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"No, come back!" I always cry with my hand stretched out to them "I can’t do this without you!"

Before I know it,away into the trees and following theme to follow it Don’t break the rules Follow the line to the end of the road, the end of your life

I run down that line, past the woods, the trees But the perfect line is guiding ht to the end of life

Perfect, so perfect, like everything else I’ve ever known

I abruptly stop in the middle of the road, beside the silhouettes of trees

What do I do? Keep going? Keep letting the line lead n, forbidden word, one I desperately want to taste Live ive to have that

Even thoughend of the road I can hear the floater beckoning me to find the river To discover another route of life, one that twists and curves and creates its own path

Before I can stop myself, I lift my feet off the line, off the road, off the only path I’ve ever known, and drift into the darkness of the trees

That’s when I wake up, neverthe unknown path God, do I want to h

One day

Someday

Soon

When I open my eyes, I’m surrounded by my bedroom walls The cries I fell asleep to have shifted to incoherent chanting, a warning of what’s next Soon, hts, I wonder if the visitor isup on me to make sure I stayed in my bed, that I haven’t soh, when the air doesn’t feel right,me question if it’s someone else, like one of my father’s friends

I usually call out from my bed, "Who are you? Tell me this time"

In ritual, the person simply stares back All I can do is lie helplessly in ht Then the ain as my mother strolls into the bedroom to wake me

"Time to wake up, Emery" She strides for theto unfasten the bars frolass and sets them aside Then she turns for my bed, leans over me, and unfastens the padded cuffs onin the temporary freedoht allow you to sleep without the cuffs," she says, stepping away froe and plantto do the best that I can"

"I know you have" She flips strands of her black hair off her shoulder "And I think, just as long as there isn’t another incident, you’ll be fine You just need to prove your sanity and trustworthiness to hiain"

Sanity?

Is that what I had before lance out theat the ho around the lowly populated town of Ralingford, Wyo The small area is out in the middle of nowhere, away from civilization The citizens abide by their own unique rules: such as a town curfew of seven o’clock, s about tos only adults are allowed to attend, and my absolute least favorite, a split society People rarely leave, and if they do decide to escape the solitude, they never return I’ve always envied those people and have my own escape plan, which will hopefully lead to the dismemberment of this town