The world was so beautiful. I had never gotten to explore the world on my own, always with my siblings and our escort. Now, I was free and running down the road feeling the air rush past me. Mountains surrounded the road I was on, and while I had seen mountains before, I had never been able to rotate completely to see them all at the same time. Is this what others who were free were able to see every day? Such beauty, the mountaintops against the bright blue of the sky, the green grass all around the road with flowers exploding from the grass in patches. All my life I had traveled with my siblings and our escort, as far back as I could remember we had traveled together as a family. I, being the most adventurous, occasionally would get into scraps and would leave with cuts and markings from these adventures. I always pretended I was defending another in distress, and I was fighting off dragons or ogres to protect their honor, then once they were free, we would ride off into the sunset together. Just us, not my family, just my love and me. And now, here I was off on my own, hurrying down the mountain past other families who stared in horror at seeing me on my own. Well, they could kiss the dust I left in my wake. I refused to go back to the life I had been living before, practically a slave in my family. Well, maybe slave was the wrong word. My family loved me, I knew that, but they constantly tethered me to the Earth and refused to let me open my wings and fly. But now, no one could catch me.

I hadn’t seen my family since I broke away almost an hour ago. Were they ok? Did they miss me and were they doing fine without me? The last images of them seared into my mind would always be their horrified looks as I broke free and ran. They were my past and this open road in front of me was my future. Where would I go first? The beaches of California? The deserts of Texas? Or maybe even the cold north toward the great lakes. But for now, I ran. I ran for my freedom, for my peace of mind, and for my future. Occasionally I would jump into the air with excitement as I ran. On more than one occasion I almost ran in front of other families travelling together the opposite way, I would quickly apologize, correct my path, and return to my freedom run. Their distance curses and shouts whispers upon the wind around me, faint and nearly drowned in the orchestra of the Earth. I looked farther ahead and saw more twists and turns of the road as it followed the mountain down to the valley. I was so thankful for the downhill route, it helped to project me farther in my run. I felt burning as I hurried down the mountain from the speed I was reaching. I had gone faster then this before, but I had always had my family to support me, it was different traveling the road alone, depending upon my own weight.

I turned as I heard a sound behind me and met the gaze of other families staying behind me. I shouted with excitement and continued, feeling like a leader among others. Those watching behind me were like my disciples and I their lord, leading them to the promised land. We would travel together and find a place to rest and build our own future together. This was the glory of freedom, and despite only haven been free for just an hour or so, I felt I knew what the world was about and who I was within it. I had slipped into a daydream as I went, imagining falling in love, raising little ones, growing old and weathered before finally resting in a graveyard around others like me. This was the future I wanted, and I knew that I could achieve it, I just needed to make it around one…more…curve. I’m not sure how it happened, but as I ran, I hit a rock or a bump and into the air I tumbled, spinning for what seemed like eternity. And as I feel to the Earth, not on the road I had been but, in the grass, and weeds I had admired just a few mere moments ago. Dust, trash, and rocks flew into the air as I lay there disoriented. The world was spinning so fast, I would lay here for just a bit before continuing. Oh…but why couldn’t I move to flip myself over? I tried moving again and found myself heavy and unable to right myself. I looked around me and saw those who had followed me just a few moments earlier passing by me, cheering at my tumble. I was a fool to them, not a messiah or a lord. Just a jester wearing a suit of dirt and dust. Not even worth their time to stop and check if I was ok. As I watched them continue and disappear around a curve, I heard a familiar sound behind me. I managed to turn my head just in time to see my family coming towards me. They must have come to rescue me, to bring me back into their pack and shelter me from this cruel world where the pain was mocked and laughed at. I called to my family, alerting them to my location off on the side. They approached closer and then continued past me. I yelled again and watched a few of my siblings look in my direction, but our escort refused to stop. In fact, in my place was someone new, helping the family to continue. I had thought I was leaving them, but now I saw that they were leaving me, and not just without me, but having replaced me. I watched them disappear past a curve and out past where I could see them, and then I was alone. There would be no shores of California, no desert, or great lakes, and certainly no graveyard for me to rest in. No one else passing by seemed to notice me or know anything about my run for freedom. The bushes and brush around me poked my sides and as I examined myself, I saw lots of slight scratches from my new home. Home…not the one I had dreamed of but the one that I now found myself in. I shifted slightly off a rock and fell completely into the dirt. Well, it wasn’t what I had hoped for, but at least I had a beautiful view of the mountains. What more could a tire ask for?



© Katherine Bonds