Space Between

Leaving

Leaving her work was not a problem- after a few shifts gone by at the cafe the boss would just stop calling. Leaving her unit was more of an issue. She looked gloomily at her bank balance and decided to do the decent thing - she took out two weeks rent from the cash point and left it with a neat note on the kitchen counter. That obligation discharged she had just $237 in her account. Not enough to get to Bangkok even one way in a tin can. So what could she do?

Carefully she packed her meagre possessions - toiletries, passport, spare shoes, and what she realised was a very odd assortment of clothes into her back pack. It was gone midnight. She decided to have one more night in her bed before taking to the road, so for the next six hours she tossed and turned , wanting to rest but impatient to be off. At six she got up, stuffed the sheets in the top of her back pack, made a final cup of coffee and as the light intensified bade farewell to the little unit she had called home for a year.

Shouldering her pack she set off into town, uncertain where to begin. She had sent Arielle a message in the small hours ,' Going to come but not enough cash so it may take a while.' She had added a heart emoji. She had hesitated before adding it. She and Arielle were officially broken up with no regrets either way, but she was still the human she loved most. The heart felt right - they were still 'besties' even if they had not spoken for six months.

She stopped and drank at a bubbler - she would need to be careful with her few funds - and waited in the park for the shops to open. Her only plan was to get a plane in vaguely the right direction as far as her money would take her.

When the clock struck nine she headed into a travel agent and asked what cheap flights they had today. 'Not much today ' answered the pleasant faced woman behind the counter ' Singapore for $307?' 'Too much', Zoe sighed. 'There's cheap travel on the railways today for youngsters like you - you under 25' 'yes' Zoe replied, grateful that little milestone was a few months away. 'You could get up to Darwin for $80 today, and work it out from there? But you'll have to be quick; the train leaves in twenty minutes- reckon you could run!' Zoe thought about the pack and the lack of sleep, but pushed those aside, nodded and the woman took her card and pay waved, printing her ticket.

She knew the way to the station, and weaving her way like a drunken crustacean through the crowds she reached the platform with seconds to spare, and flung herself into a carriage just as the whistle blew.

She had done it. She had left.