My way, Highway!

Prologue

[ Rebecca ]

"Run, as your life depends on it."

My dad couldn't be more dramatic. It was the 1st-grade running competition after all. And my age was 6.

"Run!"

My dad's voice echoed in my ears. "I am tired, daddy," I remembered begging him. Pictures of my 6-year-old self flashed in front of me. There I was, in the middle of the kid's race track wearing pink floral leggings with a grey sweatshirt. My blonde hair nicely combed in two braids that dangled in front of my shoulders as I ran to make my parents proud. They were never satisfied with my marks or my excellent performance unless I was the only winner. Albeit my small limbs were exhausted with the practice and of course the ongoing race, I ran with all my heart, narrowing my striking blue eyes on that red ribbon at the end of the race track.

"Don't allow yourself to get tired. Life is a race. If you won't run, you will be left behind." Remembering those then-inspiring words of my mother gave me more strength to run away from them now. How ironic.

Yes, they were right. I have to run. Runaway from their infuriating control that they imparted upon me ever since I was an innocent child. Well maybe not so innocent, always been the trouble-maker for my parents but only because they were never satisfied. They would never stop comparing me to the first ranker student, whosoever that person be. And that always ticked me off.

When I looked around, I saw the dark jungle enveloping me, as if it was consuming me inside of it. I could only see the silhouette of trees, and bushes. The only source of light that helped me navigate through this jungle was that of the half-moon which shone right above me. I could tell it was almost midnight. Even though I was running on an unknown path inside a pitch-black jungle, I had this odd feeling of peace and calmness. The more I ran, the more I felt free. And just like that, the darkness felt so satisfying.

The reason for my flee was not only my parents, or the love of my life, Justin. Oh no, it had nothing to do with the fact that we had a fight right after which the police busted his house and handcuffed him for all the illegal and stupid things he did. And it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that we broke up. I felt the tears blurring the view in front of me. Or maybe it did, but not entirely.

There comes a moment in everyone's life where you are done with your and everybody else's shit, where you don't even want to face the situation at hand and feel like you should get as far away as possible from all the toxicity. Even though it was you yourself who jumped off the cliff, you still swim to the shore as soon as you realize that the exhilarating waves are munching on you and want you to drown in its depth. And especially when you realize that it's not just you who will drown in those gigantic waves but also you will magnetically pull your loved ones along with you and your sanity will be deluged. For me, it was that moment when I realized that my stupid rebellion against my parents had caged me into something even more darker. I knew if I stayed one more night in that toxic town, I would be been caged forever.  It was like every single thing of that town existed only to chain me up.

From somewhere near, I heard the police siren and even though it hurt, I ran. The siren hinted me that the jungle was soon gonna end and there might be a highway somewhere near. Every inch of my body was screaming and asking me to stop yet I never stopped. There was a pang in my chest as soon as I realized that no one could help me in the current situation and I was all on my own. I was hurt, beyond hurt, maybe because I was high and running like a rat running in a wheel.

Did I just compared myself to a rodent?! That was a terrible reference. Ugh, God! 

Maybe it was time to become independent and cut lose with everyone. Albeit I had planned it months ago, I just never thought that I would actually, run, or leave a few important people in my life.