Her closets emptied and suitcases packed, Kathryn sighed as she glanced around her small house with an odd sense of relief she had never before felt. She took a deep breath. The lilacs outside the window reminded her to close everything up. A breeze tapped the soft fragrant blossoms against the screen and melancholy almost overwhelmed her.

The little house seemed bigger now, with all the furniture gone and no cluttered countertops. The windows seemed bigger, and naked too ... now that the world could look right through them. Without the familiar curtains there, blowing in the breeze, suddenly a horrible emptiness washed over her. This time, her family was not going with her. Strife had finally done its task. She was on her own.

She refused to leave behind her dog and cat. Little Chloe sat in her carrying cage, mewing in protest, but her Labrador was happy and excited. He was ready for an adventure and bounced around, making a nuisance of himself.

"Yah ready, Harley? Come on, let's go." He hopped into the truck seat, his long tongue lolling and dripping in excitement.

This time there was no looking back. Kathryn refused to even glance in the rear view mirror. There was no point. It would only make her want to change her mind. And she could not do that. She would not do that.

I-90 West. It was the yellow brick road taking her to the city of Oz, where she would start a brand new life. And the sun glinted off the hood of her truck, blinding her with hope and possibilities.


The hum of the tires on pavement soon lulled both Harley and Chloe sound asleep and Kathryn turned the radio to a channel that was playing elevator music. Strange and conflicting emotions surged. One minute she felt alive with the sense of change, the next, terrified of it. She looked down at the mileage gauge, they had come over five hundred miles, just like in the old song, she was five hundred miles away from home. Quite unexpectedly, tears flowed freely. She wished she were in her shower, getting ready to lay down in her own bed, with Chloe curled next to her and Harley asleep on the floor, guarding them all.

But the lights of the towns and cities beckoned her as the freeway pulled her along. Now,there was no going back. She had to start a new life. Her hand found Harley's silky ear and he opened one eye at her, as if saying "Thanks." The horizon dimmed to the soft purple haze of evening, and the sky slowly blinked it's eyes shut.


She tucked her pets in the corner of the motel room, hoping no one would notice them. Harley curled up in a tight ball as to make himself smaller, but Chloe was free for a while and explored the room, mewing in wonder. The little cat finally curled up on the bed with her mistress and sleep soon overcame all three of the road weary travelers.


Kathryn woke before dawn and let Harley run in the weedy lot behind the motel. By the time the sun was up she was another hundred miles down the highway. New determination flowed through her veins now, she was ready, and willing. It was time to get to where she was headed and start living. She didn't know where or when she would stop driving. It might be in the next county, or the next state. Or, she might just go all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

She had her life, all of it, packed in her little red pickup truck. The sun was golden hot and the day was clear and bright, a day of possibilities and hope.

Harley stuck his head out of the passenger window, his tongue and ears flapping while he let the wind wash his face. Chloe sat, eyes closed, waiting patiently to get to where-ever it was they were going.

Kathryn let her hair down and it whipped around in her face, reminding her that she was free. Free to live and love again.

She didn't know where she was going for sure. But it was out there. A little cabin with room for her easel. And room to let Harley run. She would know it when she saw it. She accelerated and passed a police car. She didn't even care if she got a ticket. It was going to be a good day.