Unfaded by Sarah Ripley Read Free Book Online Page B

focused.
                  “Sure,” I said. “A movie sounds great. I’m here till six. What time should I come over?”
                  “Seven?” What a guy. He knew I’d want to stop by the house first and check on Granny. He was always prepared to give me all the time I needed.
                  “OK, see you then.”
                  “Love you.”
                  “Love you too.”
                  I put the phone back in my bag and went over to the window. I thought I’d seen something but it was only Thelma again. She was wearing her husband’s grey parka which was about twenty sizes too big for her. She caught me watching and raised her gloved hand.
                  I waved back and watched her disappear. It had been a while since I’d gone over to her place. One of these days I would have to stop by and visit.
                  It was beginning to snow again so I watched the flakes float down from the sky. Maybe it was because it was growing dark or maybe it was the sky but the snow didn’t really look white. It had a greyish tinge to it, like ashes. It made me think of fire. A forest fire.
                  And suddenly I was there. Or I was no longer where I once was.
    I stood in the middle of a forest. Around me the trees were burning. Bright red and yellow colours burned high as flames leapt from branch to branch. The sky was orange and dark at the same time. Smoke filled the air and ashes fluttered around my face, embers stinging my skin. Wood popped and cracked as the fire ate away at it.
                  My chest was tight and when I tried to inhale, my lungs burned as the soot slid down my throat. I stepped forward, nearly tripping over my two feet. I was wearing a dress that reached all the way to the ground with fabric that was softer than babies’ skin. The hemline was torn and shredded as if I had been running wildly through the bushes. My sleeves were ripped too where I must have been pulling back branches in a hurry to escape.
                  My breathing wasn’t getting any better. I couldn’t do more than take shallow gasps. Putting my hands on my chest, I found hard rods which I realised were spring steel. I was wearing a corset which was tightly laced behind my back and shaping my waist into an unrealistic hour glass shape.
                  “I told you to leave that infernal thing behind. No wonder you can’t breathe. They were created by men for men, you know. To keep the little ladies from running away.”
                  I looked up to see the girl with the black hair holding out her hand to me. Her hair was piled neatly up on her head with curls eloquently hanging from clips. Her mouth was red and shiny and I could see the flames reflecting in her blue eyes.
                  “Who are you?” I asked between gasps.
                  She frowned and then reached out and grabbed me by the shoulders. “I’ll tell you all about it once we get out of here.” Spinning me around, she reached behind my back and yanked on my dress. The buttons gave, revealing the corset. Quickly she began to unbind me, twisting and puling on the ropes. Bit by bit the fabric loosened and the spring steel stopped digging into my skin. Finally she yanked hard; pulling the corset free and she held it up triumphantly and tossed it into the closest fire. My bare back grew hot, blistering.
                  “We need to keep moving,” she said. “They think they have us but we’ll show them.”
                  “Them? Who are you?”
                  “Listen,” she said and she grabbed me again and drew me close. She wasn’t paying attention to my questions. Instead, she continued on as if I’d given her a different dialogue. “I know what’s in your heart. Leaving him behind must have been hell