It was 7 in the morning, her eyes half open. Holly could see no sunlight streaming from her bedroom window yet. It was too early, and yet she had woken up. It doesn't matter though; she had had awoken from one of those dreams. The ones that crushed her heart into dust. Correction, the ones of him telling her to just fuck off and get lost. To leave him alone, to never see him again. She let out a long and heavy sigh.

Pushing away the thick covers, she sat up in semi-darkness and ran her long, slim fingers through her messy , short brown hair. Well, it was short a few months ago, but it had grown longer and become shoulder-length. She hated long hair ,it reminded her of him ,after their nights of little tumbles in bed. He used to love playing with her hair , stroking her dark , silky waves until she fell asleep, safe and protected, in his arms.

She stood up on her feet and headed to the bathroom.

Before stepping into the hot shower, she pulled her oversized grey shirt over her head and slipped off her black underwear. The hot water seemed to awaken her cold skin, sending delicious shivers down her spine. She reached for her favourite bar of strawberry scented soap and began lathering herself. Her nostrils flared as she smelled the sweet scent applied to her soft, pale skin.

As she bent over to do her legs, her mind seemed to have blacked out and pulled into a different world.

Where was she? , she wondered. Her surroundings were dark, but the moon shone across a glassy lake that was not too far away from her. There was something different about the lake. It seemed to be dead and lifeless. She shuddered from fear and also the chill as she was still nude. She covered her chest with her slim arms and walked towards a large oak tree nearby. As she approached the tree she noticed something stuck in the bark of the tree. It was a dagger and beside it was something carved into the bark of the tree. It was dark but the light from the moon gave her some idea of what the words were. Holly slowly traced her index finger across the first line…"H and L", then the second line “4ever and Always”. She felt herself take in a deep breath then exhaling trying not to let herself release the salty droplets from her eyes.

‘I remember this ..’ Holly thought, ‘My birthday, 14 th February 2010, also our first Valentine’s Day. We had a little picnic under this oak tree, with cheese and wine and even some chocolate dipped strawberries as dessert. And before the date ended, we carved our initials in and wrote our promise underneath.’ She shook her head in despair, ‘Forever and always, the promise was nothing but an empty lie now’. At the last thought she shut her eyes and wept silently, her body didn’t feel cold anymore, all she could feel was hurt, despair and loneliness in her soul.

‘I can’t take it anymore! Enough of this!.’ Holly cried out. ‘I’m done crying for him!.’

With those last words she pulled the dagger out of the tree and scrapped off the initials and the empty promise, as she did this, she felt her heart become lighter, the dark surrounding her suddenly became bright and warm and she could hear birds singing and see the sun shining. She felt something else too, something she hadn’t expected to feel in a long time - happiness. Holly giggled and ran toward the lake , like an excited child on Christmas morning. She looked down and noticed that the dagger was still in her hand..

’Goodbye, Liam’ she whispered , and with that she dropped it into the lake letting it sink into the water.

As she watched it sink deeper, she felt herself pulled back into reality.

She was back in her bathroom, on her knees, under the hot running water. Holly stepped out of the shower and dried herself with a fresh towel. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror and stared at her reflection; her hair still messy and wet , but that was the least of her concern. Her sad, unhappy eyes had now been replaced with bright, beautiful and determined green eyes.

‘I’m a new girl, no, I am a woman.’ Holly said in a firm and strong tone, ‘And I am free.’