'Spine'

And on the third day after lunch I left the rest with their bags and talk and made my way down the hill by myself, the retreat done. Gravity was tugging so much at me, my pace was inconsistent, a mess and suddenly the whole hill was on fire: shrubs, trees, the grassy parts on both sides of the snaking road. It was turning to hell and there wasn't a road there anymore where I was. It was the rougher path, the 'shortcut' and I was urgently trying to get myself out of there, everything still burning everywhere. And then I made it to the foot of the hills! But I kept running: I passed the garage and their jeeps, the information hut, the entry gates, the food stalls, the Christian soldiers' cemetery, the resorts, the school, the lakes, the prison, the museum, another school, the field, straight all the way to where my mother was staying just so I could go against her wishes again.