CHAPTER FOUR

Bruno couldn't hold his laughter as he stood up. "I can give you a ride if you don't mind," he suggested.

"No, you've done enough. I don't want to trouble you anymore. But thanks for the nice lunch, really," Claire assured, her smile grateful. "I've completely lost track of time from the talk and all, and maybe I should blame you." Her pink lips pouted cutely.

"Me?" Bruno uttered, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, you." Claire grinned, fixing her wavy, golden hair with her fingers. "Bye." And then she kissed him on the cheek.

"But—" Bruno started, but she was already striding off, waving at him in child-like manners. "But it seems like it's going to rain soon," he muttered apprehensively.

The weather changed abruptly. The sky was too dark as if a very heavy rain was going to crash. Claire didn't care, however, because she had an umbrella inside her backpack.

Ten minutes passed but there was no sign of any taxi on the main road. She decided to walk, hoping to find one on the way.

After a short while, the rain started pouring. Claire fished the umbrella and opened it immediately. Not having a choice, she decided to walk through the rain that was increasingly heavy.

She tried to call Gena but there was no signal. Her jeans and sneakers were all wet, for it was quite windy, and the cold had started to get into her skin.

"Crap!" Claire snapped. "I'm so damn tired, and this stupid umbrella is totally useless!" It was already dark, and about fifteen minutes had already passed.

Still there wasn't a trace of any car, bus . . . or even a taxi. She kept walking.

The geography of the place was terrible as far as heavy rainfall was concerned. It would easily get slippery, and tremendous erosion would take part thitherto. She had to walk carefully, but one can't always be careful enough.

She suddenly slipped and fell, without noticing that she was walking onto a little slope. There was an eroded part that formed a temporary reservoir in which rain water collected and cascaded away. Claire slid straight towards it, and only managed to grab the tree branch which supported her balance.

Looking down she felt terrified. She tried to hold onto the branch tightly, but it was hard. The rain water kept rippling past her heading onto the little railing bridge.

Damn it!

Claire tried to pull herself up, several times, but still couldn't. She screamed for help but there was no one there. Not even an animal passing.

It was so strange and sudden. Coming from a perfect nice day, and in a blink of an eye she was fighting for her life, in such a stupid manner. She even had to laugh a bit. She was cold, and the water wouldn't leave her in peace.

What the hell was happening with her life? Was this real or some kind of a bad dream? Was she really hanging by a tree branch amid the rain? Claire wondered inside and the fear began consuming her little by little.

"Ugh!" she bawled, trying once again to push herself up, her heart beating fast at the speed of the running water cascading vigorously.

Was she going to die? Was she even afraid of dying? If she thought better, there was nothing major to live for in her life. Could this be the sign for her eternal salvation? Perhaps it's her ticket to see her mother, and her father as well.

And maybe ask him why he neglected her like that.

Claire began laughing. She was laughing between the tears, thinking of her horrible life so far; the life filled with longing and loneliness. She was tired of holding on, in both this moment and all those times she'd forced herself to do so.

Perhaps it's time to let go, time to be free from this cruel world.

However, just as she's about to give it up, willingly and free, something happened. Like an angel shining from afar, Claire glimpsed the double lights approaching from a distance. It was a car, she thought, and perhaps her final moment wasn't yet.