened of what her answer might be.

"I don't know. It must sound silly, I'm sorry. It's nothing."

I should be happy that she drops it but I realise now that the answer she has given me is both a lie and a sound of weakness, worse than if she had plainly told me something was going on. Being her older sister, her influence, the girl she worships, I knew I couldn't drop the subject. Like any adult or responsible person, I hide my fear and any emotions that might frighten her even more.

"Anouk, I can tell something is wrong just tell me, please. I am here to help you with anything, don't be afraid to let me in."

"I'm not afraid to let you in, I'm just..." Once again she stops not being able to tell me.
I now truly feel no fear, convincing myself of that was much easier than expected. Curiosity and courage take over, I need to help her at least with putting her thoughts into words.

"Listen just-" 

I am cut off. The ceremony is starting. 
We have no choice but to remain quiet. If caught talking it would be almost as bad as getting a punishment. Only, they'll threaten you first but expect that threat to become reality if they catch you again. They want us to know what is going on and who is getting punished. We must also be extremely attentive. Not that people wouldn't be. They feel the need to know who is punished and if they will be too. A day like this can determine someone's permanent wounds or worse, someone's life. Worrying is something you never get used to. Just like nerves. Only, nerves are sources of adrenaline, which sometimes enhances your ability to think. Worry is different. It has no good side. 
The dim light turns to a bright one to reveal the stage. A man about 6 feet tall, steps up to the podium. Not Priest Nómos, just one of the many guards positioned around the market place. With a thick armour, masking most of his built-physique he clears his throat. Nobody knows how Priest Nómos recruited his guards, some assume they are his children. Priest Nómos isn't known to having a wife however. The feeling of happiness that I had whilst recounting the story of The Family Of Amber to Anouk and Sapi earlier this morning is completely drenched, replaced by fear. Fear that is pushed to an extreme. Especially looking over at Anouk's nervous face and recalling the conversation we had just a moment ago. The guard takes out a manuscript from his left pocket, making sure to take it out slowly, thus the agony stinging with pain on our minds of anticipation. The crowd tenses up, it's as if we could hear a pebble drop, no one dares to breathe. After clearing his throat for the second time, the guard looks sideways, looking for his cue to begin.
People's gazes drop, staring at their entwined thumbs, clearly afraid of what is to come.
"Johnson. Logan Johnson." He begins.
One man, right ahead of us in the crowd brings his hands to his head, tears falling down his cheeks. In pure agony of the truth. Hopefully nothing worst than a beating.
"Trespassing the boundaries whilst trying to swim away, leg was bitten by a shark, but we assume that, not enough." He pauses.
"He is to be beaten until worthy of his title. Nothing more than dust."
I cannot help but feel horrible for this man, clearly about to lose his life.
Some tears escape members of the audience, some people likely to be very close to this young man. Too young to perish. I don't know him. He isn't from the cooking department but from his physical appearance I assume he is from the mining industry. It makes sense that this, as well as everything else in Ruina, gets to his head. The man is taken away by a group of guards. The speaker continues.
"Marilyn Wright. Not completing her tasks on time and with great enough sufficiency. Given a second chance but shall be robbed of her left leg as penalty."
I know this girl. She is just about my age and she had been struggling in her cooking sessions this week. I couldn't help her. It's horrible to imagine that this girl could have been me. After all, she wasn't elderly or crippled, she was just like me with the same amount of skills, if not better. This just reminds me of how much of a close call it is each week. I cannot think about not having my left leg for the rest of my life. A limb cut off can even result in the person dying if not taken care of carefully. This is awful.
"A mob of children are currently being taken care of for breach of the rules, to be severely beaten."
I look at Anouk, worried about whether she is one of them. Worried to see that she might have been taken away while I wasn't looking. 
To my relief she is still by my side. 
"Lucky you," the guard says, mockingly, "that's all for this week, enjoy it while you can."
I am caught up in my thoughts as I realise that Anouk is safe. I don't know why she worried but it turned out to be nothing. I stare at her but am faced with not relief showering her face but more fear, ecstatic and rummaging her petite frame. She looks like being punished is only a drop in the ocean and she is faced with a much greater issue.
"Anouk." I ask, scared myself. "Tell me, why were you scared? I can tell you're even more afraid now that the markets are over."
