Her heart pounded along with the rhythm of her running feet as she dashed through the forest. Trees and bushes reached towards her limbs, scratching and clawing at her skin. The creaking noise of branches reaching out for her echoed through the trees. She quickly dashed up the side of a boulder just before a root could pull her to the ground, only to discover she was trapped. This was no ordinary boulder. It was the edge of a cliff.

Waves crashed against the rocks below, and as she glanced down, a sense of vertigo overtook her. Panic spread farther into her being as she looked back towards the forest to see trees uprooting themselves and reaching out towards the rocks. Suddenly, she realized what she would need to do. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to crash down, like the ocean below. She shut them tight as she stepped to the edge of the cliff. Her two options weighed themselves out in her mind. The creaking of the trees battling the ocean waves crashing against the cliff side as if arguing for her attention.

She took a single step forward and felt herself plummet. Tears streamed freely down her face, as her auburn hair flew in every direction, sticking to her soaked cheeks. She felt light, as though she were flying away. This was the first time she had felt free in forever. A bittersweet smile crept across her face at the thought of freedom. The thought of escape. The thought of never having to see the cruel leaves of her captors again.

Suddenly, she felt something wrap around her torso, and her body jerk to a sudden halt. She slowly opened her eyes, wondering if she had perhaps survived the fall, but to her horror, found dark green vines twisting their way around her body. They wound around her torso, binding her arms to her sides, and spread down towards her legs, wrapping tightly around them. She tried to escape from their grasp, but as she struggled, the vines simply tightened until she could barely breathe.

She felt herself being brought up to the ledge from which she had so recently lept from. She glanced towards the ocean, her last chance for freedom, as leaves covered her face, blocking her vision. As she was returned to the forest, she could feel her hopes for a better tomorrow being left behind, still falling towards the watery depths below. Leaving her to live the rest of her miserable life without it.