Even as the icy winds rushed past me and against my face, the music in my ears was enough to keep me smiling. A brand new adventure, and so far, everything had been going great for me. The scooter handled the snow without any issue as long as I kept it going at a running speed. Everything around me felt so new, so strange. Since I had lived on the farm for my entire life, I knew every single detail about the land. Here, however, everything was new. I didn’t know what was around each and every turn. To think, if I stopped for a moment and looked around, I’d find all these new discoveries in places I’d never seen. Tempted though I was to keep my journey slow, I had a mission. I was going to stick with my goal. Besides, there was no reason I couldn’t come back and explore here another day.

  After I had traveled a few miles, I finally saw a car on the road. The snowfall had continued to pick up. The lights were coming from behind me, and so, I moved to the side, slowing down to let the vehicle pass. John had always said snow made driving a car or truck much more difficult. Luckily, the driver must have seen me as well. The glow of the lights slowly slid to my left as I watched the car move past me. It was a red vehicle, much bigger than John or Emily’s car. I felt a jolt of excitement just from seeing it. Even though I wasn’t anywhere near the city yet, I was already seeing so many new and amazing things around me. I couldn’t even imagine what else there was to find.

  My mood was only lifted more thanks to the music in my ears, going from rock to ska. The voices and instruments were an odd combination, all united by the purpose of finding freedom and having new experiences. Without question, this playlist had been the right one for my adventure into the world. Fitting to the song now pouring into my ears, I felt as if I could fly the moment the gentle glow of the horizon started to increase from the lights of the city. Even through the thick snowfall, signs of life and community were steadily becoming visible.

  As soon as I crossed the invisible line between the country and the city, I was surrounded by houses. They were smaller than the house John and I shared, every one of them packed tightly together to create room for as many buildings as possible.

  It must be so much fun to live here…if you could get used to having so many people around you, there’d be tons to do and see every day…

  How different would it be, I wondered, compared to where I lived. I could have just physically left my house and walked next door to talk to a neighbor. It would be like a chat room, but instead of using the internet, being there in person. Sure, most people would just be able to do such a thing daily, but to me, that typical bit of life was what made it so exciting. It was normal to them. I turned off the main road, heading onto a random side street to really see what the city looked like. The detour was too tempting to ignore; I could visit the center of town after stopping here for a moment.

  I pulled over to the edge of the road a minute later, just looking around and taking in the view of the snow-covered houses. A few windows were lit up by the gentle flame of the lights inside the homes. After I put the kickstand down on my scooter, I reached into my pocket, pulling out my music player and hitting pause. The moment I did, I realized how quiet it was. Because of the weather keeping people indoors, the time of day, and the muffling effect of the snow itself, I was surrounded by a beautifully silent world. It felt similar yet different all at once. I could imagine myself sitting in my treehouse, idly strumming at an instrument as I looked out my window to see neighbors surrounding me.

  All of it felt…normal…wonderfully normal. I kept repeating that word over and over in my head. The fantasy of it all made me feel like I belonged here. Isolation wasn’t something I had chosen. The more I continued to think about it, the stranger it felt.

  Why did it take me so long to do this?

  I stepped off my scooter, walking along where the sidewalk was, though it had been buried under the snow. It was only noticeable by a small amount of footprints from earlier. I thought about people rushing to get all of their shopping done before walking home to one of these buildings. Although I often used my music to help me feel like I wasn’t alone, as I was surrounded by structures full of other people, I truly didn’t feel like I was by myself at that moment. Even though I didn’t know anyone in the community–and they certainly didn’t know me–for these few, quiet moments, I could pretend to be a part of it.

  A sudden series of soft bangs made me jump, whirling to the right. It sounded like gunshots, but as I looked at the row of houses in that direction, I saw several flashing lights. Instead of the flashes being white like I’d expected, it was a mixture of red, blue and green. I quickly realized it must have been coming from a television with some sort of program the occupants were watching. Suddenly I was hit by a wave of nervousness. Other than the car I had let pass on the road, it was the first sign of actual people, and I didn’t feel ready to engage with anyone else.

