Reality, however, rarely followed the scenes people rehearsed in their minds.
Whenever she seriously considered going, she found a reason to postpone it.
There was always something else to do. The weather was not right. The day was too busy. She did not feel prepared. Perhaps she would try next month, or next season, or when life became a little quieter.
There was always another time.
And so, the years continued.
Then, one ordinary afternoon, something changed.
There was no dramatic announcement, no sudden revelation, and no conversation that forced her to confront the past. The decision emerged quietly, almost unexpectedly, while she was thinking about how much of her life had changed since the accident.
She realized that she had spent years organizing her movements around a single location.
She had allowed a road to become a boundary between what she could comfortably face and what she believed she could not.
