Hello!

"The weight crushing her shoulders seemed to decrease significantly as they passed the deep emerald Florida State Line sign.  The big, ivory letters and dull metal symbolized not only the distance she felt from the physical location, but also the place in her mind that it made her go to."

"The morning started off less than ideal.  She was confused when she woke up–she forgot where she was and immediately started panicking.  When she reminded herself of the previous day’s events, she walked through the camper to find Him.  He was nowhere to be found."

"She heard the splat of her vomit hit the hot asphalt before she could smell it.  It was the summer of 2009, and Barack Obama was president of the United States.  The country was at the tail-end of the recession, swine flu was the pandemic of the decade, and Michael Jackson was dead.  Girl didn’t really give a shit about any of that then, though."  

I know you’re not supposed to say this, but I loved being your secret.  Like an entire planet all to ourselves, filled with nothing but the sound of our laughter and sunlight warming our cheeks.  A bubble created with the tenderness of our youth.  No one could reach us there; your voice always a siren that I never could refuse the call of.  

The trees whisper their many secrets, the birds sing their usual song,
and the sweet Southern sun beams down on my brown skin.  There’s a
stillness to it; the world stops here, and I can stop along with it.
In the city, police sirens lull me to sleep, construction wakes me up,
and horns honk as often as the birds sing...

The white airbags are deflated post-deployment, the windshield is cracked into a thousand pieces, and the sound of the horn beeps in the distance.  

“I knew we shouldn’t have come here,” she says, straining to turn her neck.  He breathes in slowly, trying to soothe himself out of a panic attack.

“How was I supposed to see that deer coming?” 

She laughs sarcastically.  “I don’t know, I thought the antlers would’ve maybe given you a hint.”