route 180

It was a dark night cold and frigid me and Amelia were all alone stranded. I was the oldest I had to know what to do. Right? It was like momma always said "it's in your heart in your mind and in your soul, trust your heart". We were walking, we were tired, our bodies were drained. No food. no internet. just us, Sarah and Amelia all alone it was not scary, we just missed momma more than anything I thought we were going to get eaten by wolves or end up dead by the end of the night. For god's sake it was -3 degrees outside. Amelia peered up at me " Sarah" she said I said yes Amelia she said "where are we?" To be honest I had no idea where we were. It had been 3 days since momma's car crashed on the side of route 63 a truck came and hit the front of momma's red ford fusion. So I did the only thing that came to my mind. I said to her we are somewhere close to home. Even though I was lying through my teeth on that one. Here I was a 13 year old girl with her 4 year old sister stranded in the Magnolia Mountain range at dark. I knew that you have to huddle to keep warm if you're stranded, But I knew if we stopped moving there was a chance I'd end up dead. So I kept walking and walking until my legs nearly gave out ,and I was almost in tears then I saw a light I saw. I run as fast as I can with little Amelia not being able to keep up with me. I hear her yelling " wait wait Sarah slow down". I see a cabin a small cabin it had looked like it had been abandoned and that light I was seeing was was just the reflection of the moon off of the old tin roof I look at the rigidity old cabin and I say to myself well this is going to have to work for the night and me and Amelia walk up to the cabin tired and sad. As we walk into the cabin we see a run down fireplace a box of half burnt candles and 2 blankets that looked like a family of rats lived in them we knew we had to settle here for the rest of night I close the door that is almost falling apart I look across the room at Amelia asleep in the corner I had no idea what to do we were stranded there was only 1 person I knew that was even in this state that was aunt Cameron she lived on London road right of off route 182 but the real challenge was finding where she is we were stranded. We were kids, what were we supposed to do about it?  I didn't know about anything  I couldn't help it I broke down I cried and cried and I was trying to keep it together for Amelia but I'm 13 I stood there with hands shaking I was worried I was nervous I was concerned but I went to sleep with tears in my eyes and woke up even stronger the next. I woke up before Amelia as always. I walked over to Amelia  and woke her up. I had a plan .Well…..Maybe I knew that there was a gas station on route 73. Now all I had to do was find a road I knew as soon as I found the road I knew you just had to go in the direction of the cars and you'd end up somewhere. So I grabbed the two blankets Amelia was laying on  and I walked out the old falling apart cabin with Amelia by my side . I walked east as far as I could hoping I could hear a car or a car horn. Or even just traffic of some sort. I walked and walked until I heard a truck horn. I had no idea where we were but I knew we were close to a road. I was hungry. I was tired. I had walked 20 miles on an empty stomach and so had Amelia but I knew we were close to somewhere. Finally on the road I see a bright green sign labeled 73 gas station 3 miles exit 18. I knew we had to get to the gas station before dark. I also knew not to hitch hike with ANYONE ever.  I saw a dim flickering sign that said route 73 gas and coffee. I reached into the pocket of my big red coat to find  11 dollars and 88 cents. I knew that wasn't much but it was enough for a map, a few apples and some water. I walked in and I saw a man wearing a blue shirt that said some kind of words I can't remember and a bright green vest with a faded name tag. I could barely read it and said “joe”. I walk in and grab a map I go straight to the back of the store i grab 4 water bottles and 6 apples and a little bag of grapes i take all of it to the front of the store I stood there awkwardly as joe slowly scanned my items. he says to me “ where you ladies heading” I didn't know what to say so I said “back home we came to visit the mountains here but I've had enough of west Virginia i got to get back home to south Carolina'' I was lying because i wasn't going to south Carolina but this guy was a complete stranger i wasn't gonna tell him anything   he said “ wow that's far he said your total will be 7 dollars even” I hand him the 7 dollars out of my pocket i grab the water the apples the grapes and the map off of the counter and walk back out into the frigid cold sunset knowing it was going to be another cold night. Well at least now I knew where we were going. I look at the map and I see that route 180 was 55 miles away. Amelia had stayed quiet most of this trip; she was even more tired than me. She said to me “ sissy are we close to aunt Cameron's house” I said truthfully this time we are 55 miles away. Amelia was hungry so we walked a few more miles and sat under a tree and Amelia ate her grapes and I drank some water. I knew we couldn't stop and sleep and we were miles and miles away from the old cabin. We couldn't go back now. I walked then I found a very large tree that had a very large stump with a big hole i knew I couldn't sleep but I could rest for a while at least till morning. I crawled into the huge gaping hole into the tree and Amelia came in between my legs and fell asleep. I didn't sleep much but Amelia woke me up at sunrise I got out of the tree and I started waking up I pull the map out and I found out were 49 miles from route 180 I remembered that aunt Cameron lived on London dr that was only 7 miles off of route 180 so we were 56 miles from aunt Cameron's house.  I had no idea how long it would take to get there I was hoping if I walked all night and I held Amelia as I walked I could maybe get there or get close.  So me and Amelia kept on walking. It was a pretty day. It was cold frostbite kind of cold but the sun was slowly melting the snow away. It was getting easier to walk and it was making it easier to walk and the faster I could walk and the quicker I could get to aunt Cameron's. I saw another bright green sign that read Speedway .5 miles. I lugged my tired little legs while I was holding Amelia while I was walking to the speedway. I had 4 dollars and 88 cents. That is barely anything. Me and Amelia had 1 water and 1 apple left. I knew we would have to walk all night. We needed food. I saw the bright light on the sign and I ran into the gas station. I got 6 more water for 3.50. I used the rest of my money to get a big bag of lays potato chips. I handed my stuff to the cashier. She was an older woman. She had grey hair and a red vest that said Edna on it. She was very sweet. She skipped the small talk she said that will be 4.50. I handed her all my money and she handed me back 38 cents. I knew that this journey was going to come to an end and I was going to be safe soon. I walked out of the store and Amelia was half asleep. I walked and then I saw the route 180 sign. There was a list of roads. It said London road 7 miles I knew I had 7 miles to safety 7 miles to the end of my painful heart wrenching  journey. I ran and I ran. I gave all my strength. My heart was pounding, I could feel my breath in my toes. I couldn't stop running. I saw the London rd. sign and my heart skipped a beat. I saw the cabin with the pine trees and a light layer of snow. The whole street was filled with the smell of cookies and I ran up to the door. My heart was jumping out of the chest. I knocked on the door and there she was, aunt Cameron. She was just like I remember with her black hair and her blue eyes and her dress the red polka dot dress. She immediately gave me a hug and scooped Amelia up so we ran into her house. It smelled like pine and cinnamon she had cookies coming out of the oven and we sat down at old table covered in postcards from all over the world she asked me how in the world did I get here I told her everything top to bottom about momma and walking in the cold and making in on my own with Amelia. She was so happy I made it all this way by myself. I was safe now. I was home for good now that night. I slept in a warm bed in warm pajamas ,no more not getting any sleep. I was at home and I was safe. For good this time.