West [ COMPLETED ]

III

This was probably going to be the stupidest thing I'd ever done in my life.

I waited that night til everyone had gone to sleep, pulled on dark cargo pants and a tank top, my sturdiest pair of running shoes, my backpack that I had packed very lightly, and stole downstairs and out the front door.

The click as it latched seemed horribly loud, and I sprinted the second it was shut.

I got out of the subdivision quickly, wanting to avoid as many security cameras as possible.

I'd spent the whole previous evening mapping out my route and I wanted to hitchhike as little as possible, I'd watched far too many murder documentaries to be comfortable with that.

I'd wanted to try hopping a train my whole life, so that's where I was headed first.

We lived right next to tracks that went straight north, following I-95 all the way up into Georgia, and that's where I was headed, so once I got to the tracks I started walking, hoping I'd meet a train going north.

The night wind blew around me ominously, and every twitch and rustle of noise from the woods around me caused me to flinch and check my back.

I walked for two hours before I heard the whistle. I kept walking til I saw the light behind me. It was headed the right way. Adrenaline rushed through my body and I slid down the embankment and into the bushes to wait, my heart thumping wildly.

It approached, whistle shrieking at every crossing, and eventually charged down the track past me.
I rose from my place and half climbed the embankment, watching the graffitied cars fly past. Within a few seconds, I realized it would be impossible to grab one of those ladders without breaking my arm off at the speed it was going, so I slid back a few steps and watched the rest of the cars go by in disappointment.

There went my train fantasy.

I continued walking on the tracks until the sun rose, seeing no more trains. When I felt it hot on my shoulder I slid into the woods and and laid down in the grass and formulated my text to my aunt.

Now I have a policy against lying, but by the time I had it typed out, it sounded like I was on a plane to Colorado and not walking on a train track headed for Georgia. It's all about the way you word it.

I didn't have enough money for a plane ticket, I knew my father didn't, thanks to his diabolical ex-wife, and and I couldn't get a hold of my brother. He must have still been on his trip.

I figured I'd keep trying to get a hold of him and maybe he could send me money before I had to walk too far, but I wasn't going back.

I knew my aunt would be furious at first, but on the other hand I knew she would be relieved to have me off her hands. If she believed my story that is.

I could tell I was getting away from the city limits of Jacksonville by how the suburbs were dwindling and I began seeing more and more open spaces and forests of pine trees. I took a detour off my route and found a quiet grove of trees to hide myself in and I slept until around lunchtime.

I woke up starved. I walked along until I reached an orange grove and picked a few off the ground that I figured no one would bother about and peeled them.

Boy had I better figure out a faster way of transportation.

It would take me months of walking every day at this rate.

•~•~•~•~•~•

My aunt didn't even text me back until two in the afternoon. Apparently she wasn't too concerned about me.
She wrote a long text about how ungrateful I was and how I would be sorry for leaving such a great environment but I could tell it was more of a good riddance text then a come back home text so I was satisfied.