Wanderlust

• Lexie Hakim, Grade 9, Alphington Grammar School
• Short Story
• 2019

Excellence Award in the 'Just Keep Writing 2019' competition

She had fernweh, a craving for travel. Like the feeling of being homesick for a place you have never been before, she was being held captive by the boundaries of her own freedom. She experienced the force of the universe trying to keep her in her box and draw her back in with every chance she was given to break free.
One day she felt the rush of spontaneity in her as she dreamed of someday exploring the world she knew only little of what it greatly holds. She was just a girl consumed by wanderlust and ready to empower her impulse and desires to travel the fearful yet compelling world that has hidden all its secrets with a coating of skin, when once pulled back discovered stories of the past and layers of history not known to mankind. She made a hasty decision to throw a dart at the map in her room and travel to wherever it would land. As the dart soared through the air, she felt the impact on the map as if it was her own body. She examined it closely and nodded her head for she had already planned her travel to the mystery destination in which the dart landed on. Her bags were already packed from the first hit to the skin she had experienced from only 12 years of age. With nothing but her favourite French poetry book and a few items of clothing she was ready to begin her journey out of this life that had already been written for her.
She booked the cheapest one way ticket out of her boring town full of people without faces and black and white emotions. She made her way out the door and could already detect her conscience resisting her to stay back, she ignored it and got into a car which would take her to the airport and start her true escape from her father and all of his drunken flaws.
After six years of dreaming for this day to come she boarded the plane and never looked back. She reached into her carry on and pulled out an Eiffel tower figurine given to her by her mother on her 10th birthday before her passing. With resfeber overpowering her emotions she looked out the window into the clouds as though she could already sense the intensity of the wind on her cheeks, the sun lit up her face and complemented all her impurities. She smiled and finally felt as though she fought off the presence holding her hostage for all of her life.