Point A to Point B

By now, you’re sweating profusely and you can smell anxiety seeping out your pores. Good. Maybe you’ll sweat it out. You hope no one wants to shake hands any time soon and that no one can see your pit stains. The coach bus chugs along. This once seemed like a brilliant idea. Now you’re not so sure. The adventure itself feels surreal and sometimes uncomfortable as all hell, but you’re running full speed ahead, ready to embrace the Unknown with open arms. You drift in and out of sleep and blurred thoughts about the past and feel slightly irritated every time the bus hits a bump in the road. There are a lot of bumps.

You never thought you’d see yourself graduate college - but you did it. What a relief. Mostly, you were just proud that you had managed to 1) get out alive, and 2) get out with no student loans. You don’t owe anyone a single cent (!) Most folks were disappointed with your decision to become a summer camp counselor, frustrated that you acquired a degree but you “weren't doing anything with it”. Ah, that beautiful, classic phrase which implied you just wasted the last four years of your life, always uttered by someone under their breath at those family barbecues you tried your best to stray away from.

Before you left, Dr. White reminded you that you are in charge of your timeline and you could adventure as you pleased. You needed to hear that.

So you bought a one-way plane ticket along with a bus ticket to get you to from Point A to Point B. To escape. To the sweet, clean air of the White Mountains.

The bus lurches to a halt in front of what looks like a desolate general store. You feel like you haven’t been breathing, but your vitals are just fine and you take in the way the dust rises around the bus. Everything is tranquil - the world is at ease. As you grab your backpack and de-board, you try to swallow down the complete disbelief that you. are. HERE. You made it.

How did you even manage this?

You’re scared and still sweating, but with stiff legs, you edge your way down the stairs and wipe your hands on your jeans. You walk to the edge of the woods at the back of the store. The first thing you smell is rich pine. You suck in the deep air, and it’s unlike anything you've ever experienced. It's perfect. You stare straight up to the treetops and absorb it all. Eager conversations swirl around you, and your new boss reads your name from a clipboard. You yell “PRESENT!” and smile up at the pines.

You will never get enough of this.