The girl's face contained a trace of pain, which she quickly covered up. Nora knew the girl was upset. She could not remember where they met, or how long they had known each other.

"You saved me," the girl started, "From those boys trying to hurt me. You saw them messing with me, grabbing my dress and tugging on it. Looking underneath it; holding me against my will. You ran over and hit the biggest guy there with a large ass rock, Nora. No hesitation."

Nora tried hard to recall the story, but she lost months of her memory, said to be due to the exact incident. She was told those guys hit her back, knocked her unconscious. She was never told why she got involved in the first place, and she never asked.

"I don't remember," Nora said.

"You did have a concussion. I felt horrible for the pain they caused you because of me, but if you hadn't shown up," tears were forming in the girl's eyes.

"I'm sorry," Nora said.

"Why are you sorry?"

"I- I don't really know."

"Look, long story short is you saved me from a lot of physical and mental pain. You were unconscious because of it, but when those dudes didn't see you moving, they ran off for good."

Nora blinked away the pain she felt. She questioned whether it was worth it to feel this pain again instead of the numbness she grew accustomed to.

"Are you... crying?" The girl asked, almost instantly regretting it.

"I don't know why," Nora stated as she wiped away a tear that broke free from its prison. It felt good to have the invisible lid over her tear ducts lifted off.

The girl eyed her watched that rested next to a dark birthmark on her left wrist, "About an hour."

Nora had almost completely forgotten why she came to visit the girl until her words stabbed through her heart. She didn't feel the same way she had before the rendezvous. She questioned if she really did want to live. Then she knew her answer. If her mind questioned to live, she knew she wanted to. It was no longer blockaded by the death of her sister. No longer suffocated.

"Come with me, please," Nora said suddenly. She grabbed the girl's wrist above her brown watch and hurried into the woods not far behind the house.

"Wait, my door!" the girl protested, but Nora had already dragged her far beyond the outskirts of the forest.

As they ran through the woods, Nora could feel a soft breeze from the wind kiss her skin. Her grip on the girl was released as Nora breathed in the sweet scent of pine trees resting on the forest floor. Sunlight crept through the openings, washing over her with every few steps taken.

She began to run faster, dashing through the trees and their stretched-out branches. The girl sinking far behind, but still running, nonetheless.

Nora hadn't felt anything but numbness for so long. The feeling of the air gently hitting her face was thrilling to her. It felt like she was resting her head on the cold side of her soft pillow. Sinking down into its comfort. The pain from running was new to her, but she liked it. Enjoyed it. She ran hard, the girl unable to catch up.

She came to an opening of grass, surrounded by the soaring pine trees. Her heart was beating fast at the sudden halt. In the middle of the opening was a large boulder.

She walked toward the boulder, gracefully dragging her hand along it as she struggled to catch her dying breath. The numbness she once felt was not only replaced by physical pain, but mental pain as well. She sat herself down in front of the boulder and guided her palms to her eyes. Pressing hard into her sockets to stop the tears from flowing as memories overloaded into her mind.