Runaway

Chapter Three: Hitting the Road

The explorer must always move forward, heading towards his destination. But when it lies just out of reach he must get creative.

I slowly opened my eyes as I awoke and was immediately blinded by the early morning sun. I sat up, stretching out my stiff arms. I had slept with them curled against me all night so they needed to move around. After my arms regained some feeling and range of motion I sat up. Bad idea. As soon as I tried to pull my body up my back screamed in pain. I froze, holding myself in place by resting my hands on the ground. That's what sleeping on the ground all curled up does to you. 

Afraid to hurt myself further I slowly shifted myself so that I was on my  knees, my back still bent forward. Now for the moment of truth. I slowly straightened my back, ignoring the pain that came with it. I did have to get up after all. 

I stood straight up and stretched out my back. I could feel the joints between my vertebrae crack and shift as I did so. The feeling was good and I noticed the pain subside as I stretched a little bit more.

I picked up my bag, letting the light frost fall off as I slung it onto my back. The weight felt good, comforting. I gave my legs one more stretch and began to walk out of the alleyway, saying farewell to the heater that was my benefactor in the night. Hopefully I could find somewhere a little more comfortable next time.

I looked down at my boots. They were lightly frosted but still dry. That would be invaluable if I had to sleep outside again. I can not let them get soaked through. I stomped my feet, causing the snow to fall off. Satisfied, I continued on my way to the street.

The dirty bricks of the alleyway surrounded me, appearing cleaner and brighter as I left the shadows and entered the full force of the sunlight. The sky was a perfect clear blue, all of the clouds from the night before were gone, replaced by fluffy white ones, hanging high in the sky. And there sat the sun, burning bright and strong, the symbol of my new day. I hoped that it would be as great as the morning promised.

Stepping out onto the cobblestone sidewalk I was given a few sideways glances from passersby. I guess the last thing they had expected on their walk to work was to see some random kid emerge from the darkness between two buildings. 

Even though people were staring no one said anything so I just shrugged it off. What did I care that my presence was disturbing them? I readjusted my pack and started walking down the street, heading deeper into town. 

The place looked pretty old, I could tell by the architecture. It all looked very much like a country town and rightly so, I was in the middle of nowhere. I figured that because I was out here in the country, not every resident would have internet connection, so there had to be an internet cafe around somewhere, or at the least a shop with free Wi-Fi. 

Walking down the street my head was constantly tilted up, reading the signs on the buildings. I passed a bookstore with a display of hardcovers in the window. It looked quite inviting but I knew I didn't have time to get lost looking through all of the books. If I went in I probably wouldn't have bought a thing. I would have just grabbed an interesting looking book or found one of my favourites, sat down, on the floor even, and started to read. I have finished many books that way, to the shopkeeper's annoyance.

I continued walking, past a clothing store advertising a winter clearance sale. It was the end of February and they were already clearing out stock? Business must have been very, very slow. I shrugged and moved on, hoping something good would come my way.

I stopped as I noticed a large sign hanging out over the sidewalk. It read: Indoor Mall and had a large arrow pointing left. Beneath it was a short directory of the shops within. I quickly scanned it, searching for the words internet and cafe. A wide grin formed on my lips as my eyes passed over the magic words.