The shining sun rose from atop the winding dirt trail, leading to a mysterious world. A world I dreamed of exploring and conquering stayed still and untouched, like a tightly wrapped present under a spiky green tree. A dream I’ve had since I was a child seemed more out of reach than ever. I was made to explore and I knew it, since the time I was merely a toddler I wildly searched my surroundings, hungry for more. I remember standing on a rusty balcony, looking below at passing cars, everyone going somewhere. The lush grass stood so perfectly still through the slight, pleasant breeze, matching the trees scattered across the land. I hate it here, it’s like prison without bars, I could escape but something kept me here. Whenever I thought of leaving my legs froze, and my heart skipped. I was fast, and the Smith’s couldn’t care less if I were gone, but something glued my feet to the ground. I never realized until this moment, the thing holding me back was fear. I’m a shy person, so the moment I’m confronted by an adult, I break down. This all changed today.

“What do you think you're doing?” said Mrs. Smith, with hatred in her voice.

“N-Nothing ma'am,” I forced, while shaking vigorously with fear.

I looked at my feet, unable to look her in the eyes. She could see through me and look at my wheels turning. I wasn’t going to give away my plan this time, this time I stood tall and stared her down. I felt a rush of adrenaline and without thought I rushed off. My feet left the ground and I took off. I felt free as ever and my feet hardly touched the ground. My foster parents screamed for me to come back but I didn’t listen. I was ecstatic, prancing down the path in a way that almost felt like showboating. It was perfect, but that only lasted for 15 minutes. I was hit by a rush of panic as a large man in a blue uniform and shimmering gold badge called me out by name. He didn't speak directly to me, rather to anyone in the area. His eyes searched anxiously around as he mumbled something that I couldn't hear. I hid by a bush and ducked. I was sure the Smith’s had sent him with many more to come. He searched patiently, and I could tell he knew I was here. He jerked his head to the side and paused, amazement in his eyes. The man seemed out of it, almost like he had been waiting for something. I held my breath as he neared, and lowered under the bush in a way that made me seem to disappear in the eyes of the clearly foolish police man, as he blinked his eyes and turned so abruptly that it had left me staring for an instant. Still wondering how the man could be so clueless, I let my curiosity take over, this was a bad idea to say the least. My heart pounded in my chest but my feet, as if having a mind of its own, followed the officer down a side path to a large Jeep. The man hopped in and to my shock, slipped back out with determination in his eyes and anger in his grin. He raced after me, hopping over twisted roots and dodging scattered branches. I felt a hand on my side and was thrown behind a tree by a new man with a worried expression. The officer looked lost, and whimpered before heading back down the path. We stayed quiet and for a moment I forgot to breathe.

 “Hey, James.” He said, startling me. Only then did I realize the man standing before me looked just like me. His blond hair was matted to his forehead and his eyes looked right into mine. 13 years and 7 houses into my life, I finally met my dad.

This was better than perfect, this was truly freedom.