This episode of The Apex and the Abyss contains graphic descriptions and audio that may be

disturbing to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. Have you ever thought about running away?

Or just to take the discussion a step further? Have you ever actually done it? I ran away a grand total of one time,

and even claiming that I did that much is quite the stretch, to be honest. I remember I had gotten

into a big fight with my mother, something that was very much a norm in my life. At this point,

I couldn't tell you what the argument was about, but either way,

I stormed out of my house in a huff after our blowout. I went to a friend's house for a few hours,

who lived just a couple of blocks away, but once it was time for me to leave there, I walked

around my neighborhood for hours and hours, to the point where it got dark outside.

I thought in my young teenage brain, where could I go, and how could I get there without spending any money that I didn't have anyway? Because there was no chance I was going back

to my house. I would never hitchhike because I had heard so many horror stories about that,

and my bike was locked up in my garage.

I wanted no one to know that I was leaving, so getting that out would be a no-go, because our garage was

extremely noisy when you opened it. Then it dawned on me. There was definitely a way to get out

of Dodge. I thought to myself, I should just go and hop on one of the freight trains that

rolls through my neighborhood at 3 a.m. and blows that loud horn. No one would ever notice me on

one of them, and any time you saw something like that on TV or in a movie, there was always a box

car that was empty and the door was open. Now, I wasn't sure exactly where this train was in proximity to my house, but I thought I could just follow the noise and eventually find it.

They didn't go that fast after all when they were going through residential areas, and sometimes these freight trains even stopped.

Before I left on my grand adventure, though, I needed to get some of my stuff to make traveling a little bit easier,

so I went back towards my house and sat on our covered patio.

I wanted to wait until my mom fell asleep so I could sneak in, grab my things, and then be gone forever.

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