Chapter #2 - Steps   576Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISJoua1AQM

"Girl! ", My keeper called out, cutting my thoughts like a knife.

" Girl! ", she calls again.

Girl is what she calls me, just..., girl. Even she had no identity for me, I was just a girl. This is not the first time I've gone over the thought about who I was or where I came from, over the years I've thought about it a lot, I've thought about the 17, soon to be 18 years of my life I spent doing the same thing over and over again, and I'm sick of it!

I was now 16 steps away from my underground home.

14,13,12,11...

Now at the 10th step, I stopped and thought, if I go back I'll just wake up tomorrow doing the same thing I did today, wake up, train, eat, walk 20 steps away just to get called back home again.

I turned around and started counting.

" 11, 12, 13, 14..."

As I made it to the 20th step something made me stop, a hint of doubt. Was this a bad idea?, What if out there is actually dangerous?, Was I going to sacrifice that 21st step because of some what if's?. Knowing the answer I let the word , " no " release from my lips in a whisper as soft as the wind.

If I took that 21st step I wasn't going to go back, I couldn't go back. I wanted to know what was beyond 20 steps, what would it bring to my life. I turned around yet another time in the direction of the shed, closed my eyes and took a step back.

Tears filled my eyes, and joy washed over me, I tasted freedom. I knew that taking that step was the first stage to possibly finding my purpose. I started to walk further, and further and the more I walked the more I felt free.

Walking turned into jogging, then sprinting. I was chasing my freedom, my purpose, and my identity.