Nobody understands me except me. I think as I sling my backpack over my shoulder. It’s full of food and supplies including: a tent, a small blanket, Etcetera. There is no room for my pocketknife so I place it in my back pocket. My dad gave me that knife and it is the last thing I have of his. He died when I was twelve. Today is Friday September 23rd and it is 8:01.

I walk out the door and say nothing to my mother who is asleep and walk out the door. I cross the tracks and walk to the edge of town. I can run from here without being noticed now. I look at my watch to see that it’s 8:51. I have plenty of time to get away from this small town of Ashland, Oregon.
My watch says 12:06. People will now start to notice I am gone since I am not at school. My mother will be faking worry so that she won’t be suspected. She knows that I loved my father more than her. That is one reason why I don’t want to stay with her. I remember what my dad said to me: If you want to be undetected for a long time you have to put some distance between you and the people that you don’t want to be found by. So I begin to run. No… Not running… sprinting.
At 2:09 I rest for a moment and I eat lunch. It was the only time I was able to drink water that day so I drank from one bottle and savored the feeling of water on my tongue and down my throat. I find that I didn’t pack as much food as I thought I did. I begin to panic and suddenly I remember my dad taught me when we were going on a year’s supply of food storage: Eat you food sparingly. You will survive without food for a whole day if you are tough enough. We went with that food for almost two years until my dad got a job. We still had food in the food storage left over. I look at the food and see that I could probably last about three days if I was smart.
It’s 6:02 when I start to hear dogs. Of course I begin to sprint away; however instead of disappearing like I thought they would, they seem to get closer and my stomach does flips. It is about 7:06 when I see my first German Shepard. I try to get away from it but it bites my ankle with its sharpened teeth and its iron grip and I fall to the ground.
Pain. I scream and grab my ankle. I wonder how I could have experienced a time without pain. It hurts so much I can’t take it so I pass out.
I wake up at 11:56 and the dog is right next to me staring at me with amber eyes barking at me as I wake up. Through the barking and growling I hear people conversing. I get up to pain in my ankle but I don’t care. It is six police officers, and eight dogs against me. I will lose.
“Stop running.” one says. “Come with us. We’ll get you home.”
“I would rather die!” I snarl back. A tree is now at my back and I’m surrounded. I place my hand into my back pocket. My fingers wrap around the cool, smooth texture of the pocketknife. I rub my thumb against the two letters. E.J. Ethan James. That was dad’s name. An idea forms in my mind and I know what I have to do. I have found my escape. I can be with my father. I would give anything even death to be with him again. I smile at them knowing that they have lost this game.
“You want to do this the hard way or the easy way?”
It is 12:00 when I say: “I am going to do it the easy way… my way.”
I raise the pocketknife to my neck and slit my throat. “NO!” the police officers run trying to stop me but I have already done it and I fall to the ground. The dogs barking lulls me to sleep as the darkness takes over.