#JustWriteIt

Day One

Writing in first person is sort of awkward for me, so bear with me, please. I'm not really sure how to go about this challenge. I started it once, began to write, and it all felt wrong.
 But this time, I'm going to push through the awkwardness, and persevere!

I feel like "Eye of the Tiger" needs to be playing as I type this.

So hi! My name is Audrey, I'm seventeen years old, and I'm bad with people, but good with words. So here I am.

A few things you need to know about me are that I'm moody, I draw a lot, and I basically live like a hermit in my bedroom the majority of the time. Also, I can remember random quotes, and entire songs that I haven't heard in years, but I can't remember how to work math problems that I learned a few days ago.

For example, I woke up this morning with "All Star" stuck in my head, for no reason. I haven't heard it since the last time I watched Shrek, which was at least four years ago. Also, I head a quote from Breaking Dawn stuck in my head...I'm not even a fan of the Twilight Series. I haven't read them since seventh grade. The human brain is weird.

The quote was "Life sucks, then you die." Which is honestly my motto for this year. Not really. My actual motto is "Your Mountain is waiting," from Oh the Places You'll Go. I'm not an optimist, but I'm trying to be, and the idea of finding my mountain keeps me going.

This summer, my family took a road trip to Iowa. I say family, but I really mean my mother, her husband, and my annoying brother. All of my three stepbrothers stayed with their mom. We spent fourteen hours in a car, because my mom has a fear of heights, and refused to get on a plane. It was pretty annoying, honestly, especially considering that I don't particularly care to spend time with any of them, and spending just an hour with my stepdad feels about the same as sticking a finger into a pencil sharpener. By the time we got there, I was fully considering jumping into traffic.

I didn't, by the way, Audrey is still alive. Maybe not well, but alive.

The reason we went to one of the country's most boring states (sorry Iowans) was because my stepdad crop dusts, and my mom didn't want to be away from him for a whole month. So, basically, we spent a whole month trapped in this tiny hotel room, watching Netflix, and being generally grouchy. We lived off of gas station foods, and highly chlorinated water, and the bored sighs of our irritated comrades.

I don't think Iowa is boring, now that I actually consider it. I think I was just in boring company.

The best part about Iowa was that there was this sidewalk leading from the hotel, leading to who-knows-where. I enjoy walking alone, the way the world feels when there's no one there to intrude my thoughts, and I can just think, and breathe, and enjoy being by myself.

The sidewalk was cradled between the interstate, and this beautiful green field, full of flowers and blackbirds with orange chests. I think the birds sensed the fact that I wasn't there to hurt them, and they always followed me as I walked. It was nice. I felt like I was in a live action version of the game "Take a Walk."

Being innately curious, I decided to follow this sidewalk, and find its end. It followed the curve of the field, and led beneath a bridge. I stood there for a few moments. It was surreal. Everything around me was dusted in sunlight, above me was the sound of cars racing overhead, echoing around me, surrounding me. But I was not dusted in sunlight, and I was not above in a car. I was there, life was paused, and it was just me, in the shadow of the bridge. Breathing. Thinking. Existing. Not existing.

After a few minutes of this, I continued to walk along the sidewalk. I entered back into the sunlight, back to being sandwiched between the interstate and the field. Technology and nature. I finally saw the end. The sidewalk seemed to just cut off, the road slicing through it like a knife. Across the road was a cornfield. I sighed, made my way to the very edge, and stared across, not ready for my adventure to end.

And that's when I saw it.

Just ahead, across the road, the sidewalk continued, just for a few feet, into a part of the field that wasn't a cornfield, just nature. Blackbirds and weeds and wildflowers. I looked both ways, and took off running, until my feet landed on the sidewalk, and I was safe. I made my way to the end of the sidewalk, and I sat down. That surreal feeling of unreality settled over me again, because here I was , surrounded by nature, but just across from me, cars flew by. But time was standing still, the cars were just background noises, and I was at peace. My legs ached from walking, my head was full of the thick, smothering gauze of calm, and it was in that moment that I decided that this was what I lived for. Those little surprises at the end of the sidewalk, the hidden bits across the street.