I was completely alone in the woods. The sun was setting quickly and I shivered, tucking my arms into my orange fleece. I didn’t hear people calling my name anymore and the pleas for me to reveal my location had stopped. I was not going to get caught. I couldn’t help but smirk when they had walked by. My back was against a tree, the dark brush tangled around me. I stayed close to the road and continued walking on. Never before had I felt so free. With only the clothes on my back and stranded in the Blue Ridge Mountains were powerful. I did it. When I had first broken free of the ties, I took off at a run, my hiking boots pounding. I chased nothing except the excitement of escape. My hands in front of me, I pushed through the tree branches as they scratched against my cheek. I fell a couple of times, but the brush cushioned my fall and I quickly leapt up. I only stopped when I noticed one of my shoelaces had come untied. Gasping, I bent down. I felt as if I could run forever. I wanted to run forever. My body was pulsing, and my mind screamed for me to keep going. I had become unattached to my body and my emotions were numb. Only then did I collapse, breathing hard. When I got to my feet, I took a deep breath and brushed the dirt off of my pants. I’m not sure how long I walked, but I heard it was pretty far. I could hear an approaching car. I quickly ran off of the road, dipping down a hill of rhododendron. The car passed and once again, I climbed onto the road and kept walking on. Black was creeping over my surroundings but the moon lit my path. I began singing softly, comforted by the sound of my own voice. I continued, but got louder at the reassurence nobody was hearing me. I became unconscious of time. My trek was coming to an end. I was cold, bruised and broken. Only then did I realize what I truly was really running from.
I was running from myself. That’s when I surrendered.