DURABLE (completed)

Where to Hide?

The harsh slapping of my feet echoed against the cold pavement in the quiet of the night. The sound was muted to my ears by my painful gasps for air as I pumped my legs faster. I relished the pain that shot up my legs and into my body as it drowned out the ache in my heart. I had tried so hard to be a good daughter, but I couldn't; not anymore.

My soul was dying! Another day, no another minute, in that house and I would lose the will to live. For all the years I had struggled to maintain my spirits using any and everything at my disposal. A smile from my teacher, a hug from my friends, a pat on the back from my father, even a laugh with that woman but it hadn't been enough and tonight, tonight, had been my breaking point. Two weeks to my eighteenth birthday, only a week before graduation, and I had lost the war.

My legs ate up the ground in front of me until they burned unbearably, and I almost stumbled to the ground. Eyes roving, I searched for a place to sit, desperate to rest my burning limbs. Thankfully there was a bench a few meters ahead and with trembling legs I collapsed gracelessly onto my back.

My ragged breathing seemed to fill the empty night as I waited for my heart to slow down and my mind to start working again.

As I laid there gazing up at the sky a bout of despair washed over my, and I wondered if my life was destined to be as dark and empty as the night sky. Afraid of my thoughts, I shook my head and focused on my surroundings. To my right, I was surprised to find that I recognized the row of old Victorian-era houses. There was only one place I knew that had those houses across from them and it was the train station.

With a start I sat up, eyes filled with amazement, as I spotted the familiar tattered sign with the T symbol on it. Somehow, I had managed to run a standard thirty-minute car ride from my home to the train station.

For a moment panic surged as the gravity of what I had done became apparent; I had escaped. Knowing my parents, they would have already started the hunt for my, but I couldn't, no I wouldn't, go back. There was no way I could live in that house an additional day knowing that my parents had plans to get rid of me. What did that even mean 'get rid of me'...where they planning to kill me?

Mentally shaking myself, I let go of that train of thought, I had a bigger problem to worry about first. I had to hide, but where could I hide that my parents couldn't find me. Staying in Boston was out of the question. There were too many people that knew my parents, and they would be all too glad to drag my back to that hellish place.

A sense of melancholy rolled over me momentarily stunning me. It was too much all of it was too much. I could feel my panic rising but with herculean effort I pushed it all away and focused on one thing getting out of Boston no, Massachusetts as quickly as possible.

Somewhere in the dark, a clock began to toll. It was 4:00 a.m. In 30 minutes the first train would be leaving the station, and I needed to be on it.

Drawing a deep breath in and out, I centered myself and began to go through my options. As quickly as I considered a place, I dismissed it: Paris, London, New York, Washington, D.C. I didn't have a passport and the other states were too close.

Slowly, I became aware of the footsteps of people making their way past me. I was running out of time. I needed to choose a destination right now!

Panic began to clog my throat, but then an idea popped into my head; the Amtrak. I needed to get to South Station. From there, I would have a pick of places at my fingertips.

Decision made, I slipped my feet into the pair of sneakers that I had grabbed on my way out the door but had completely forgotten were in my hands. With a nervous tug on my braids and a brush down my rumpled clothes, I joined the growing crowd of people heading into the station.