After what seemed like an hour of driving , I stopped the car at a store and searched it . There was a candy jar and water bottles. I began searching for more.
A knock on the window interrupted me. It was the shop owner. He asked me, "Excuse me, do you need to buy something?"
I nodded and said, "A can of Diet Coke would be okay." I handed him a dollar and he went. He returned a minute later with a Diet Coke. I said thanks to him and handed him another dollar as a tip. He smiled and went back to his work.
Just as I was about to drive away, a stranger stopped me and said, "Hey, could you give me a lift? I'm heading to Sheryl Towers."
I decided to lie. "I'm going to live with my aunt. She lives at Sheryl Towers, too. I don't know where that is. You'll be my guide?"
He smiled and nodded as he climbed inside the car. He had a backpack with him. He took out a bottle of water and gulped it down.
"What's your name?" he asked. "Amelia", I said.
Over the next five minutes, we had a full conversation. He told me that his name was Alex, and that he had gone hiking a week ago and had accidentally climbed the wrong bus.
"Where next?" I asked . "Left". He then asked my aunt's name.
There it goes. I said, "I ran away from home."
