Born Wild

Back in Tennessee

Back in Tennessee Ben still struggled with the pain of losing her. Every day he woke up, he had to battle the feeling of guilt, pain, and anger. He wanted to fight for happiness, even though everything was wrong. 

He knew that life was the worst it could be right now. He was unemployed, had no family or friends to talk to, and was fighting the craving for a drink. He had thrown it all out the first day she left and cleaned up his act, but it was so hard. Life was difficult right now, but he knew that he had to fight for happiness. He tried to live each day with purpose. Ben also began to reunite with old friends and go on runs. Ben found himself smiling at people on the sidewalk and humming in the store.

He finally grew stable enough to find Tala. He wanted to find her and make things right. He knew he didn't have much to work from. She had left her cellphone at home so he couldn't track her number and she didn't have a car to track the plate. He may be able to have the police department search for her name and see if an address or workplace came up. He wasn't sure if they could even do that or not. 

Before he could even attempt to find her, he needed to save some money. Funds were low and he was struggling just to pay for gas and groceries. Sales had been down that summer, but he hoped the arrival of fall would bring people in to buy coats, boots, and other items.

He figured that maybe he should try advertising the new products by posting fliers around town. He took his car, almost out of gas, and headed to the printing store. He ran into his old friend that managed the bus station nearby. They were close until Ben began to drink too much. Later that day, his friend called him after noticing he seemed to be doing better and said they should have a cookout to catch up. 

A few days later when they were grilling out, Ben brought up Tala's leaving. His friend wasn't surprised. So Ben asked if he already knew that and his friend said that he had seen Tala at the bus station. He thought Ben knew where she had gone.

Ben then asked if he knew where she bought a ticket to. His friend told him he would check old records. Ben hoped this could lead him to Tala. The police found nothing under her name because the Howe's paid her cash and her name wasn't under Koda's address yet. She was completely under the radar.

A few days later, Ben got a call from the manager. He told Ben that the ticket was headed all the way to Washington and up into Canada. She could have stopped anywhere along the way. Ben sighed and thanked the manager for looking. Ben set his phone on the counter sadly and stared off for a moment. There was nothing more he could do. She was gone.

He looked up at the pile of mail he hadn't sorted through today. He saw a sliver of green and blue. He pulled it out of the stack. It was a blank postcard for Elkford Washington. He knew where she was.