Chapter 28 Twenty-eight

• The gravel crunches under my feet as I walk the final stretch to the cabin. My back screams with every step, the weight of my belly and my backpack pulling me forward like gravity has a personal vendetta.
• After four bus transfers, a taxi ride to the nearest town, and a mile-long walk through woods, I've finally reached what I hope is sanctuary. The cabin sits in a small clearing, its weathered wood almost silver in the afternoon light. No other houses in sight. No roads nearby. Just trees and silence.
• I stop at the edge of the clearing, listening. Wind rustles through pine needles. A creek bubbles somewhere to my right. No cars. No voices. No one watching.