She doesn't look at me but rather walks away. How stubborn can she get? Fury is invading her. She doesn't look back as I call her name but controls that anger and pain, as she walks slowly away from me. Her light brown ponytail swinging loosely, as if neglecting everything that is me. 
"Anouk Mossy Lillowe, get back here, right now!" I half-scream her full name as a sign of authority, not trying to intimidate her but there is no way she will listen to me otherwise. 
She stops, still looking straight ahead of her and avoiding my eyes. Then suddenly, she turns around, I can see a tear mellowing down her smooth physique. Already I can distinguish the body of a future, independent woman in her. Her voice cracks as she speaks.
"Yesterday when you were at work... I was at Prisona and then... And then the teacher started arguing with me about politics and she was defending Priest Nómos and I was partly screaming at her-" she pauses.
Already even though I know something bad is about to happen, I feel proud of Anouk for understanding and standing up to her teacher about such a serious subject. However I just nod, as if saying, 'this is something bad you shouldn't do'.
"Go ahead." I usher her.
"And I led a few students out and we tried starting a propaganda against Priest Nómos, we graffitied the school walls, sang songs of freedom and started-" 
Suddenly her speaking is replaced by a faint shriek, as she stares behind me in shock. I turn around, expecting a guard to bring us to the beating grounds for Anouk's treachery but all I find is a girl.
Her shirt is covered in blood and she collapses on top of me. Her tangled up hair is tied up in a rough low-ponytail, traces of crimson trickling down it and she is wearing clothes I have never seen worn in Ruina. A cloth white shirt, denim tight pants and a leather belt. I try to appear calm as I push her slowly off me. Anouk has stopped screaming but she is still utterly dumbfounded. I beckon for her to calm down as I lift the girl onto the ground. She seems to have fainted but she doesn't look dead. I have never seen her for the 64 years I have been in Ruina. It seemed that she had started passing out as she was walking with no sense of orientation. I lay her arms out and start unbuttoning her shirt to see how bad the wounds are. They seem bad I'm not sure if they are bad enough that it would cost her her life. Anouk is still sitting down looking up and down this strange girl's bloodied body.
"This may have been from a punishment, we might want to report her, her family is probably extremely scared." I say quite shocked myself.
"Listen Echo, I know this is bad but I need to tell you what happened at school with the teachers and all, because we-"
"Anouk tell me later, we need to help her this is urgent."
"But I need-"
"Save it for later! We don't have time ok?"
"Echo this is worth time, we need to-"
"Listen, I'm your sister so you do as I say! This girl could possibly die if we don't help her now, so be quiet one second!"
As I scream the girl twitches through her fingers and raises her head as if she just woke up from a nightmare.
"Willow," she mumbles, "remember, Willow Lacy. Willow Lacy. I can't forget Willow Lacy. I needn't worry. She is in the cave, the cave beyond the rising tube." She is barely audible anymore, as if vocalising to herself, 
"I am from the cave beyond the rising tube." She continues,"I needn't worry. I will go to the rainbow beneath the rising tube, four buttons. Rainbow, cave, river, hurricane and one extra, can't access and have a jolly good time..." She fades off.
Clearly gone mad from her wounds. She drops her back to the ground lying down once again. 
"We have to get her home," I say to Anouk, "come on."
I try in lift the girl up to her feet and wrap her arm around my shoulder.
"Echo we can't go now! This is much more important! Will you just listen to me for once in your life!"
"We'll take her home and you tell me on the way! Now go!" I demand. 
"No we don't have time to take her home, we need to-"
"Enough!" I scream loud enough so she can get the message but not enough to attract attention to ourselves, we can't afford that. Not with this girl possibly bleeding to death as we speak. She may have been wanted dead by Priest Nómos but I have to save her.
Just as Anouk is in tears from how I am screaming at her, which I never do, I look behind me to where I hear a familiar cry. It is coming from the beatings' area, somewhere I never wish to look back on but I need to. Just like seeing your worst fear, flash ahead of yourself my eyes turn to stone. I drop the girl and race ahead to hide behind a thickly barked tree. My mind is violently running around for ideas, thoughts to come to my head. As I quickly think of an idea to stop this from happening, a light flickers through my head. I stare back at Anouk, still crying as she sees I realised what she was trying to tell me all along. Something much more important than this girl whom I don't know. Because in the beatings area, I can see a mob of children with fright on their faces and in the middle of that mob, I can just make out what I never wish to see. A little boy, hunched with a fearful expression in his eyes. Sapi.