Home Had Gone

When she got home, Home had gone. She never saw him again. Some say he said he'd gone to the supermarket and took a wrong turn and got lost. Others say they'd seen him run for the bus and get on it. Some said they saw him crying on the bus. Others said he'd just put his headphones on and stared at his iPod. He had left his phone. Or forgotten it. Depending on whose version of him leaving you believed. For many days she was restless. She couldn't sleep. With Home gone nothing felt right anymore. One day she quit her job. She put on her backpack and wandered out of her house she had put up for sale. She asked her mum to take care of the sale and her mum had unwillingly agreed. She was determined to walk the entire journey. For 17 days she just walked and walked. The first three days local people who knew her tried to give her a lift. But she had a feeling she wouldn't find Home if she didn't walk. You couldn't find Home from a car. Things went too fast in a car. On the 17th day she was walking along an unfamilar river. She turned around the river bend and saw his head popping up over the tall grass. It was raining and his hair was darker because it was wet. Her heart jumped. And then tears started building up. They quickly turned into rage and she walked over to Home. "What. The. Fuck?!" she exclaimed and put her hands on her hips. She had startled him and he jumped to the side. "What are you doing here?" he asked and got up. "What are YOU doing here?" she asked. "I'm just chilling. I got tired of walking in the rain." he answered and sat back down and looked out on the river. She just stood there and stared at him. He patted the grass next to him to invite her to sit down. Finally she sat down next to him. "Why did you leave me?" she asked. Rage had reverted back to tears. "I never stay in one place too long. You know that." he answered. His jaw was clenched. She knew he hated conversations like this. "But you didn't even tell me. Or take me with you. The house was empty when you left." Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. "Yeah, cause home is whereever I am." he said and smiled a little. "Shut up." she said and nodged him with her elbow. "If you needed some alone time, you could've just said so." she said. "I'm not coming back." he quickly responded. "I'm not telling you to come back. I'm just telling you, you hurt me." she said. "I know. I'm sorry. I just couldn't stay." he said. "But you could have left so differently. I wish you had. You know, I'm not going back either." she looked at him. He looked at her. "You're not?" he asked puzzled. "But you love it there." he continued. "It's not home when you're not there." she answered and smiled. "We gotta stop these puns. I freaking hate my name." he said but couldn't help laugh a little.