The car rumbled as it came to a stop. The last intersection before the expansive dirt roads took over. I looked to my sister, in the driver’s seat. Her mouth was set it in a hard line, blinking dumbly at the light.

“It’s green.”

“Right.” The car lurched as it started again. I felt my stomach churn, nerves tightening in my gut. She was distracted, but not unsafe, as she drove out of town. I kept seeing her glance behind her in the rearview mirror. The town we grew up in slowly faded into the fog.

“It’s not permanent, you know.” My voice sounded like it echoed in the silence of the car. Something behind me shifted, one of my bags or boxes rolling over. Hopefully, nothing was broken. “I’ll be home for Thanksgiving. And Christmas.”

She took her foot off of the gas, slowing down slightly and letting the car cruise along the gravel. The expansive fields surrounded us, waves of golden wheat seemingly waving us goodbye. Well, waving _me_ goodbye.

Lifting a hand to wipe at her eyes, Katherine inhaled shakily and sniffled. I didn’t know what to do; she never cried in front of me. She always acted like she was unshakeable. She always took care of me, despite being the younger twin.

Clearing her throat, she put her hands back on the wheel, steadying the car. Tears dripped down her cheeks. “I’m not worrying about when you’ll be back.”

Her voice was anything but stable.

“I’m just… worrying.”

I nodded. Nothing I said or did was going to get her to stop worrying. So, I just looked out at the road. Rocky, full of pot holes, and nothing like the dark pavement I was going to get used to.

“Katherine, I’ll still call you. Every night.” I didn’t know why she was taking this so hard. I tried to put myself in her shoes. She was losing her brother, that I understood, but I was only an hour away. It was an open campus, so she could come visit whenever she wanted. “You could always apply with me-“

“No.” She shook her head, wiping her tears again. “That… the city, and the libraries and the homework, that’s your world. I’m good to stay here. Lillian needs someone to work the bar.”

Katherine never wanted to go to college. She thought I was silly for applying to the city.

“Okay.” I settled for agreement. There was no way I was going to argue with her, not when this was going to be our last road trip together for a while. She turned on the radio, smooth guitar filling the silence as she kept on driving. The conversation was clearly over.

I turned my focus to the window. Cows, horses, barns, and deep green fields passed us by. Everything I’d ever known, gone in seconds. I had my first kiss at that house. Rode my bike down that path. Explored every inch of those forests with my friends.

We passed the church, the one we went to every Sunday, stopping at the corner. The gravel turned into pavement, cement covering the dirt of the country.

It was poetic, in way, watching the haystacks turn to shops and the trees turn into street lamps. It was like watching the first chapter of my life come to a close and transition into the next.