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Reveille Rebel

I’m not sure how it happened anymore. How could I be so stupid? So blissfully ignorant? I sat around my whole life waiting for that moment.
To wake up.
To face the future.
With eyes clouded with hate and fear, and yet saturated with understanding and hope.
Sixteen and Free.
A question with no answer.
-Who was I?
What the hell happened to me? How did I get here?
It was a long road. A long road that still goes on. A long road that will never end.
That night. So long ago now…
Noise from downstairs. A crash, a clatter. Shouts and yelling.
I stand at the top of the stairs, not saying a word.
But then…
The sound and the image…
It wasn’t the first time he’d hit my mother.
I scream, my mother’s lip bleeding.
He sees me and storms to the top of the stairs.
I hate him.
He hands me a crumpled up twenty and says,
-Go get us a 6-pack from the liquor store.
-Dave, I’m not twenty-one.
-Don’t lie to me you worthless girl! I know you’ve got a fake ID!
-Mom!
She looks up, and right through me.
-Just do what Dave told you…
I step back. I’m alone now.
-Let me get my coat…
I turn into my room. I grab the nearest bag I see and fill it with everything I’ve got.
Some clothes, a CD or two, and the money I’ve got left.
I put my coat on, and go downstairs.
My mother and Dave are in the other room now; they pay no attention to me.
Outside!
The cold air bites at my skin.
No thoughts run through my mind.
Such a dream as this.
Wake up! Wake up!
I'm in my car now.
The engine hums of sorrow and joy.
To travel and to be Free.
Sixteen and Free!
Free to laugh, and to love, and to live.
Where have I been all this time?
Living a nightmare?
No, not quite, just living from someone else’s point of view.
What now? I’ve no clue.
Drive.
Drive fast and far. Away from the present, this destruction.
This malice of the unknown and known which makes fear. The fear to wake up and to actually see what has been before you all along.
So I Drive.
I never looked back once.
My eyes are burning, bloodshot with tears.
But those tears were for a reason.
-Am I still awake?
The sun is coming up over the tips of the trees now.
No more cities, they were left so far behind.
No more urban distress or broken-hearted abuse.
When its all over, we still have to clear up.
Everyone loves the dream, but I kill it.
I’m awake.
-Where am I now?
Somewhere south, and cloudy.
I stop to refuel. To take it all in.
These are the best years of your life
You know?
I know.
-Where are you going?
-I’m not too sure.
Every mile, every sign, every landmark, every song, it all makes sense now.
Free and Sixteen.
Free to love, and to laugh, and to live.
I waited my entire life.
For that one moment.
Just
To
Wake
Up.