Finding Me

Chapter 5

I changed my clothes in a hurry, fed the dogs, and walked back out to my car. Turning left out of the driveway, I headed for Main Street.

Main Street in Newburn, Maryland was not much to look at. Still isn't today even though they finally got a fast food joint. It was just a small town nestled between mountains in Western Maryland. I enjoyed growing up there even with the problems that occupied my family and home.

I've always loved the outdoors, especially mountains. There's something about the solidity of mountains that touches my soul even now.

Mountains are a living metaphor. Just like everything else in life, time can either erode them or build them up. Staring at a mountain gives me a real sense of security in the present. Something I never had anywhere else.Especially in my childhood home.

When I was living at home, I would get up in the morning and the mountains would be there. They never judged, never criticized. They were just there. I used to talk to them. I pretended that they could hear me and that they would keep my secrets. Nobody would be able to get my secrets out of something that immovable. In my mind's eye , I could see a vault that was in the heart of mountains. A vault that was locked tight and that I was the only one allowed to get to it.

There were days that it felt like that view from my window was the only thing I had. It was like those mountains were the only thing that tied me to this world. It felt as if the mountains were not there, I would just float away and keep going until the vacuum of space took me to my death.

That same view was a comfort to me as I drove through town towards my favorite diner. I drove right through the main part of town and stopped as the only light in town turned red.