terristories

Gravel crunches underfoot, a dry breeze stirs dust. She sneezes, the sound disappearing into the emptiness around her. A ghostly moon attempts to break cloud but fails and a wry laugh escapes her lips. Any other time the silent darkness would frighten her.
Tonight it is her friend.

An owl on the roadside illuminates in a lone, determined moonbeam. They watch each other for a moment before the light is doused. He flaps away and she follows his arc back the way she has come. The lights of her hometown catch her gaze, barely a glow on the horizon. A glimmer of memories, her life as it was supposed to be. First love, then marriage, then the baby carriage. Her road mapped out, her dream realized. But her dream has become a nightmare instead.

Turning away from the road she has known she starts walking again, following a new path. It is uncharted territory but her steps are certain.
A car pulls up.
She is not afraid. She knows it isn’t him.
He doesn’t believe she would wander this far from her life, her prison.

“Need a ride?”
“Sure, thanks.”
She slides into a squeaky leather seat.
“Where you headed?” the stranger wants to know.

She points ahead and the woman nods. Words are unnecessary; the swollen eye and bruised lips say enough. The moon finally breaks through as they head off down the midnight road, the world awash with silvery moonlight and new possibilities.