and and and the truck started with a rumble and it shook us in our sears - we exchanged smiles - and we were off! and it was the beginning of the summer of our lives ! and izzy turned on the radio - turned it on loud - and the road ribboned away in front of us and the trees flew past us and we were gone - away from parents and homework and routines - "look at the view, julianne!" - and the music shook the cloudless sky
and no the first day i drove three hours and izzy drove four and we stopped three times and bought a total of four sodas and two chocolate bars and two six-inch subs and we sang along tot he dario and we didn't say one tingle word about home and the lyrics made no sense because we were free!
and then "i can't drvie anymore, julianne" so we pulled off to the side of the road - there were trees and trees and trees forever - and climbed into the back of the pick-up truck and and we watched that brilliant blue sky fade intot he most perfect darkness we had ever seen... and izzy whispered that in a world this beautiful, to grow up was almost a crime
and we slept...dreamed...
and the bridsong woke us and there was that sky again (so bright is brought tears to my eyes) and we climbed back into our seats and izzy turned on the radio - turned it on loud - and the rumbling of the truck made us shiver with excitement and we drove drove drove because we were young and alive and the world was just waiting to be discovered, just beyond the next hill...the next hill...just beyond the next curve...
and when the needle pointed to empty and the soda bottles were empty and our wallets were empty we climbed into the back of the pick-up truck - "what do we do now, julianne?" - and izzy slept curled in a ball with her arm under her head, and i knew she would have a sore neck in the morning but i could not sleep so i watched the perfect darkness and listened to the whispering of the trees (trees adn trees and trees forever)
and in the morning, the shadows of sleep trailing behind us -"my neck hurts, julianne" - we left the empty truck behind and entered the world with packs on our backs and for the first time we smelled the world we were so close to discovering
and yes, we decided, withotu gas, without money, without radio, this could still be the summer of the beginning of our lives
but my boon our feet ached and we were sweating and the straps of our gigantic backpacks cut into our shoulders so we stopped... rested...
and when we began againour packs were lighter and behind us in the ditch beside the road remained all the unnecessaries - our extra clothes, our flashlights, our extra shoes - and izzy sang as we walked, sang marching rhythmic songs, and soon we were hopping and head-bopping down the road and the birds laughed at us but it didn't matter because we laughed louder, because it was the summer of the beginning of our lives
and then - "i'm starving, julianne" - so we left the road and plopped down in the shadows of the woods and we ate granola bars and then - "i'm exhausted, julianne" - so we huddled under a blanket on the brown leaves and pine needles and the stars whispered their secrets to the breezes and we fell into exhausted sleep
and i did not dream
and in the morning the rain came - the rain, the rain - and we shivered and blew drops from the tips of our noses and izzy wept, there in the middle of that dripping forest in that gray world and our hunger rumbled but the thunder was louder
but we went on and left our packs in the woods, left them like the bodies of fallen comrades and we went on, shoes sloshing, hair dripping, teeth chattering why -why why why - were there no cars going by? and and at the top of the next hill we stripped off our soaking shoes and socks and went on barefoot, feet slapping on blacktop
and time went on and the rain cried itself out (so did izzy) and our exhaustion pushed us down relentlessly and there was nothing to leave behind but our childhood
and then the heat came, and the sun, and our feet burned ont he hot road and uor hair matted and our clothes ripped and the trees went on and on and the brids mocked us with their song - "make them stop, julianne" - and everything was too much, too much so one my one we left behind, like the bodies of fallen comrades, our memory, our hope, our strength
and we stumbled on blindly
and it occured to me as we stripped off our pride and left it in the roadside ditch
that the next thing we'd lose would be ourselves
