Chapter 9: Hope

Lara knows that the gibberish was intended for her, so when she heard the first sentence, she did not hesitate to run. Because of the battle that Din started, he was able to masked the snapping of twigs that she stepped on.

She was now running for a few minutes and was about to stop and catch her breath. Then she heard a gush of water and immediately thought of rivers. 'If there is a river, there will be people living nearby. The village is near!' she thought. When she found hope, her excitement has given her a rush of energy. She tried to locate where the sound is but before she could determine the direction, someone shouted from behind.

"She's here!"

Without looking back, she sprinted as fast as she could. If there is something that she is thankful to the heavens, that will be the baby still sleeping amidst the running and panting that she did. 'Oh God, please don't wake her up' she silently prayed.

She was too focused on running away that she did not see a steep slope ahead. She was already sliding down when she realized its existence. She was lucky that the slope was muddy and slippery or else, the baby would have been crushed if she was tumbling down.

When she reached the bottom, she felt a stinging pain on her right foot. She checked and thought that she cannot run faster now because she sprained her foot badly. She panicked on what to do. On her frantic desperation of looking for a solution, she saw a large boulder of rock 10 feet away from her. She suddenly thought of hiding the baby there and hope that the next morning when the villagers came to fetch some water, someone would hear her crying.

So, she limpidly walked to the large boulder, detached the baby carrier and removed the baby bag from her body. She placed them beside her and dug out the soil. Next, she placed the baby bag in the hole, arranged its contents and piled up all the baby blankets inside. She picked up the baby from the carrier and placed it inside the bag. Then, she closed it half way just to give the baby enough oxygen to breath. Next, she piled up the dirt to hide the baby better. After that, she filled the baby carrier with stones to fool her pursuers that the baby is still with her.

She stood up and looked up at the sky. "I am sorry Madam. I have failed you. I would rather gamble for the destiny to be lenient and save her than carry her with me to the afterlife" she murmured while shedding tears of regret.

After she said that, she heard the frantic footsteps at the top of the slope. She then resolutely ran downstream in hopes for them to see her.

"She's right there!" someone shouted.

She looked in their direction and jumped in the water.