With Map in Hand

Georgia Nettles could feel the warmth of the morning sun on her back and shoulders as she approached the travel agency. She was nervous and scared but excited too. She was ready to move away from here and from her overbearing, controlling mother, Karen. She’d been saving money for years, ever since she started working. She’d graduated from high school in June, and she’d turned eighteen just the day before. Now she had no reason to keep living at home. She’d received an acceptance letter to a college she’d wanted that was out in the Midwest. Between the money she’d saved up and the multiple scholarships she’d won, Georgia wasn’t going to have to worry too much about money. She even had a job lined up so she could keep saving.

She’d packed her things the day before and had spent the previous night in a hotel. Karen had pitched a fit but there was nothing she could do. Georgia had gotten her acceptance letter and her scholarships just before she graduated. Karen attempted to keep control of her, demanding Georgia go to a local college and take a different major. Despite her mother’s temper tantrum, Georgia ha d put her foot down. She’d gotten up early that morning and began her walk to the agency. She reached the travel agency and found the maps she wanted at the travel agency’s outside stand. She opened the maps one by one and traced the route she was going to take to school.

She decided she wanted to take a pre-College road trip instead of flying out. She’d saved up enough for it. Georgia smiled as she entered the travel agency to pay for her map. She’d left her things at the hotel as the agency wasn’t far enough away from the hotel to require the use of her used beetle. Once, she’d purchased her maps, Georgia began her walk back to the hotel. She was going to check out and pack her car before joining her friends for a farewell lunch. After lunch, Georgia was going to claim into the driver’s seat of her blue beetle and begin her month-and-a-half trip to school. As the sun shined down on her, Georgia smiled as she looked forward to the future.

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