A Walk Through the Woods

Those Woods of Hers

The woods had always been Chrissie's safe place. There were no rumors or gossip here, no backstabbing friends, no cheating partners, no less than satisfactory grades, nothing. Just herself, the trees, and some animals that wander in every so often. Chrissie found herself coming here more often recently. She didn't know why, but school and home and practice just felt especially overbearing recently.  She sighed as she gazed up at the sky. She wonders what she is going to do when she moves. When she moves, far, far away, to New York. New York, which was completely different from what she was used to. New York, which has tall buildings, loud mornings, afternoons and nights. New York, which is nothing, nothing at all, like here, in these woods. 

Chrissie assumes that after she moves, she might never be able to come back here, to her safe place. Maybe that's why she is coming back so much. Maybe, unconsciously, she wanted to experience as much of it as she can, before she leaves. Before she leaves and never comes back. She in this moment, feels so empty. Like she doesn't know what to think, what to feel. When her father announced that they were moving a week ago, Chrissie had thought he was joking. Turns out he wasn't. Still, the thought didn't sink in until now, just a couple days before the move.  

Her sister had cried on the spot. She had protested. What about her friends? Her boyfriend? Her beloved Drama Club? What was she going to do?  Chrissie on the other hand hadn't said anything. She just nodded, then walked straight out here, to these woods. It didn't feel real. Like something ripped straight from a movie. A few days later, her mother told her and her sister to say goodbye to their close friends. She wasn't completely sure, but she thinks her mom was crying. Not like it would change anything.

Chrissie didn't have many friends. Just one guy, Derek. When she had told him, he just shrugged and wished her luck in a new city. She had thanked him, then walked away to her next class. She had never been talented with anything. Unlike her sister. Chrissie's grades weren't amazing, and she didn't do any extracurriculars. So, if she was being honest, the move probably didn't affect as much as it did for her other family members. 

The days are trickling by, and now Chrissie is going to the woods any chance she gets. The only thing she will miss from her dull, boring life, she thinks, is these woods. It struck her, suddenly, that it was the only thing she hadn't said goodbye too. She realizes, too, at the moment, that she doesn't want to say goodbye. This was the only part of her life that she truly enjoyed. Right then, Chrissie broke down in tears. She broke down for the first time in all this time, unable to hold it back down. She cried and cried until her eyes were puffy and her face was tinted red. 

She was on the plane now, on her way to New York. She decided, as her home and those woods slowly disappeared from view, that she was going to change. Her old self will be left at her old home, and her new self will emerge from her old cocoon. She'll definitely miss those woods of hers, but she felt kind of glad. And for the first time in a while, Chrissie smiled.