I felt like I had been walking this road without streetlights for eternity. I continued straight on my path into the darkness, when suddenly bursts of red and blue light flashed in front of me. I froze, looked in both directions frantically, and then heard the gunshots. I dove into the treeline to my right, snapped my eyes shut, and covered my ears with all the pressure of my palms.

My heart was pounding against my chest so hard, I feared the police would feel the vibrations though the ground. I had been on the run for at least a week; time and days bleed together on the road, and I was gung-ho on getting to Gary, Indiana to prove my innocence.

I cautiously removed my hands from my ears and listened. Silence. And then a display of green and gold decorated the black screen sky. Fireworks. Not gunshots, not the police…fireworks. I stood up, wiped the gravel from my knees, and made my way back into the road to Indiana.