Live Free

Time Passes

"Life is short, there is no time to leave important words unsaid."

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We became more cautious after the helicopter incident, hiding when we felt the need to while never staying in one place for too long. In ways I found joy in traveling to a new destination every day and leaving everything behind, but after awhile it became tiring. It was confusing because I also liked the task of discovering a new spot to sleep for the night. Everything was an adventure, and nothing was ever the same.

But in an unexplainable way, it was always the same.

Same forest, same tent, same supplies (from what we had left) to everything else that made the days pass suddenly slower and more unfulfilling as time moved on. In a matter of days, we would be forced to go out and buy new clothes and food. Our shorts and pants were ripped and our bodies were filthy, despite the daily wipe downs we did with our water bottles. There was so much that we needed.

One night it was terribly windy outside, and a stick flew so hard against the tent that it created a large hole on the side. Bugs had access to get inside with us, and we would be screwed if a wild animal decided to show up unexpectedly. What would we do then? This was basically our only protection from the outside world, besides the knife I always kept hidden in my back pocket. But would that really do any good?

We weren't as happy since there were constantly things to worry about. With barely any food left, we had to save our appetite to where we only ate a few things a day, and with hunger came unhappiness. There wasn't a minute that passed when we didn't complain about our rumbling stomachs or our hurting sides. Our legs moved slower and we became weaker. Then came the dreaded day that I pulled out a package of crackers to find out that was the last of our food.

"Ty, we have to go get more. We’re going to starve!" Sky shouted, balling her hands into fists with anger.

"But what if someone recognizes us?"

"But what if we starve? Which would you rather do?" I didn't even have to answer this, she was right. 

The next morning I put on my nicest clothes (the ones with the least amount of holes) and cleaned up my face as good as I could manage. I also ran some water from a stream through my hair so it wouldn't look so oily and gross. The night before we hurried along until we finally found what we were looking for: a small mini mart that we could barely see from the edge of the woods. Since we had camped out right beside the edge, but not too close, we didn't have to spend all day wondering back over to this spot. 

After trying my hardest to look halfway decent, I double-checked my pocket to make sure the money was still there. I knew we had a lot, but just to be safe I only took a few hundred. 

"How are you going to carry everything?" Sky asked, with an inner relief that she didn't have to do this job.

"Carrying everything isn't really my concern. It's more like how I'm going to buy so much stuff then just walk straight into the forest afterwards. The people in there would get suspicious," I told her.

"Then just walk down the path a ways until you're out of sight!"

"But what if they see me walk out and wonder where I came from? What do I tell them if they ask?"

"Just think of an answer as you go along!" With that said, she gently pushed me in the direction of the store and started to list the things we needed. 

"Remember, we want to try to get as much as we can. Don't get any food that will rot quickly. Crackers are good; if you get fruit make sure they're fresh. If you're not back in an hour then that means something has happened...." she rambled on in my ear as she guided me to the edge. 

"Sky, I love you, but shut the hell up."

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