All Along the Watchtower played from her stereo, the poor reception making it go slightly fuzzy.  She sat picking at a hole just below the knee of her ragged jeans with one hand, her other holding a cigarette, rolling it carefully between her index finger and thumb.  The suitcase was packed, hiding beneath her bed.  It didn’t contain much – underwear, socks, jeans, a sweatshirt and a pair of mittens.  Just precautions.

She checked the time on her clock.  Almost time.  It was dark enough anyway, the sun fading more quickly than she had estimated, even with her calculations.  She pushed open the window, the paint no longer sealing it shut.  She had been preparing for a long time.  The window open, she dropped the suitcase outside and hoisted herself over it easily.  She hesitated to close the window – leaving it open would let them know she was gone, but in the mean time the meager heat left in the house would quickly escape.  She settled, closing it halfway.

Walking quickly to the main road with suitcase in hand, she waited until just the right car came along.  Old, beat up, driven by a lone man.  Perfect.  As he slowed down she saw the empty car seat in the back.  Shit.  She hadn’t counted on that.  Too late now though.

“Need a ride somewhere?”  His eyes were too soft, too kind.  Don’t back down.

“That would be great actually, thanks a lot.”  She climbed into the seat, touching the door, the dash, the seatbelt.

“Where to?”

“Anywhere but here.”

As they drove away, she smiled at what this must look like to Mrs. Henderson peering from behind her window across the street.

She guessed this wasn’t his first time dealing with teenage runaways, since he didn’t ask any questions.  So she volunteered the answers.

“I just have to get away, you know?  Parents, school, who needs it.  I’m thinking about just hitching until I get to the city.  I know a few people there I can stay with, it’ll be easy to get some bartending job and save up until I can pay rent somewhere.  My boyfriend just graduated anyway and goes to school there.  We broke up before he left, but that was when I was staying at home.  We’ll probably get back together now that I’m moving there.”

His sympathetic eyes told her he was about to start offering advice, so she kept talking, talking until they had driven long and far enough.

“Oh shit, can you pull over for a minute – I think I’m gonna puke.”

She ran far enough away that he couldn’t see her and made some retching noises as she fell to her knees.  He sat in the car looking concerned, but not worried enough to come see if she was okay.  She trudged back up to the car.

“Listen, thanks so much for the ride, but I think I’m going to walk for a bit.  It’s such a nice night and the fresh air will probably be good for me… sorry, I just get a little car sick sometimes.”  She hesitated, knowing this last part was crucial.  “I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you do me a huge favour?  My suitcase is pretty bulky and I don’t want to have to drag it along with me.  Do you think you could drop it off farther up the road and I can grab it there?  Just at the next gas station or something?”

It was an odd request she knew, but please let him buy it.  He looked doubtful, probably had places to be, maybe back to the kid the car seat belonged to. Don’t think about that.

After a few more pleading teen runaway minutes, he finally drove off with her suitcase in the back and her fingerprints everywhere else in the car.

She gave him a day, tops, before it was reported what kind of car she was seen getting into.

She turned off the main road and began walking into the woods.

Free.