"Look, Julio, cows!" Gloria whispered softly. She pointed out the window of the back seat of the cab they were driving in, forcing a pained smile onto her face as her toddler followed her finger. Her cheeks throbbed at the movement in her facial muscles but fortunately her son didn't notice. She'd been intently focused on keeping her tone light and her manner casual, as though there were no cause for concern and that this was just a simple road trip. It appeared to be working.

"Cows!" Julio repeated happily. Pressing his nose against the glass, leaving a smudge, he squeezed his plush Tyrannosaurus Rex against his chest and let out a delighted laugh as though he had not a care in the world.

Sitting nestled in the back seat of the crowded cab with his mom and their luggage, the biggest concern currently facing the two-year-old was deciding whether his promised ice-cream cone was going to be chocolate or vanilla whenever they got to where they were going. He was excited about this impromptu adventure. He had no memory of ever even really being outside of the city limits. The sprawling green and golden fields surrounding the winding road they were travelling on couldn't cease to delight him.

"What does a cow say?" Gloria asked.

"Moo," Julio replied promptly.

"Smart boy," Gloria praised him gently. "Keep your eye out for horses for me, will you? They're my favourite."

"Okay, mommy," Julio answered. He pressed his face even harder against the window with a look of pure determination in his eyes. He enjoyed a task and Gloria was just pleased she had thought up a way to keep him busy for now.

Leaning her head back against the seat, Gloria rested her eyes behind the pair of dark sunglasses she was wearing. The sound of Julio singing "Old MacDonald" rang through the air and Gloria was relieved to hear her son sounding perfectly normal. He was still so young that perhaps he had already managed to forget what he had witnessed mere hours prior, or at least her reassurances that she was really okay had managed to convince him. The frightened eyes he had been giving her while she had been rushing around the apartment, hurriedly stuffing whatever she could deem essential into her mismatched duffel bag and backpack, had now softened into a look of trust and contentment. Julio didn't know where they were going but he was glad to be leaving. So long as he had his mommy with him, he knew he was safe.

Gloria wished she could be feeling as confident herself, but she was still completely stunned from her own recklessness. Not that there had been any other option, she reasoned to herself. She'd put up with way too much, she'd turned a blind eye to all the red flags, and ignored the warnings from her aunt when she had come to visit them last Christmas. It had taken a little time, but Arturo had finally shown his hand and the situation had escalated beyond what she would ever tolerate. Staying was not a choice and though she knew that without a doubt, she wished she hadn't been quite so impulsive in literally running out of her home without any sort of a plan in mind.

She couldn't even call anyone right now since she had purposefully left her cell phone behind and she didn't really feel ready to do that anyway. Lourdes was too obvious of a choice and Gloria knew her home out of state would be the first place Arturo would look once he realized that she had run away. Gloria didn't want to bring that sort of trouble down on her aunt and cousins and wasn't exactly in the mood to get an "I told you so" lecture once Lourdes heard what had happened. She'd call her aunt once she got settled, she promised herself. At the least, Lourdes needed to know that she had broken up with her boyfriend and that he might contact them. She didn't need to know about the bruises on her face and arms.

Gloria could feel a trickle of sweat slide down the back of her neck. The purple t-shirt she was wearing stuck uncomfortably to her damp back and considering the chill in the cab from the blasting air conditioner, she knew she was sweating from fear and fear alone. She reached for the cotton collar of her shirt and tugged it out to allow for some cool air to hit her skin underneath. She really was alone right now and of very limited means. All she had taken with her was a few changes of clothes, toiletries, some of Julio's toys, and a wad of bills she had been saving which couldn't add up to much more than a thousand dollars. This cab ride alone was going to eat up a substantial amount of it and Gloria had no idea what she would do when it was gone.

"It's not too late to turn back," she told herself. Arturo probably wouldn't have even noticed she had left yet. He tended to stay out very late after a particularly bad fight, and after what had transpired that evening, Gloria didn't expect him to return home for several more hours.

Turning back was a tempting thought, but as Gloria delicately brought her fingers to her swollen cheek, and reminded herself that what hid beneath her sunglasses was far worse, she knew it wasn't an option. She had finally reached her breaking point and now there would be no forgiveness and no second chances. She couldn't afford them. Not in her current situation and with a little boy who deserved a safe environment to grow up in. She felt guilty enough for what she had already exposed Julio to and she would never allow herself to be hurt like that again. No matter how frightening the road ahead seemed, it was the only way forward now.

"Mommy, mommy!"

"What?" Gloria asked, opening her good eye so that she could peer over her shades at her son.

"There's horses!" Julio announced triumphantly. "Look! Look!"

"I see," Gloria replied. "Don't they look beautiful when they run?"

She sighed as she watched a beautiful palomino canter across the field towards the barn, looking gorgeous and free. It was such a peaceful place, becoming more and more withdrawn from the bustle of society as their taxi carried them on. The farms were far and few in between and sometimes they drove for several minutes before seeing signs of another living soul living out here in this largely untouched countryside.

