Traveling Became Her

The suitcase lay half full on her bedroom floor, stuffed with her past trips and not quite full of her future. Why unpack? Traveling wasn’t a destination, but a constant, she needed it to propel her. Her bag lay agape, its tongue flapped open as if saying, “where to next?” Where to indeed. Sitting still didn’t sit well with her, didn’t fit her nature, and she became anxious when she stood still. How did she get here? Thinking back, she tried to pinpoint the exact date in time planning had consumed. They say you learn what you live, so maybe the lifestyle in which she was reared had turned her into this streak of going, going, gone. In all honesty, she loved it, and couldn’t imagine herself staying in one place too long. That night though, she found herself in between plans, with nothing consuming her evening, yet the door had just closed with her dusk. It wasn’t as if she feared aloneness, quite the opposite. Friends had always asked if loneliness consumed her, as she lived alone, did things on her own schedule, didn’t have a built in ear waiting to be filled upon key in door. But this was how she had built it. It was an active choice and she believed everyone had this option. Not to say she wasn’t envious of those who needed company, surrounded themselves with others. This want of contact hadn’t ever found her. It was this thought, this melody said perfectly by the Beatles song, Across the Universe, that settled with her that particular evening. “Nothings gonna change my world.” Not an absolute, but a way of life. Letting people in hadn’t ever been a problem. Her enthusiasm in general was coveted by most she came across. With so much to look forward to, so much to fill her days and evenings, she rarely seemed to want. Me thinks thou doth protest too much? Rarely, but still makes you wonder.