Chapter 5

Leslie knew she should make the call- and soon- but she just didn’t want to.

And, at this point, no one could make her. So she didn’t.

For now, Leslie was alone in her escape. She was lonely, but it was somehow comforting to know that no one knew where she was. No one could find her. No one could harm her. There was safety in her secrecy.

Leslie felt guilty, but she continued to drive. The highways all looked the same, except for the notable change in their color somewhere in Tennessee. The reddish tint of the road, due to the clay in the soil, she assumed, was unexpected and amusing. She’d never been this far south before, and she made sure to take a picture, even though only she would know why she had a seemingly random picture of the road.

The scenery did change, too, though not incredibly, and rarely to something interesting. The weather was getting warmer, though, and Leslie was glad to have packed some short-sleeved shirts. Perhaps she’d realized, even then, that her instinct would lead her to Florida.

When Leslie was young, her parents had decided to take their daughters to Daytona Beach. While her younger sister Katelyn had hated it, Leslie fell in love with the ocean from the moment she saw it. Katelyn, on the other hand, had heard a gruesome shark attack story from a boy in her kindergarten class, and refused to go near the water. For Leslie, the ocean was beautiful and incredible in its size and depth; she had never seen a body of water big enough to stretch from one horizon to the other, and the mere expanse of it left her full of wonder.

Their parents had insisted they all stand up to their ankles in the water for a picture, but Katelyn screamed her head off so loudly that the other families on the beach had looked up in worry. To this day, the resulting photo was one of Leslie’s favorites; Leslie stood between her parents, beaming, with a smile nearly taking over her face as a small wave broke at her knees. In stark contrast was Katelyn, her face scrunched up, red, and wet with tears. Their parents had a hand on each child’s shoulder protectively, but both couldn’t help but laugh at Katelyn’s tantrum. The cloudless sky and bright sun were reflected in the glimmery surface of the water, and the sand looked as pristine as a postcard.

To this day, Katelyn possessed an irrational fear of the ocean, but Leslie pined for it. The sound of the waves, the feel of sand between her toes, the soft blanket of the sun’s warmth… to Leslie, nothing was more tranquil. As she thought about it, it made sense that she’d headed southward from the start, but it was as though Leslie had been escaping from herself, even, at first. She’d been afraid to pin down a destination or any plans, but now that she had gotten this far and the shock had diminished, Leslie finally possessed a bit of confidence.

Running away wasn’t near as hard as Leslie would have thought. Perhaps it was the investigative reporter in her, but she felt fairly able to predict how she could be tracked down. Selling her car was perhaps not the best idea, as she’d had to sign some paperwork, but she did at least use a different name. The pseudonym might at least buy her some time, and in her mind, it would be much harder for the police to track her down in a different vehicle.

A part of her wanted, desperately, to turn herself into the police and trust them to protect her. Leslie’s escape scheme may have worked so far, but should it fail, she would be entirely on her own. But look how police protection worked last time, Leslie reminded herself, shaking her head to clear the idea. Besides, last time she’d just had herself in mind. This time, she was running to protect more than just herself.

Leslie turned on the radio, flipping through stations quickly to find something she could stand. She wouldn’t let herself think any more about last time, because it wouldn’t help her get away this time. Besides, Leslie wanted to avoid crying. Pulling over might draw attention to her, and that was the last thing she needed.

Finally finding a song she knew and loved, Leslie cranked up the radio. She forced the memories out of her head for a few more minutes, at least, as she sang along. Her voice, strong but sweet, echoed dimly in the car. Every car that passed seemed to hold a couple, or a family, or a group of friends, and Leslie was surprised to find that she didn’t regret running away. It wasn’t that Leslie didn’t miss those she loved, but rather that when she missed them, she remembered how very much she loved them. Leslie hated to leave, but she couldn’t bear the thought of causing harm to anyone. And because of this, she drove on.

Word Count: 4808 (a mere 9.6%)