Page 137 of Paradox

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Screw a jacket.

“Four…” he calls out from the porch.

Shin deep in snow, I run as fast as I can toward the tree line.

My feet are instantly cold.

The frigid air burns my throat as I suck it down.

“Five…”

I frantically look left and right, then dash towards a thicker covering of trees.

It’s crazy how quickly my legs start to ache from wading through the snow. But there’s no way I can stop moving.

I won’t surrender without a fight.

My foot catches on a buried tree root, and I fall forward.

I wince as my hands break my fall.

Lifting them up, I see a few red drops drip into the snow.

There’s a slash across my palm from a fallen branch.

“Nine!” Eden shouts, and adrenaline pushes all the pain away.

I’m back on my feet before he can say ten.

My chest is tight as my lungs beat against it, but my head is light.

I’m floating.

I can’t even feel my legs now, I can only hear the crunch of the snow with every new step I take.

My heart pounds like a hammer.

Boom.

Boom.

My ribs feel like they’re cracking under the pressure of every emotion, nerve, and apprehension I’ve held onto since arriving here.

And I just let go.

With a warbled cry, they burst from within me, and I can see them all.

Each a different color.

Each a different taste.

I feel free.

My eyes sting from the frosty air punching at the forming tears.

I’ve never been this happy.

This seen.

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