The Life of M

        I hadn’t always wanted to be a runaway. It wasn’t something I had dreamt about, some milestone I wanted to make before I went off to college, like backpacking across Europe. When the urge had seized me to leave home I had spent many sleepless hours agonizing over the issue, wondering what had shaped me to this point of restlessness.

        It had come in short bursts, a speculative thought here or there, “What if I…” or “Maybe if things went differently I would…”

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        Amanda thought my homesickness was because I had spent my whole childhood dreaming about faraway places through books. Through the pages of a novel, I could find my escape without ever having to step foot outside and deal with all of the difficult issues that come with reality: sunburn, forgetfulness, regret, stress, jetlag, homesickness. She thought my disappointment was so strong because my expectations were so high.