  No! You came here to do this, and you’re going to do this. Stop being such a baby and get over yourself, Tess!

  I stomped my foot down into the snow to double down on my thoughts. I was here for an adventure. Adventurers don’t chicken out the moment they feel afraid. I slowly made my way towards the house, leaving the safety of the sidewalk and taking advantage of the muffled sound thanks to the snow. Walking towards the window, I kept myself crouched below it, my breathing getting faster and faster. I felt silly for making such a big deal out of it. All I wanted was to see who was inside.

  Is that creepy?

  I didn’t want my first interaction to be something capable of getting me in trouble…

  Only a quick look. I just want to see what’s in there. One quick look, and then I’ll move on.

  With one quick deep breath, I stood up and peeked through the window. My eyes widened as I gazed at the surroundings inside the home. Against the back wall, a large television rested on top of an entertainment stand. A faded blue couch faced it, getting a perfect view of the program. Again, that word popped into my head: normal. Bookshelves lined the left wall of the room, and the other side had a staircase likely leading to bedrooms upstairs. Three people were sitting on the couch, all watching the TV. The movie the group inside were watching wasn’t something I recognized, but the living room itself was much more interesting, anyway.

  All three of the people there were shaped like John and Emily. Then again, if anyone was shaped like me, I wouldn’t have been able to see them from this angle. The couch would have been too big to see their head.

  “BARK!”

  My gaze shot over to the right, spotting a large dog standing on the stairs. It hadn’t been there a moment ago, but now it was, and it was staring directly at me.

  “BARK BARK BARK.”

  I screamed as the canine ran up to the window, teeth bared. All three of the people on the couch turned, but I was running before I could even see their faces. My hearts were racing as I went into a full-on panic, sprinting away on all fours. I only had one thing on my mind: getting far away, and fast. I reached the sidewalk and turned to run to my scooter. As I did, I heard the squeak of the front door opening. The dog was still barking, but it didn’t sound like it was chasing after me.

  “Just a raccoon.” I heard a man’s voice say, just before the door closed.

  The dog’s muffled barking from inside the house grew softer and softer as I continued to run, only slowing down after I was a few houses away from them.

  Right…definitely weird to look inside random people’s houses in the middle of the night.

  I smacked my forehead with my open palm. How dumb could I possibly be? I’d let my curiosity get the best of me and it had completely clouded my judgment. Once I got back to my scooter, I decided it was best for me to just continue into town. As I reached into my pocket for my music player, I stopped, instead grabbing my phone. I did a search for the word ‘raccoon’. Staring back at the results, I blinked, then looked back at the house which had caught my attention.

  Under my breath, I muttered, “I’m not a raccoon…”

  ***

  As I entered the middle of the city, the trees planted along the sides of the road for decoration were replaced by buildings and parking lots. Some buildings in front of me reached so high into the sky I couldn’t see the top of them through the snowfall. It felt as if they were going on forever, passing not only the sky, but the planet itself. Despite being a snowy night, it almost felt like midday thanks to the street lights and surrounding buildings. Normally, I’d have to carry a flashlight through the farm just to see where I was going at this time of day. It was as if the city residents decided they didn’t want to have a night, so they just used lights to make it day all the time.

  I came to a stop in the middle of a large intersection where two large roads met in a plus shape. It looked like there were five or six lanes for each road, but it was impossible to be sure because of all the snow.

  How many cars drove through here? Do they really need that many lanes?

  A light above me suddenly changed from red to green, drawing my gaze upwards to inspect the object. It wasn’t just a singular light, but instead a giant string of them. For a moment, I was confused. Then I remembered: I had seen pictures of lights like these ones, and I’d seen them in movies, too…but they looked so different in person. They were so massive and it seemed like there were a dozen of them. I took my headphones back off, watching the light change from green to yellow, then quickly back to red. The lights facing the other direction turned green, and at the same time, I saw another set of lights change, ones farther off to the side. An orange hand appeared on one, while the other one adjacent to it showed the outline of a person.

  Several minutes went by as I stood there, content to watch the signs dancing between the different colors and symbols. I imagined the intersection filling up with cars, and tons of people scattered around the sidewalks, trying to get where they needed to go. It had such a natural rhythm to it, but if any light stopped working, it would cause a melody of problems.

