I looked around me on the ground level where I laid. It appeared to be a desolate back road in the country which went from nowhere and led to nowhere.
“It’s also where I eventually found a way to my real home,” Josh went on as he cut off my zip ties.
“Please,” I called out as Josh walked away and back to the car.
Josh stopped just inside the driver’s side door of his beat-up Civic.
“I hope you can do the same.”
Josh just tipped the cap of his stained-black baseball cap and ducked back into his car. The tires of his Civic spit gravel in my face when he roared away into the setting sun.
I eventually made my way to my feet and started to stagger in the direction Josh’s car drove off in hopes of eventually finding someone who could help me. Still dressed in just the nightgown Josh grabbed me in with the darkness bringing on the full brunt of a Missouri, or maybe Oklahoma winter? I didn’t know how long I could make it.
Turns out the answer to that question was all night. I walked on that little gravel road until the sun started to come back up and my eyes set upon a bleak, little town with a gas station and a mini-mart across the street, neither of which were open yet.
It took another good chunk of time before a couple of trucks rolled by and their Oklahoma license plates finally signified to me at least what state I was in. I tried to wave one down for help, but my arm was too tired to even lift up off of my shivering hip.
Right when I was on the verge of death, someone finally stopped in a decrepit little hatch back and picked me up. They took me to the emergency room where I have been recovering for the past day. I guess I beat Josh’s challenge, but I don’t know if that really even matters and I don’t know if I can even go back to our little town and face my life now that Josh’s confrontation and my moments of sobriety have forced me to finally face the truth.
Maybe I will keep following in little Josh’s footsteps, stay here in Oklahoma and make a life for myself.
It seemed to work out just fine for him, I guess. 