As Gloria stared out the window, she tried to find something that would jog her memory, but it all seemed entirely unfamiliar. In all fairness, there wasn't much to see. Once they had gotten off the highway and pulled away from the city, they had driven deeper and deeper into a vast landscape of beautiful nothingness. The horses disappeared from view and the open fields gradually were replaced with more and more greenery until they were driving through a high thicket of forest.

She had given the driver the name of the first place she could think of. An extremely remote town several hours from the city. Gloria held no ties to it, aside from visiting once on a camping trip as a child with her mother and father. She knew that nobody would think to look for her here, especially since even she didn't have much of an idea of where she was going. It was a starting point though, a place to get her bearings before she figured out what exactly she was going to do next. One thing she was certain of, it had to be better than what she was leaving behind.

XXX

It took a few more hours to arrive to their destination which was so unremarkable that one could have doubted that they had arrived at all. A post office, a bank, a grocery store, a school, a tavern, and a church made up the entirety of downtown. It lay surrounded by quaint old farmhouses spaced far apart and at nine pm was so vacant that one could have considered it to be abandoned.

"Where do you want me to let you off?" the driver asked.

"I don't know," Gloria replied hesitantly. Everything was already shut down for the night which she hadn't been expecting, coming from a city that never slept. She pointed over at the Tavern, which was the only building showing any signs of life right now. All the lights were on and she could see two men standing on the deck, pints of beer in both of their hands.

"Do you think they rent rooms?" she asked.

"Only one way to find out," the driver replied. He turned his car into one of the parking spaces near the door and then jumped out.

"Wait here and I'll check," he told her, motioning to Julio who had fallen fast asleep with his head resting on his mother's shoulder.

"Thanks," Gloria replied simply, continuing to peer out the window at the men socializing on the patio. The clothes they were wearing looked ragged and dirty and they had steel-toe boots on their feet. She remembered then that it was Friday. These men had probably returned from some laborious job and gone out for dinner and drinks without taking the time to go home and shower first. They were working men and they were hungry, but Gloria couldn't imagine a restaurant in the city that would allow them in looking like that.

They were a comforting sight though, they seemed friendly. Gloria watched them for a few moments longer and then caught sight of two boys who looked to be in their early teens. They were running around the back of the building, untying white aprons from around their waists as they moved. They stopped to stuff them into their backpacks and then hopped onto a pair of bikes they'd left leaning against a large oak tree.

Though none of the sights were exactly ringing a bell for her, a feeling of contentment rose up within Gloria, despite her dire circumstances, and she realized why she had randomly chosen this place. It brought back memories of being with her parents, both now gone from this world, and feeling safe and wholesome. Arturo wouldn't find her here...here in this town where boys could ride bikes after dark and leave them under a tree while they went to work and not worry that someone was going to steal them. It was a safe place and though she didn't expect to stay long, it seemed like a good starting point.

A few minutes later, her taxi driver re-emerged from the building. He hurried back to the car, opened his door, and sat down behind the wheel before he turned around to face her.

"Good news!" he announced brightly.

"They have a room?" Gloria asked eagerly. Her hands reached for the buckle on her seat belt. She couldn't wait to get up and stretch her legs, get settled into a nice room, take a hot shower, and then cuddle up under the covers with her son while she got some much-needed sleep. Everything else would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Even better," he replied. "The man in there told me about a little Bed and Breakfast on the edge of town. He said the price is good and the food is delicious."

"Yeah?" Gloria replied hesitantly. She wasn't too picky but she valued her privacy and really just wanted space to herself after everything she had been through in the past few hours. Staying at a bed and breakfast would feel just like staying as a guest in someone else's home, and the last thing she wanted was to feel obliged to turn up for breakfast and make small talk with strangers when all she desired was to be alone with her son. It was probably more affordable than a hotel room though, and that was an important factor if she was going to stretch her limited funds until she figured out her next move.

"He thought it would be a nicer setting for you with a small child, since he warned the bar can get loud on the weekends when all the men return from working in the bush," the driver explained. "Apparently the woman who runs it has kids too."

"Sure," Gloria agreed. She was too tired to put up a fight and more than ready to just crawl into bed after what had to be one of the longest days of her life.

The driver put the car in reverse and then headed back the way they had come. They passed the two boys on bicycles that Gloria had noticed before and then turned down a side road composed entirely of dirt. The trees were taller and set closer together than they had been on the main road. Their branches stretched over the car with their abundance of leaves making it seem as though they were passing through a tunnel.

They travelled this way for a couple minutes until a large yellow house came into view. It had large windows and a big white porch that wrapped around its entirety. The porch even had a swing on it and in the bright moonlight Gloria could still see the flowerbeds leading up the walkway that would reveal their full beauty in the morning light. It looked quaint and picturesque, like something out of a children's book. Julio would be thrilled with it when he woke up and for the first time since everything had happened that day, Gloria smiled a real smile.

"It's perfect," she said happily, taking in the view.

As the driver parked the car out front, she could see under closer inspection that there was a young girl lying on the porch swing. She sat up as she took notice of them, using a hand to brush the thick mass of curls on her head out of her eyes, as she squinted in the car's headlights.

"Ma, someone's here!" they heard her call into the house. "Come see!"