to feel most myself
when I’m running
or walking in the woods.
I try to tell them this is my time
to figure out what really drives me
that I hadn’t planned to do it all alone
that I’d been researching caravans
other van-life folks
to meet up with on the road.
Mom and Mama Alice
listen quietly
but their lips stay pinched
their eyebrows furrowed.
I still don’t like it,
Mom starts when I finish.
It’s too dangerous and
not practical, Junie.
I know we can’t force you
to do anything you don’t want to.
I’m just worried about your future.
What if you never want to go back
to college?
I won’t do that!
I’m just asking for a year,
I protest.
Junie—Mama Alice starts.
How about we
plan a camping trip
like we’ve done before
you and me
