I couldn’t say that You must understand. Why bring it up? It’s out of my hands. When I look at her seething my wrath burning deep, no courage is found to utter a peep. But away from her presence, boy, am I free! To sigh and sneer, cackle and creep. I feel powerful when she is away to let my deceitful tongue sway, to feign my respect from day to day. But with such power I’m stripped of peace. The recompense of cowardly speech.

willing to love for the first time. my single rule being: thee be God’s …and I be thine.

Everything was a blur. Streams of tears ran across my cheeks as I continued rowing. Not only was I struggling to see but each swift movement I made sent a slicing pain through every bone in my body. A puddle was forming beneath me. Was it water? But it feels…warm. Blinking away the tears, I quickly glanced down. Blood. It was already coating most of the canoe. How much of it will I lose before hitting land again? The thought of bleeding out in the midst of an uncharted lake wasn’t at all appealing. But the thought of staying in that Cabin was even worse. Dead or Alive, I will escape.

A red octagon. What was it again? ‘Slow down’? ‘Wrong way’? My foot hovered over the brake as I cautiously scanned the street for clues. Finally, my eyes landed on a freshly painted crosswalk right below the sign. ‘Stop.’ Of course, it was a STOP sign. Almost a year has gone by since the last written traffic sign was ripped off of Chestnut Avenue’s curb. Sure, it was an inclusive measure taken on by my State; to convert the once English-dominant road signs to universal pictographs nearly anyone could learn to decipher. But playing guessing games on my way to work was starting to get a bit old…and dangerous.

I watched my bare feet dance over the smooth rocks and calm waters below me. My fingers picked at the old splinter-prone wood upon where I sat. There was no other place on earth where I could find such a secluded and peaceful bridge. What started out as a secret spot to clear my head, became something much more. It was -in many ways- like a home or a sanctuary. Only there were no walls. No others. That was the best part. Every town, small or great, has its own little hiding places. I’m sure this new town will have one, but it wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be mine.