  In the edge of my view, I could see a pair of lights coming towards me. Realizing I shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the intersection, I drove my scooter over to a corner, stepping up onto the sidewalk. The lights seemed to be from a large truck, and it was making a horribly loud scraping noise as it drew closer. On the front of the truck was a giant snow plow. Although I couldn’t be sure if the driver could see me, it still felt like an appropriate place to say hello. I stood up as straight as I could, waving my hand to the truck. It didn’t show any signs of slowing down.

  “Hello!” I yelled, trying to say something over the loud, scraping metal.

  The truck continued to march forward. With my hand still raised, I suddenly noticed the continuous wall of snow being kicked from the street to the sidewalk…the same sidewalk where I was standing.

  “W-Wait!”

  Again, my exclamation fell on deaf ears…or perhaps no ears at all. I was battered by the wall of snow, getting thrown off my feet into the embankment next to me along with a flurry of powder landing on top of me. It all happened so fast…it took me a moment to realize what was even going on. I was cold, everything was dark, and I could feel the watery snow seeping through my clothes. I sat there for a moment, processing it all before I reached up and pushed the snow off of myself, getting back up on my feet. The truck’s red tail lights were visible for only a moment longer before they disappeared into the weather.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Thanks! …bye!” I yelled after the truck.

  I didn’t know why I’d thanked the driver for burying me in snow. It just felt like the right thing to do…and it would have been awkward if I hadn’t finished the conversation I started. After I brushed myself off as best I could, I started searching for my scooter. It must have still been nearby, even if it was buried under a layer of snow. I began digging through the icy powder, trying to find my ride home. As I dug, I heard a voice in the distance. Looking up, there was a small building with a few lights on, with some cars parked in the front. A group of people were leaving the structure and getting into a large car.

  So there are some people out…

  I started walking towards the vehicle, forgetting about my scooter for the time being. The car had pulled out of its parking spot by the time I got close, passing me on the street. I gave a small wave, but they didn’t seem to notice me. Watching it go, I eventually turned back to the building, looking at the sign above the door.

  “Supernova Bar and Arcade.”

  Before I could investigate further, the door suddenly swung open. I took a few steps back, suddenly feeling like investigation may have been a bit much for me right now. My anxiety came crashing down on me as soon as I saw a woman walk out with a few other people in tow. I turned to run away, but then I stopped, realizing the woman was Emily. She was stumbling a bit with each step. She hadn’t noticed me at first, but then I stepped toward her.

  “Emily! Hi!” I was so excited to see her, of all people.

  She looked down at me with a glazed look on her face.

  “Huh?” She asked.

  I froze. As soon as I heard her voice, I realized: this wasn’t Emily. This was a complete stranger who only looked like Emily. The other people behind her stopped. All of them were looking at me, but none of them were saying a word. As the woman I thought was Emily leaned down, she looked me in the eyes. Her face was only a foot away from mine.

  “Kid…you shouldn’t be out here this late…”

  Her words were slurred and she was definitely having a hard time keeping her balance.

  “Cute mask, by the way.” She continued, grinning as she reached forward.

  I remained frozen. I wanted to run, wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. My body flinched when she pinched my cheek. A confused expression went across her face.

  “I-I don’t…” I finally managed to squeak out, but before I could say anything else, the woman screamed and fell backwards.

  Although I tried to catch her, she fell too quickly. As she landed on the ground, a small, harsh light turned on above me. I looked up, seeing several of her friends holding phones, cameras pointed at me. One of the people standing in the center of the group had their phone light pointed right at me. All I could do was stare at it for a moment, unable to breathe, unable to move.

  The girl screamed again, and a moment later, someone wearing an apron stormed out of the building, carrying a baseball bat. When I heard the sound of the door slamming open, my muscles finally kicked into gear. As if on autopilot, I went down on all fours, running as fast as I could. I turned the first corner I saw, going into an alleyway. I turned my head back for a moment to see the man with the bat still chasing after me. A few of the group were not far behind him, phones out and pointed in my direction.

