@ninja_violinist
Thank you so much for keeping this up!
Question.
Where do you go when you don’t want to be found? – not by the people closest to you, not by your enemies, not by anyone.
Answer.
You go somewhere you’ve already been.
I wrap the scarf more tightly around my face, taking the opportunity to pinch my nose. The pinch still hurts. Good. It’s longer and pointier than most, which means it’s also more susceptible to frostbite.
Question.
If it’s somewhere you’ve already been, won’t they expect you there?
Answer.
They don’t need to know that you’re familiar with it. Bonus if it’s a place so inhospitable they wouldn’t look for anyone there, much less your sorry backside.
It’s getting harder and harder to see in this blizzard. Tiny ice picks yank at my eyelashes, lodge themselves in my clothing and somehow prick their way through the layers of fabric.
It occurs to me that I look about as attractive as a lumpy, bony sack of potatoes. Not that there’s anyone out here to impress.
Fact.
No one enters the Northern Mountains.
Correction.
No one enters the Northern Mountains and talks about it afterwards. Usually because there is no afterwards.
I can’t stop yet, either. The blizzard slowed me down, buried my progress and my advantage in a knee-deep layer of snow and ice.
Question.
Why are you running?
I pause, try to catch my breath and my bearings. Pointless. I could have turned around and started wandering back for all I know. All I see is dark grey sheets of icy snowflakes being ripped and yanked about in very close proximity to my face. Dark grey, because it’s sure not getting any lighter as the day goes on.
Question.
Who are you running from?
Maybe it’s time to rest. I just need to find something tall and vertical that I can burrow a hole against, and I’ll be fine. I’m in the mountains, for goodness’ sake. If I can’t find something tall and vertical here, then I won’t find it anywhere.
Definition.
Denial (noun): an unwillingness to accept that something unpleasant is true.
I yank up the scarf over my eyes and start walking with my arms out in front of me. Even with a cloth over my eyes my visibility isn’t any worse than it was before. Better to rely on my hands and arms to make my way around.
Fact.
The purpose of finding something tall and vertical can also be achieved with the aid of gravity.
Clarification.
In the mountains, falling off a cliff is just as likely as running into one.
