Broken

Chapter 5

I make a sandwich and get a glass of ice tea. Even though it makes me nauseous, I eat it and hold it down, just so I can go on my walk. I don't know why, I just feel like I have to walk today. I need to for some reason.

"Can I go now? It's after lunch."

"Yes, you can go." My dad sighs.

"Share your location with me first!" My mom says, as always. I send her the link and she checks her phone to make sure it's there.

"Remember, no crossing the highway, no walking along the train tracks, no leaving town, and no talking to strangers, okay?"

"Yes, I know."

Both of my parents are very overprotective. They make all of these rules and want to know exactly where I am, what I'm doing, and who I'm with at all times. It gets annoying. I know they're just worried about me and don't want me getting hurt, but there's a point where it gets to be too much. They need to understand that I'm older now and I can do things on my own without them breathing down my neck. I'm not some fragile piece of artwork that needs to be guarded and protected at all times, I'm a teenage girl. A human. I don't need to be sheltered so much.

As soon as she's done lecturing me, I grab a hoodie, the pen, my earbuds, and my phone. I check the time before I leave: 12:27. I go to check my wrist timer, and then tell myself that I can't. I walk out the door, and halfway down the road, I check anyway. Five days, nine hours, 40 minutes and 23 seconds. Another tally. Why can't I just stop? I get to the end of the road, where it stops, and you have to decide whether to turn left or right. I grab my earbuds, put on my music, and turn left. Right leads to the highway, and I need someplace quiet.

Throughout my walk, I make several turns. I keep walking straight until I felt the need to turn down onto a certain road. I like going down places I've never been to before, and places with lots of trees. I don't like a lot of sunlight. It seems like it could be a useful skill, knowing my way around town. I look down again...

Five days, nine hours, seven minutes, and 16 seconds. I make another mark.

I need to stop. It's not going to magically lessen or add time. It's not going to change. Why do I keep looking down?

To my left, there's a shady, dark road. Not a bad, ghetto kind of shady, more like a peaceful, forest kind. I take the turn. There's no one outside. No children playing, no adults mowing the lawn, not even any dogs barking. It's nice; I like the quiet. It helps me enjoy my music more.

When I walk, I like to listen to the type of music that you have to listen to with both earbuds in. It ruins the experience if you only use one. I turn it up so that the songs are the only noise I hear. It's also the only thing I let fill my mind. Until, of course, I think about the time again.

Five days, eight hours, 49 minutes, and 33 seconds.

I pull out my pen again.

I haven't gotten this obsessive with it until today. Why? What's wrong with me?

I turn right down a grassy alleyway. I realize that I'm not even paying attention to my music anymore. I can't stop thinking. This is insanity, I need to calm down.

I turn in the opposite direction and start heading to the park. It takes a little less than half an hour to get there. It's a long walk, but I need somewhere quiet to sit. When I finally get there, I stroll through the gate and go to the dock in the pond. I sit down and check my watch.

Five days, eight hours, 46 minutes, and 31 seconds.

It takes me a moment to register that something is wrong. It was at 49 minutes half an hour ago, so why have only a few minutes passed? I stare back at it for several moments, but the seconds never change. I just keep my eyes on it, hoping it just got a little stuck, or that it was about to switch times, but eventually, I come to terms with reality. My clock stopped.