was always running. Running late, running into things, running too many projects. It drove me crazy sometimes, to see her makeup in dissaray because she overslept after staying up all night [She just had to finish one more chapter of this new book she was reading that was pre-ordered six months in advance. That’s how much she loves that series. She got me into it, too.]

I’ve tried to distract her, to give her a breather every now and then. She’s my best friend, and I worry about her. We would go down a trail from the edge of our neighborhood. That was our favorite thing to do. She would always bring her camera, and I would always bring water and snacks because, well, we often lost track of time.

“What do you want out of life?” Mary asked me one day, as we sat on our rock in the clearing of the woods.

I looked over and saw her chin resting on her fist, which was covered in graphite residue on her pinky side. Her journal was opened to that page…the cutout map of the world.

“Still don’t know…” I admitted.

She huffed. “Me neither…but let’s find out together.” Her eyes lit up at the possibility of another adventure.

I smiled. “I’d like that.”

Little did we know…tomorrow at 7:56 am, we would get our chance.

Because we had no other choice…