  Finally, I came to the center of a few buildings, right where the four alleys merged. I needed to get back to my scooter, but I had lost all sense of direction. I tried catching my breath, looking for anywhere to run or hide. Nothing stood out. The group was catching up to me. Choosing a random alley, I ran down it at full sprint. Soon I came out to another major road. It looked the same as the one I had just seen. Was it the same? I couldn’t tell. I looked around, hoping to see some kind of landmark, but nothing stood out. Turning around, I found the group right behind me. They had caught up.

  The man was holding the bat up like he was ready to swing, but he was keeping his distance from me. The girls stopped behind him, phones still out.

  “What the hell is that thing?” The man asked, getting muttering, confused reactions from the group behind him.

  “P-Please…I-I just wanted…” I stammered, holding out my open hand to show I wasn’t holding anything.

  I wanted to tell him I was only wanting to say hello. I didn’t mean to cause them a problem. Even so, the words wouldn’t come out. It was as if I had no air in my lungs to speak.

  A loud horn blared in my ear. I turned just in time to see two white lights heading toward me. WIth no time to react, I could only watch in horror as a car ran into me. I rolled over the hood, everything in my vision a blur. Through my confusion, I heard the sound of the snow plow once again. It was getting louder with each moment. I was still in the air when I felt the plow slam into me again.

  I was spinning and tumbling through the air for what felt like eternity. The whole world felt like it was slowing down. For a split second, I saw the ground. As if on instinct, I reoriented myself, landing on my feet. Before I could move, I immediately fell over, too dizzy to stay upright. As I looked up, I saw the vague outline of the group of people standing on the other side of the street. I’d landed in an area not covered by the sea of city lights. Turning carefully, I looked around, spotting a small bush next to a building. Without hesitation, I turned and jumped behind it, taking cover and silently hoping none of them had seen me.

  My legs hurt, my arm hurt, and my brain was throbbing from the worst headache I’d ever had in my life. Despite the pain, I cautiously looked around me. The car that had struck me had stopped, the windshield seemingly shattered. The truck, however, continued to roll though the streets, unfazed. The person with the bat started running after the truck.

  He didn’t see me land on the other side…

  I watched him run off, noticing the group of girls turning their phones off. Instead, they walked towards the person driving the car. They were probably talking to them, but I couldn’t hear any of their conversation. My eyes started to drift shut as I rested flat on the ground. I held my hands to the side of my head, just hoping the pain would stop…

  ***

  A vibration in my pocket suddenly startled me awake. My head still hurt, but the headache seemed to thankfully be gone. I carefully peeked over the bush to see a police car and a tow truck. Everyone else must have left the scene. Although I didn’t know how long I was out, not too much time seemed to have passed. It was still dark outside, and there was no sign of daylight.

  I pulled out my phone, frowning a bit at the now cracked screen. Not only was the glass totally shattered, the screen behind it had several colored lines going through it and there was a giant black spot on the bottom corner. Thankfully, I was still able to answer the phone call.

  “H-Hey John…” I mumbled into the phone.

  I was still trying to remember everything leading up to this moment, but some of the details were still blurred thanks to the last of my headache.

  “Tess? Are you okay?” He asked.

  “I’m okay.” I lied.

  I had no clue how to tell him…anything about what happened. Who knew if he’d be mad, or even understand…

  “Where are you?” He asked. “I wanted to talk to you about something, but you weren’t in your room or your treehouse.”

  “Oh. Um, yeah…” I paused, unable to think of anything else to say.

  Of all the times for my mind to draw a blank…

  “It’s okay, we can talk tomorrow. Come down to the house in the morning, I’ve got something to tell you.” John paused for a moment as well before asking, “...and Tess?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I love you.”

  I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “Love you too…” I replied, pulling my phone away from my ear to look at it for a few moments before ending the call.

  Well, that conversation was one way to make me feel even more stupid. It felt like I’d just lied to him, all because I wanted to see things and have a little sense of freedom. Now I’d realized I’d made a mistake–what, exactly, I didn’t know, but it was definitely a mistake. I couldn’t get that girl’s face out of my head. She’d thought I was wearing a mask, but when she realized I wasn’t, she looked like she had seen a ghost. I didn’t see anyone like me, but everyone else looked at me as if they’d never seen anyone like me. That family in the house thought I was a feral animal and the girl screamed in fear when she realized I wasn’t wearing a costume.

