She sighed as yet another car sped by her on the road. 'Maybe this wasn't my best idea,' she thought hefting her duffel bag higher on her back. Her spirits picked up again as she saw a set of headlights heading towards her. 'Please oh please benevolent Mother please let this be a kind and generous person willing to help a stranger in need,' she mentally prayed with her eyes shut tight. Instead of stopping the car drove past and she let out the breath she was holding on a sob. A single tear slid silently down her cheek and hit the ground as she opened her eyes and looked up at the sky in despair. Suddenly she heard the sound of a car backing up and looked ahead at the road to see a silver convertible heading towards her in reverse. The man in the driver's seet had the hood of his sweatshirt up so she couldn't see his face in the dark.
"Need a ride? Just heard on the radio that it's gonna rain tonight."
Smiling shyly she nodded and put her duffel bag in the trunck before climbing into the passenger seat. "Thank you so much,"she said softly, "I've been walking for almost three hours from the bus station."
"You headed anywhere in particular," the man asked politely.
"I- yeah. I'm headed for a place called Ipswich."
The man nodded and said, "Me too. You got family there? That's why most people go there. Either that or for their schools and you don't look like you're goin for school."
She just shook her head and said, "I'm lookin for a new start, and Ipswich looked like as good a place as any on the map. Remote, tiny... Just semmed a good place to runaway to I guess."
"You know, runnin away is never a good idea. Somethin always ends up draggin you right back."
Looking down at her lap she whispered in a pained voice, "Only if you have somethin to go back to."