On the early morning, I left a note for Jonas and then went out home with the backpack I had prepared. Closing the door, I stood still in front of the house where I had lived for 12 years, and I viewed all over the house as if that would be the last time I turned back. I hold the atlas tightly in my sweating hands, and walked on my venture.

According to the map, I had to take a train to Orlando first. I stepped on the train and took my seat, secretly observing the surrounding people. Some of them were in formal suit, and some were dressed in casual clothes and chatted with their friends. However, there was no child alone just like me. Bored, I took out the map and tried to figure out where to go after got off the train. However, I could hardly focus on it since I felt ill at ease. "Are they looking at me? They must wonder why there's a pity boy taking the train without his parents. Please ignore me…" those panic voices haunted my mind, which nearly suffocated me. Trying to get rid of that terrible feeling, I move my sight on the scene outside the window but that didn't work. Therefore, I adopted the best solution; that is, to sleep, and to feel nothing

When the train finally arrived in Orlando, I jumped down my seat and got down the train as soon as I could. My heart was beating furiously as I went away the station and truly walked into the city, for that was the first time I went out to so distant a place without Jonas. I walked at a low speed and checked on the map constantly, viewing stores and constructions along the street at the same time. There was hustle and bustle, and it was totally different from the village I lived.

I kept walking, but my pace became faster and faster. The strange glance cast by the people who passed me turned into roaring waves which gradually washed away my mind. "Again! That horrid feeling," thought I.

Not knowing how long I had walked, the scene nearby me was no longer high buildings and colorful stores and there was not that noisy as before. Beside the street were a few grey departments, and it seemed to be the residential area. I put the map into the backpack and strolled there with curiosity. Suddenly, I noticed that there was a narrow path between two of the houses. The path was so long that it seemed to be endless, and on the both sides of it grew clusters of moss. Hesitating for a while, I pluck up my courage and walked into it with my heart in my mouth.

The sound around me became subtle and subtle, and finally, all I could hear were the wind breezing and my heart beating. I kept stepping forward, taking heed of the surroundings with the feeling of fear emerging bit by bit. I wondered where the path would extend, what would I meet, who would live there… All the questions faded away as I eventually noticed a worn wooden board lying beside a banyan, and there were some words, which was too blurred to be told, carved on it.

I guessed that was another town. I wandered there, but strangely, I met no one and could not hear sounds seemed to be made by human beings. The buildings there were old and full of dust, so that I assumed that it was abandoned. However, no sooner had I been about to turned back and left than I noticed a vehicle parked outside a building. The vehicle became disharmonious in that gloomy scene, which aroused my curiosity.

I went toward the single-story building, and found the door was unlocked. Hesitated for a while, I pushed the door slightly and tiptoed into it with the musty smell overwhelming me. Inside the building was dim so that I turned on my flashlight, casting the light prudently. There was subtle sound from farther place, and I followed it and stopped as I arrived the room. Turning off the flashlight and stood by the door observing quietly, I felt there were butterflies in my stomach. As I gradually adapted to the darkness, I saw there was a person, actually a female, doing something on the wall in the room. My hands sweated again as I stood still by the door of the room, and my brain was all blank. I just kept "watching" it as if there were a suspense movie filming in front of me. However, my nonstop staring seemed bothered the "leading actress."

"Who's there?" said the female as she abruptly turned back and beheld me. She was such a young and beautiful lady who seemed to be a college student.

"Hey, little boy! Why are you here?" asked her in a softer tone.

"Um…I…I just curious…", stuttered I and I walked toward her slowly and hesitantly. Just when I approached her, I noticed that there was a can of red paint with a brush in it and that some words written on the wall.

YOU WILL GO TO THE PAPER TOWNS

AND YOU WILL NEVER COME BACK