  As I tried to comprehend what was happening, a car came into view. I sat back down, not wanting to be seen. The bright glow of what I assumed were the car’s headlights started to slow while the car pulled up next to my hiding place. A moment later, the lights turned off and someone stepped out of the car. It was so dark without the lights; I couldn’t see anything but the person’s silhouette. They came up to the sidewalk, pacing back and forth, looking around the small building next to me. After a moment, they took out their phone, typing quickly on it.

  My heart skipped a beat as my phone vibrated in my pocket. The silhouette seemed to look in my direction, but I laid back down. My hand slid into my pocket, fingers feeling around to try and touch the power button. I heard footsteps. They were coming straight towards me.

  Too late.

  I finally found the button, turning the phone off. Laying perfectly still, all I could do was hold my breath and wait for whoever it was to pass. I couldn’t see them, but even so, I could feel their presence right on the other side of the bush.

  In a hushed voice, nearly impossible to hear, I heard the person softly speak. “Tess?”

  I opened my eyes, seeing Emily standing above me. I knew it was her this time. I’d recognize her voice anywhere. There was only one thing I could think of to say.

  “I’m sorry…” I whispered back to her.

  She quickly looked back behind her. The tow truck and the police car were starting to leave. Pretending to watch, Emily waited until they were nearly out of sight before she turned back to me. I sat up, sticking my head out from behind the bush.

  “Tess, what…what happened? What are you doing here?” She whispered, voice only a bit louder.

  I don’t know what came over me, but I gave her an oblivious smile. “Just laying around, I guess.”

  “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you out here? Come on, get in the car.”

  “Emily, I didn’t mean to…” I tried to respond.

  “Quickly.” She continued, still quiet but more urgently.

  I took a deep breath, standing up. My leg still throbbed, but I could walk on it without any problem. I pushed my way out of the bush, walking back with her to the car. She opened the door to the passenger seat and I slid inside, closing the door behind me. As much as I knew I was in trouble, I also knew I was safe here. My body relaxed for the first time in what felt like hours. Emily got into the car, quickly looking around to see if anyone was in sight. Finding no one, she started the car and the two of us started traveling along the road.

  “Wait, my scooter…” I said as I realized I’d left it buried in the snow somewhere.

  “I don’t care about a damn scooter, Tess. What the hell were you doing out there? Why didn’t you tell anyone? Have you lost your mind?!” Her voice was getting louder with every question.

  I looked down at my lap. There were so many thoughts flooding through my head, and I couldn’t pin any of them down. There was nothing I could say to justify what I had done. Emily knew enough just by finding me where I was hiding. I frowned.

  “...how did you find me?” I asked.

  I knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it was the only thing I could think to ask.

  She held up her phone, looking at me for a split second before turning her eyes back to the road.

  “You’re on my map. And it’s a good thing too, or someone else would have found you there.” She responded.

  Oh. I had forgotten she could find me with that GPS.

  She looked down at it and quickly dialed a number on the phone, then held it up to her ear with one hand. I heard the phone ringing before I realized what Emily was doing.

  “No, no, no!” I held my hand up.

  I wanted to grab the phone from her, but it was too late. A voice came through the other end, barely loud enough for me to hear.

  “Hello?”

  “John! So glad you picked up! You’ll never guess who I found!” Emily said, sarcasm evident in her voice as she shot a glare at me.

  I shrank back into the seat, my face in my hands. I’d never felt this embarrassed in my life. All I could do was close my eyes and tune out their conversation. This night was too much for me to take, and it had started off so well. I just wanted it to be over. After Emily hung up the phone, she drove in silence for several minutes. No way was I going to be the one to break the silence. A few minutes later, though, Emily did, laughing quietly to herself. I looked up at her, confused.

  “...just laying around…” She said, rolling her eyes.

  I smiled and laughed with her. For a brief moment, I was able to forget all the tension between the two of us.