Hina didn't cry.
She didn't scream.
She didn't even feel the weight of her mother's dead body.
Inside her mind, the thoughts were cold and sharp.
'Survive. Find a way. No one can know. No one can connect me to this.'
She turned and ran.
She ran through the narrow back path until her legs burned, through the forest until the trees blurred, then down the dirt road that led to the small station two hours away. The sky was still black with rain, but she didn't stop. She didn't look back. She kept running until she reached the station, bought a single ticket with the last of the money she had, and boarded the train.
The train rattled through the night. Hina sat in the corner seat, knees pressed together, eyes staring at nothing. Her mind was already spinning new lies, new survival plans.
She stepped off the train.
