A child leaves home,
sad, lonely and scared.
His life looms before him
as an empty pit, dark and dangerous.
His home is behind him,
a hundred miles away.


I am old enough, he thinks,
I can get a job and make money.
I'll have my own place,
do what I like,
when I'm a hundred miles away.


No more "Do this, do that."
"That's not right, do it again."
His life will be different,
better, a hundred miles away.


The road stretches cold and empty.
House lights glimmer distantly through the trees,
strange dogs bark,
strange noises, strange smells,
nowhise to sleep, hungry, cold,
frightened, he goes 
a hundred miles away.


Cars and trucks swoosh by,
leaving cold, damp gusts 
of air swirling in his face.
Where will he sleep tonight?
Unbidden, thoughts of warm covers, 
cosy blankets rise to confront him.
"I wonder" he thinks, "If I have gone
a hundred miles away."

A dull light in the distance,
an old service station,
locked, secure.
Try the doors,
he craves shelter.
Washroom door is unlocked.
Safe at last, he huddles in the gloom
and waits for warmth that never comes.
Will it always be dark when he's
a hundred miles away?


Morning breaks grey and bleak,
dead trees define the road, slush lined,
wet, cold feet, plod onward, 
lost, lonely. 
What happens now? 
Is this it? 
This is freedom? Escape?
Is this what he left to find
a hundred miles away?


A car horn blares,
he leaps out of the road,
startled from his misery.
Can it be a ride, after all these hours?
"Hop in, son, I'm bound for the next town
and you're welcome to ride".
Old farmer,
old truck,
large smelly dog, warmth, face licks,
big smiles. and love enough to last until he is
a hundred miles away.

"A Hundred Miles Away" displayed with the permission of the author Jerry Riches
- Posted Wednesday, December 10, 2003 8:02:11 AM.

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