**The Escape**

Annabelle ran from the house, tears streaming down her young face. Her mother's husband was on a drinking binge again and Annabelle had made him mad. She wasn't sure what she had done this time, but whatever it was, she paid dearly.

Her bottom lip was bleeding, and her head hurt. She knew that the next morning she would have new bruises to add to her collection from the multiple other drunken beatings she had received from him.

Nothing she did was right. She hoped and prayed that one day he would just finish her off, or that she never wake up. She didn't understand how her mother could stay with someone like that.

As she walked on she decided that tonight would be the night that she would runaway. Being only 16, she knew that she would struggle. But anything was better than staying in that house another day. She headed back to the house with her head held high and a determined look upon her face.

Inside, she was jumping for joy, because he would never be able to hurt her again. If her mother wanted to stay and put up with it, that was her decision. Annabelle, however, was done with it, and wasn't going to stay anymore.

She packed as many belongings as she could in her backpack and shoulder bag. While the majority of what she packed was clothing, she made sure to pack her journal and her most prized possessions: the beautiful flower stationary her dad had given her for the Christmas before he died, pictures of her and her father together, and a family photo. The family photo was incredibly special because it was the last picture of them, as a family, before he got sick.

How she missed him. "If only he was still here," she thought. "I wouldn't be doing this. I wouldn't have to do this."

He had never raised his voice to her, let alone hit her. She had been a daddy's girl. Cancer doesn't care if you are a good person. Doesn't care if you are a loving father with a young daughter. It doesn't care that people need their loved ones. All cancer does is kill.

Tears silently escaped her dark brown eyes. "If only," she thought.

She would do this for him. She had to live and make him proud. Wiping the tears off the back of her hand, she grabbed the last remaining items and threw on her favorite hoodie.

Annabelle swore she could still smell her father on the hoodie. It had been his favorite as well.

Despite two years passing since his death, and it having been washed several times, his scent was still there. Wearing it made her feel safe and secure, as though he were hugging her once again.

Annabelle grabbed her things, looked around her room one last time, and left. Her mother and stepfather were passed out drunk on the couch and love seat. She looked at them, shaking her head. "Idiots," she thought.

At the door, she slowly turned the knob... not for fear of waking them, as she knew they could sleep through a tornado after a binge. No, she wanted to remember her escape.

The cool air enveloped her as she stepped out to freedom. And took her first deep breath of freedom, her heart racing.

She looked up and down the street. The street lights had came on. The days had begun getting shorter as summer turned into fall. Leaves were changing colors, making the trees look as though they are on fire. "Beautiful," Annabelle thought. This was her favorite time of year, and her favorite time of day: sunset.

Walking out of her development, the only destination she was sure of was her father's grave. She hadn't been allowed to go there for months. She knew he was always with her, and that he wasn't really at the grave, at least not spiritually; but it was comforting for her to know that there was a place to go to be with him.

The cemetery was only ten minutes from her house. Cars drove past her without even a little glance. For that, she was thankful. She didn't want any nosey people stopping to ask questions. She wasn't going back to that house ever again, no matter what.

The sky was a beautiful red with clouds of pink and purple. Annabelle was mesmerized by the beauty, making her walk seem even shorter.

When she entered the cemetery, she looked around to see if there were others visiting their family and friends. Seeing no one, she headed to the mausoleum. Her father was buried just to the right side of it.

As she walked she looked at all the different headstones. There were regular ones and intricate ones. Her favorite was a child's stone. It was an angel standing over a child. By the dates on the stone, she determined that the child was only eight. She stopped at the site momentarily to pay her respects before continuing on.

When she arrived at his grave site she noticed that the weeds were growing around his headstone. She began pulling them out. Her father had loved gardening and she knew that having the weeds pulled would make him happy. Once she was finished, she sat down and leaned against it.

"Daddy, how I wish you were here. I miss you so much. I'm sorry that I haven't been to see you for a while. I'm not sure when I will be able to come back to see you again. I am leaving for a while," Annabelle sighed. "I am sure that you are probably disappointed that I didn't try to stick it out longer, but I couldn't take it anymore. And I know that you are proud of me for standing up, and making the decision to leave to try to make a better life for myself."

Tears fell down her cheeks as she continued. "I want you to be proud of me. I'm sorry that I couldn't stay there longer and be with mom. But, she made her choice when she decided to stay with and marry that drunk."

She refused to call him a man because he wasn't one in her eyes. No man would treat people the way that he does.

"I wish that mom would have left him a long time ago. But I guess that she is just trying to fill the void that was created when you left. Maybe one day, daddy. Maybe one day I will be able to go back to see her."

She continued to cry, her eyes were getting heavy from exhaustion.

"I think that I will stay here with you tonight. I am going to miss you more than ever. However, I know that this is the right choice for me to be able to survive and make you proud. I know that you will always be with me. When I am older, I hope and pray that I will find a man who loves me the way that you loved mom. A man who will love our children the way that you loved me."

Annabelle sobbed harder as she continued, "You were the best father that anyone could ask for. I love you, daddy."

She cried herself to sleep, curled up to her fathers headstone. That night, she felt a release and a peace come over her. She slept the best that she had in the two years since her father had been gone. She also made a vow that she would name her first born son after her father.