Live Free

Our Escape

"We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."

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We escaped the first chance we got.

We never stood around twirling our fingers; we were ready to be gone. The sooner, the better. Our belief was that things would only keep going downhill the longer we stayed. I know it sounds so typical coming from a teenager, wanting to run away from my problems, but no one understood that we desperately needed this. I was to the point where the drugs I used were controlling my life, and I wanted it back. I hardly ever slept, and everything that came out of my mouth felt like it belonged to someone else.

I was tired of living like this, and so were my parents. They attempted to talk to me several times, but I never listened to what they had to say. I shoved them out of my life, and constantly regretted it. And Sky, she only grew worse into her depression. The moment I noticed the scars that began to swirl like poison ivy around her arms, I knew we had to leave, and fast.

It was a windy October morning when we left.

Sky had spent the night with me, with her things all ready to be packed. It took a good 45 minutes or so to gather our things into two backpacks, but we managed. I left a note on the kitchen table saying, "I love you" to my parents. Sky wrote nothing to hers.

We left around the normal time we did for school so we could get in some distance before people realized we were missing, if they ever did. My friends were all shameless druggies; I doubted they would recognize my absence until they ran out of money. And as beautiful as Sky was, with her luscious hair, slim figure and mesmerizing eyes, she's always remained at the back of the crowd,

We slithered through my house, quietly picking up anything we could find to take with us (an extra comb for example, or some candy). I walked to the front door and gently opened it, holding it for Sky to cross through. She gave me a nervous look and stepped outside. I turned around and took a good look around, soaking in everything I could before closing the door behind me.

Goodbye.

Our feet slipped on the soggy grass. I reached for her hand and clasped it tightly, we were really doing it. To any onlooker, it would appear as though we were average kids walking to school.

But average kids don't walk straight into the woods beside our neighborhood to get to school. I gave my house one more look before we entered the forest. Suddenly I resented myself. Who was I to just leave my parents, who had done nothing but love me my whole life? Did I actually have to run away? Was that my only option?

The answer was yes.

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The leaves crunched loudly beneath our sneakers as we stepped on them, and for some reason this mad Sky smile.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"We did it, Ty. We're free. We actually did it," She says. "I feel like all the weight on my shoulders has been released. Do you know how long I've waited for this?"

Her eyes sparkled with happiness, and if she was happy, then so was I. I didn't respond to her, instead I squeezed her hand even tighter. And I smiled too. These were our first steps into freedom. We continued walking in no particular direction, we just kept going. Everything was silent as the sun rose higher into the sky, besides the chirping noises the early birds made. They hopped above us from tree to tree, with so much energy and life.

I envied them. The life of a bird was simple and graceful, they had very few worries or fears, not to mention they got to fly. Not fair, not fair...

"Why can't I be a bird?" Sky asked me out of the blue, almost reading my mind. I don't really know how to answer, so I shrugged.

"Maybe you just weren't meant to be one," I suggest. "Maybe you were put here as a human for a special reason."

"Don't get all preachy on me, it was a rhetorical question," she joked, and we remained silent for a bit longer.

I surveyed my surroundings. The forest was warming up to the sun, giving off a golden tint on the skinny trees. Multi-colored leaves were scattered on the ground, constantly being crushed by our weight. It wasn't too cold or too hot, it was actually quite nice. The sound of our mingling footsteps kept me sane, and it took everything in me not to think about drugs. What was something I could think of to distract myself from my addiction?

Iced tea.

Okay, that worked. Mhh, delicious sweet iced tea. I checked my phone every now and then just for something to do. No one ever texted me. Not long after, my mind began to wander. I couldn’t control myself from thinking of the feeling ecstasy brought me. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and turned my attention to Sky.

"I need for you to distract me," I admitted softly. "I can't stop thinking of you-know-what."

She sighed and brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"Why do you always have to be thinking about it?" se asked curiously.

"Just...because. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to forget. Like right now, I'm craving it. I need to have that amazing feeling I get when I'm on it," I tell her, hoping she'll understand. 

"You shouldn't just quit cold turkey, it's only going to make this travel thing worse," she said, then added, “But then again, I am glad that you're done with all that, when you were high I never wanted to be around you." 

That last part stung, but it was true. I wouldn't treat her like I normally did when I was sober, another thing for me to feel bad about. But I would make it up to her somehow. 

"Maybe if everything was fine, I wouldn't have needed to do it."

"If only everything was fine...." she said softly, letting her words trail off. 

"Let's talk about something else. How long do you think out food and supplies will last until we need to buy more?" I asked. 

She shrugged. 

"However long we make them last, Ty."

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Please let me know what you think, I feel really confident about this story going somewhere! 

~angel~