I closed my eyes and let the cool, fresh breeze pass me with ease. Although my dark hair was going crazy with the wind, my grip on the rock i was sitting on was firm. My short and bruised legs dangled from the rock and as I took a look down all I saw was darkness. If I were to fall right now, no one would know. The walls of the deep abyss would echo my screams for help but no one would be able to hear me.

        I was too far away from the village for anyone to hear me. Or see me for that matter. If i were to accidentally slip, no one from the village would be able to save me. I should be scared. I really should be. But I wasn't and I wasn't sure if that scared me or not.

I thought back on the villagers and knew that my absence wouldn't be missed. There was only once person in this whole world who cared about me and he was an old man named Julian who had taken me in and gave me a bed to sleep on while everybody else just looked the other way. There had been rumors that one man had almost picked me up that night. That was until I opened my eyes and he caught a glimpse of the color of my eyes:purple. He called me a demon and everyone in the village was afraid and disgusted. Except Julian. And because of this kind hearted act, some of the villagers looked down on him while others just pitied him. I was after all the demon orphan that had been left on the ground in the middle of the village one cold, dreadful night, abandoned and left for dead.

Ever since then, the villagers saw me as the burden the old man had to live with. Even though they never told me to my face I knew. I knew why people whispered, why some kids were taught never to play with me and why whenever I made a mistake I was disciplined the hardest: because i was different.

    I remember one day when I was walking around the village. Just like everyday before, I heard whispers and felt every stare that came my way. Trying to ignore it, I kept my head high and continued walking. I was on my way to church like all of the other kids. This would be my first time going and I couldn't hide how excited I was. I ignored the dirty looks the kids gave me as they noticed that I was walking behind them.

Once I reached the church, the priest's eyes grew ten times bigger and I could have swore he prayed as I reached the bottom of the steps that lead into the church.

    "You are not welcome here." He said.

    That was all it took for my heart to drop and my hatred for the villagers to spark. They had always been this way to me but I never took it to heart until that dreadful day. I felt the tears running as I ran back to Julian's cottage and once he caught sight of me he knew. He wrapped his arms around me and let me cry for what felt like an eternity. He didn't ask why I was crying he just let me.

I wondered why the villagers couldn't be like Julian. Why did they have to hate me? Why did they have to be scared of me? I had never done anything to harm anyone of them, but still they were horrible to me. They weren't like Julian at all.

"Why do they hate me?" I had asked Julian after I had finished sobbing. "I've never done anything to them, Julian."

A pained expression crossed his face as he held me. "Catalina," he whispered, his spanish accent thick and soothing as always. "Most people are afraid of things they can't understand. Things that don't make sense."

I already knew what he was referring too. "My eyes."

He sighed. "Catalina, there is nothing wrong with you. Yes, you are a bit different from the rest but that does not mean they should behave this way towards you."

I snuggled into his chest. Julian was all I had. He understood me. He cared about me.

"You are not a bad person, Catalina. You are just a special girl and the other villagers just can't handle change. But don't fret, Catalina. The day will come that they come to realize that you were sent here from God himself."

    Julian had helped me live. He helped me have faith and taught me to never let the villagers get the best of me. They banned me from the church so Julian began to teach me about God at home. We prayed, we ate, we talked, we laughed, we told stories. We did everything together. Just me and him.

    And then Winter hit. I wasn't sure exactly how old I was. Either sixteen or seventeen now. I had grown fast and so had Julian. His hairs had grown greyer and his eyes duller. Some days he wouldn't even get out of bed. He had grown a cold and no matter how many covers I had laid on him it would never be enough.

I had asked the doctor of the village if he could help and with pity he told me there was nothing he could do. I even asked the villagers, begged them even but nothing.

    Eventually sickness overcame him and then one morning he just never woke up. I cried for days. Weeks. I felt so weak that I didn't even leave the house for a few weeks.

    When it came time to bury Julian it took everything in me not to break down. I wasn't even sure I had any more tears left to cry. I dug into the ground and with every pile of dirt i threw the harder it began to be to hold back my tears. I hadn't even noticed when it had begun to rain.

I dug deeper and faster until finally I was done. I laid the the only person who ever truly loved me in the ground and I prayed. I prayed and i cried so hard. I prayed that he had found peace and that he was with his family that he had lost and told me about. I had prayed that he was happy. I prayed that he would give me strength. I prayed so hard. When I finished saying my goodbyes I got up and the emptiness that followed me back to the cottage scared me.

    My fists were now balled and I wished someone would just come and push me off this stupid rock. I looked up to the sky with tears streaming down my face I spoke to the heavens and hoped he would hear me. "I miss you so much" I sobbed.

    I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't know what to do, Julian." I sniffed. "I'm so lost. It's been a month since you left and I still..." I took in a deep breath and tried to hold back a sob but it forced its way out. "It hurts so much. It hurts so much."

    Memories crossed my mind and I smiled. Memories of Julian teaching me how to read, of him showing me how to and when to pick strawberries, of him brushing my hair and telling me stories he had been told as a child, of him reaching me how fight d protect myself and of him kissing me to bed every night. God, I missed him so much. What was I supposed to do without him? Live in the village with people who despised me? Live in the cottage where I had grown up? Without him? How could I?

    'You are stronger than you think'

    My head snapped up so fast, my heart racing. Was that.. "Julian?" I called out loud and began searching my surroundings. When no one answered I sighed and looked back up at the sky. I was going crazy.

    Sighing, I said a prayer and then got up. I turned and began to make my way through the forest. I was almost to the cottage when the smell of smoke hit my nose. Something in me knew something wasn't right and when I looked at the sky I could see a big black cloud of smoke. I noticed that it was near the village. My heart sank and without a second thought I began to run.