I leaned against the bathroom door, blood dripping from my nose and the side of my face. The wounds were nothing out of the ordinary, I barley felt any pain. What I feared was the sounds coming from the other side of the door, glass bottles breaking and my parents fighting. There screaming was the only thing I could never grow accustomed too. It made me want to break down in tears like a small child. The flimsy walls of our trailer made me rock back and forth. I always thought that they would collapse on top of me, crushing me and the life I held. Closing my eyes I remembered a childhood memory of me…and my best friend; Beck Oliver.

We were two young children, playing in his backyard with wooden swords. We were swinging them around, pretending we were knights on the front lines of a war. Not long into our game are friend Moose arrived and was dubbed the enemy. While attacking me I was thrown into an unattached portion of fencing. The impacted force caused the panel to fall over on top of me. The air had been pushed from my lungs, making my small amount of screaming and crying barely audible, rather difficult and very much so painful.

I snapped out of the memory when I felt someone trying to force the bathroom door open. I closed my eyes and tried to conjure up another childhood memory, but my father's yelling broke through my concentration. His foul words and abusive comments made me feel worthless, yet I knew I wasn't. Time seemed to slow for me as the door finally gave way and broke off its hinges. My father grabbed the back of my shirt tossing me into the living room. My mother was slumped across the couch unconscious. I had only just gathered my surroundings when my father's fist smacked into my head.

The impact forced me into the ground where I smacked my head into the hard stained floor. My father stepped on the back of my head and moved his foot around. I could smell the mold growing in the floor and I gagged, the bile from my stomach rose through my throat and I had to swallow it back down. As he moved his foot away I pushed myself back up from the ground only to receive my father's foot in my side. I clutched my stomach as I fell back over. I curled up in a ball as his foot continuously made a connection with my body

I began feeling rather light headed and dizzy, but still forced myself to stay awake. My father reached down pulling me up by the hair and punched me in the side of my face before throwing me into the wall. As I sat there bruised and sore he spat on me and walked away. I wasn't sure where he had walked to but I wasn't going to find out. I sat there against the wall shaking from the cold for what seemed like decades. When my father hadn't returned for some time, I assumed it safe to stand up.

Shaky and dizzy I pushed myself up and used the wall as a tool to balance. I slowly and quietly made my way toward my parent's room where they kept any form of identification. Opening the small box that sat on top their dresser I pulled out 3 passports. Shoving them all in the pocket of my hoodie I looked out into the hallway. The trailer was somewhat quiet with the exception of my father's snoring from the kitchen, it made me wonder if my mother had woken yet with how quiet the rest of the house was. Tip toeing toward the front door I grabbed my coat off the floor and walked out of the trailer. My heart was pounding with the chance of escape, my breathing uneasy and shaking.

I took a deep breath and walked out the front door leaving it wide open. I ran from the trailer court, it was drizzling as I made my way down the street and to the small bus station just a couple blocks from home. I was tired and cold as I reached the ticket counter and handed the man the small amount of money I had, gaining myself a ticket as close to America as I could get, and as far away from my parents as possible.

As I boarded the bus I headed toward the back and sat down. Leaning my head against the window I listened to the pitter patter of the rain as it gradually picked up. I watched as others boarded the bus, awaiting their own travel and destinations. The voices of the people were easy to drown out as the erythematic sounds of the rapidly worsening rain lulled me into another childhood memory.

I couldn't have been any older than four when the two of us got caught in the rain, our tiny frames becoming soaked and chilled to the bone. We curled up under a tree trying to gain even a little bit of coverage. Beck's arms were wrapped tightly around my shoulders, my head limply against his chest, both of us shivering; primarily from the cold, but also from the fear of the thunder and lightning. As a round of thunder erupted through the air I shook viciously against Beck.

A clap of thunder brought me out of my thoughts and I realized the bus had started its journey. I lied in silence for some time starring out the window. I didn't quite know where I was going, but I guess with the fact that Beck kept coming to mind I would try my best in getting to America, to Beck. With all these memories flooding into my mind it only seemed right, no matter how difficult and long the journey ahead was. As I lay there, head pressed against the window and fell asleep.

At first everything was black, with the exception of me and two spotlights. I stood under one spotlight but the other was empty, until I watched as Beck's frame appeared in the lit space. He was smiling at me, his hand outstretched waiting for me to grab his hand in return. But before I could even reach out to grab hold of him he mouthed goodbye and turned away from me. He began walking away as I silently screamed for him to come back. No matter how hard I tried though, my voice just wouldn't grow loud enough, how could he hear me if I couldn't even hear myself. Crying and sobbing, afraid to lose my best friend, afraid to be left alone, I just sat there on the floor of my dreams sobbing.

My eyes snapped open and I frantically searched around my surroundings. The bus had come to a stop at a bus station. But there were so many people it just didn't seem like a normal station. Exiting the bus I looked around and realized that I was at the border of Canada and the USA. But I didn't have any money left to bus myself any further; from here I would have to find my own way there. Flashing my passport at the border I crossed effortlessly into America, at least for now I would be safe. As I walked out of the station, I pulled the 3 passports out of my hoodie pocket; I had taken my parents so that when they wanted to come after me, it would take them some extra time.

Shoving them back in my pocket I headed out into the open. The sky was really pretty blue out that day and there was just enough of a breeze that it wasn't burning hot outside. I had stopped an elder gentleman and asked him for directions to LA, California; he showed me a map and I thanked him. As I was walking away he stopped me and called me back over.

"Are you traveling alone?"

"Yes sir, I'm trying to get to California to see my best friend Beck."

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening it and reaching in he pulled out $100 and handed it to me.

"It won't get you all the way there, but it's a start. Just be careful alright young lady."

I nodded my head and smiled at him. For the first time in a while someone had taken their time and showed me some kindness. I enjoyed the fact that someone out there still cared for the rest of humanity. I walked for a couple miles before I found a small general store and walked in. I was starving and hungry so I grabbed a couple things and took them to the register to pay for them. As it became my turn at the counter I grabbed myself a map of the country and set everything down for the lady to ring it all up.

As I walked out of the store I sat down on the corner and looked at the map while I had a bit of lunch. I pulled the highlighter that came with the map out and proceeded to highlight a bus route that would take me to LA. After resting for a little while I set out to find the bus stop I had marked out on the map. It took me some time until I found it, and it was getting dark, and busses stopped running soon. When the bus showed up I stepped on and paid the bus driver before taking a seat close to the back. I stared out the window at the darkening sky. It wasn't long before I had to transfer busses but I knew that this was the last bus for the night. I wanted to stay close to the bus stop so I could, but I hated the dark, it still frightened me. Finding a little park close by I curled up on the playground and tried dozing in and out, to at least get a little rest. Tomorrow I would start traveling again.

As the next day began dawning I sat up from the restless night I had still very tired and headed back toward the bus stop. It wasn't long before the bus arrived and I loaded on to the one as well. Throughout the day I was on and off different busses before I had finally arrived in LA, California. It shouldn't be long now until I could see Beck; at least, I hoped. I exited the bus and started walking in a random direction, hoping and praying that things would work out decently. I wondered around for hours, I didn't know where I was going or even a number to call. I had been to Beck's house once since he had moved to the US. I remembered what his house looked like but finding it was a different story.