The Long Road Home: Consequences
We were sitting in the den one Sunday afternoon, watching the races on the Speed channel. Before I knew what possessed me, I blurted out, “What would you say if I ran away?”
Very slowly his hand moved for the remote and it seemed to take him a lifetime for his finger to find the mute button. “I think,” he said slowly with his eyes on the TV. “I think I would say that sometimes when you leave, for whatever reason, things aren’t the same when you come back; every choice has its consequences, bug.” He didn’t ask why I had asked that particular question and I didn’t bother with an explanation.
One week later, I graduated. Even though Dad’s answer had been more of a warning than a blessing, I knew that I was doing this. I didn’t know that I wanted things to change, only that I had needed them to change so very badly that as soon as Dad had said that things would be different, I took his words as a promise and hoped for the best.