the brave ones // h.s.

item two

"God, it was such a rush!" Eden cries, a gleeful, victorious smile overtaking her face. She holds her list in her hands, shaking it like a trophy.

Amenkha has a look of mild surprise mingled with pride on her face. "I still can't believe that was you," she laughs. "What happened, what changed?"

"I thought about what you said," Eden admits breathlessly. "About what's worth living for, and I realized you're right. That job wasn't worth living for, but this-" She holds up her list and waves it again. "-this is."

Amenkha crosses her arms over her chest and smirks triumphantly. "So that's one item out of?"

"Thirteen," Eden answers. She drops the list on her bed, pulls a pen from a cup on her desk, and methodically crosses out the first item.

"What's next?" Amenkha asks, peering curiously over Eden's shoulder.

Eden folds the list into a small square and tucks it safely back into her pocket. "Item Two," she answers, flashing Amenkha a cryptic smile. She tugs a duffel bag from her closet and tosses it onto her bed. "Run away."

***

Two hours later, her bags are packed and she's bid Amenkha goodbye. After a hesitant conversation, Amenkha wishes her luck and waves Eden off as she backs out the driveway.

Her enthusiasm lasts about five minutes before her left brain comes out to play.

"What am I doing?" she whispers aloud. "Where am I even going?"

She pulls over and parks in a nearby gas station, hands locked on her steering wheel in contemplation. Anywhere sounds better than where she is now, stuck in the tiny town of Moore Haven where she'd grown up her entire life without ever bothering to venture outside city limits. Her newfound sense of adventure is yearning to get away as far as she can.

It doesn't take long for a distant memory to resurface - a snippet from a conversation she'd had with her grandfather a year or so before his passing.

"Love is what's most important in life. And no better place to find it than Niagara," he'd said resolutely. "That's where your Nana and I fell in love."

"Niagara," she breathes, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

It's a stretch, and a hell of a drive, but she's still high on the adrenaline of abruptly quitting and it seems the perfect "next-destination". She may not have any person to fall in love with, but it seems appropriate that she tries to fall in love with Life. Niagara may hold the key to doing that.

She tugs her list from her pocket and eagerly unfolds it.

"Run away," she reads slowly, crossing off the second item. Then she tucks the list in the mirror on her sunvisor and retrieves the roadmap from her glove compartment.

Her finger traces lightly along the tangled mess of highways and roads sprawled out before her. Her lips move soundlessly as she reads the possibilities of routes climbing up the east coast, each one a viable option. If she was going to follow her list and get to Niagara, she was going to do this right and take the scenic route.

Item Two - Run Away

~~

i'm sorry if this seems to be moving fast but she's dead set in her determination and i wanted to get things moving early on. don't worry, haz comes in soon!