About a half hour later, I was overheating in my several layers of clothes. I felt like Randy in A Christmas Story with how many clothes I had on. I grabbed the keys off the hook and adjusted the straps of my backpack. I packed a few things inside such as a water bottle, wallet, and some snacks in case I needed them. I glanced at myself in the mirror, taking one last look at myself. I gasped, forgetting that I put goggles on to protect my eyes. I backed away and opened the door, getting some side eyes from my neighbors as I waddled down the hallway. When I took the elevator down and found myself in the lobby, I took a big breath in and felt a chill run down my spine as I said how fast the branches were swaying on the tree outside. I pushed the fear down and struggled to open the door, but after I managed to slip through, I pressed myself against the wall.
I figured it would be easier to stay upright if I wasn’t aimlessly walking around in the middle of the street. By being practically glued to every wall I’d come across, I’d hopefully make it there in one piece.
There was one problem though, the last stretch to her house was all corn fields, nothing to grab onto or lean against if I needed to take a second to breathe. That was a part of this journey that I was most terrified for, but not something that I was going to worry about now since I just started. I don’t think I’ve ever walked so slowly in my life, but I didn’t want to get overly confident and make a misstep. One of those and it’s all over, you’ll be thrown faster than you can blink. It was now March and something that I really should’ve accounted for was rain. This rain shower was a little more than a drizzle, and my hair and clothes were instantly soaked. While I almost died from heatstroke when I had all of these clothes on in the apartment, I was thankful for all of these layers now. The wind amplified the rain, making it probably seem worse than it was, but after checking my watch to see that I had only walked a mile and a half, I knew I’d need a nice cup of hot chocolate or tea when I got there.
The roads were deserted, not that it would’ve made much of a difference anyway, but I didn’t have to wait at crosswalks or for cars to pass on by. I kept my head down, feeling windburn light up my cheeks, and trudged along. I stopped every once in a while, either grabbing a swig of water or eating a snack. But most of the time the wind would knock the snack out of my hands so I gave up on it once I was halfway. I was more than exhausted, to say the least, my muscles were on fire as I fought the wind gusts.
More than once, my mom called me. She wanted updates on my progress, and I’d give out-of-breath answers by telling her how much longer I had. Though over the gusts I don’t think she could hear me well. At mile six, I sat down on the sidewalk. I pressed my back onto the building and wrapped my arms around my legs as I gave myself a few minutes to catch my breath.
I surveyed the empty streets, there were more than a dozen abandoned cars on the streets, all with significant damage to the windows and bodies of the cars. Trash littered the streets, and it was eerie to see all of the storefronts lights on with no one inside. The town truly looked deserted, but I knew that people were just hanging around in their houses and apartments. After taking a much-needed break, I slowly rose and got to my feet. My heart hammered against my chest as the strip of cornfields was now in my line of sight. It was two miles of straight cornfields, and I hoped I had enough strength to make it. I took a deep breath and began walking again, an even slower pace now that I had nothing to hold onto than bent corn stalks.
I hated being out in the open with no protection. The wind was brutal enough with having a safety cushion of a building to block most of it, but now that I had nothing, I feared I’d have another soup situation where I’d get blown over. My last resort was to crawl but that would significantly add time and not to mention hurt from the loose pieces of gravel on the road.
It wasn’t until I had less than a mile left when I heard a car come barreling down the road. I glanced up and cursed, knowing I looked ridiculous in this outfit. I just hoped they wouldn’t stop and talk to me and would be in as much of a hurry as I was to get to their destination. Evidently, they weren’t as they stopped along beside me, shit-eating grins on their faces as they took in my outfit. “Got enough clothes on?” The driver laughed, elbowing the passenger beside him.
I didn’t even have a reply. “Want a ride? Where are you heading?”
“I’m fine, I’m almost there.” The driver gave me a side-eye, not expecting my refusal.
“This wind is no joke, darling. Why don’t you just get on in and we can help you get where you need to go.”
I gave him a smile, not wanting to piss him off. The idea was tempting but I also didn’t want to risk my life in a truck when I had more control walking. “Look, I appreciate it, but I think I’ll keep walking. But I hope you have a safe trip to wherever you’re going.” He narrowed his eyes and nodded. As he was about to roll his window up, his hat was nearly taken off by a gust of wind and he slapped his head hard to keep it on.
“Alright, well you be safe now.” He took off and as the car was a while away off, I glanced back and saw their car swerve several times, almost running off the road with each new gust of wind.
I trod on, my calves and thighs nearly giving out as I saw my mother’s house in view. I used to think that I lived too close to her, but now after making this trek, I wished she lived in my apartment building. Instead of walking on the gravel driveway, I opted for the grass. It would be less painful if I fell in the grass because at this point even the tiniest gust could knock me over. I was surprised to only have fallen twice on the walk over, but I knew there would be angry bruises that awaited me.
I saw her in the window, she was pacing back and forth before stopping once she spotted me. She ran to the door, tears streaming down her face as I walked up the porch and into her arms. She slammed the door shut, helping me take off the thousand articles of clothes I had on.
I sat down on the couch, melting into it as I tried to muster a smile at her but even that was too exhausting. She understood my exhaustion and made me a hot chocolate. She originally placed it on the coffee table but ended up handing it to me after watching my arms shake while trying to grab it. I closed my eyes after I took a sip and relished the fact that I made it. I could finally see my mom and talk to her without a screen, but that joy faded when I remembered I’d have to make the same journey back.