For most of the drive there are nothing but fields of soybean and corn that stretch beyond the horizon.

The landscape is peppered with farmhouses and billboards reminding me when life begins and that the end is near.

Whoever says the world isn’t flat has clearly never been here before.

I light a cigarette and inhale as deeply as my lungs will allow. Taking in as much nicotine as possible so that I can stay awake as the scenery rolls on like ending credits. 

There is a buffer between us now.

At least three hours of distance. 

My departure is a defiant and gorgeous act of resistance.

As this bullet speeds forward, cutting the wind with abandon, barreling toward the unknown I whisper a prayer for you. 

Maybe you’ll get out too.