Taste of Home

Ginny's Freedom

Every day for Ginny Barker meant another day for her to be bossed around by her mother, and since she was the right age to do such a thing, she wanted to leave their tiny home for good. She didn't know what it was that turned her mother into an overbearing woman, but when her mother was out for extended periods, Ginny packed a satchel of her things and ran away from home. Since she had already tried two times to get away from her mother, both of which were foiled by her more kindhearted but frightened father, she waited for a time when both of them would be out before escaping forever. Her big moment came when her parents were going on an anniversary vacation, and Ginny wished her parents safe travels while giving her father a big hug and her mother a weak kiss.

"No running off this time, Ginny!" Her mother barked as she and her father climbed into the car, and Ginny nodded before waving to them and watching as they drove away, completely unaware of what their daughter had in mind.

As soon as the car had driven out of sight, Ginny stopped waving to her parents before running inside, where she rushed to her room before grabbing her satchel and making sure she had everything. Since her mother bought several things for herself and almost nothing for Ginny, she gathered all the little trinkets she could find before stuffing them in with all her clothes. The last thing she grabbed before making her third escape was a special friend: Mr. Snuggles, her teddy bear that she had since she was a little girl. With an arm tightly wrapped around her bear, Ginny signed a pre-written farewell note to her family before locking the front door and sneaking out the back door, which she locked behind her before running as fast and far away as she could.

Since she remembered her paths from the last two times she ran away, Ginny took a new path towards the nearby forest, hoping to find a place to stay and hide when her parents came back. She had heard from her father that magical things could happen in the woods, but her mother squashed them by saying that he was filling her mind with nonsense, so Ginny secretly wanted to see which parent was right. The forest looked friendly and inviting to Ginny, especially since she spent almost all her time inside the house, so she ran to the forest before going down a few paths until the forest grew darker. Ginny looked around for any signs of magic that her father had told her about, but since she didn't have a flashlight in hand, she tripped over her own feet before dropping Mr. Snuggles and landing on her face.

After Ginny got up and brushed the dirt off her face, she dusted off Mr. Snuggles and shouldered her bag, after which she pulled out a flashlight before turning it on and continuing her walk. It was getting late when she reached a clearing, so she pulled out a blanket from her satchel before laying it on the ground and using a bag of her clothes as a pillow. After fluffing her bag like she had to do with her mother's pillow several times back home, she knelt on her blanket and began to pray. While she prayed that her family would never find her and that she in turn would find a loving home, she didn't know that someone was hearing her, and the answer to her prayer was closer than she thought.