Was I wrong to have run away? I have always wondered.

     After months of being bullied, I decided not to leave my room. My parents tried convincing me to go back to school, but they eventually gave up. Then, my cousin suggested I make a pen friend, and that’s how I met Takako-san.

      Anyone who has seen a world map knows that Earth is a giant sphere with many interesting places. Knowing that someone out there is seeing those places, however, was a new level of understanding. Every time Takako-san’s letter came, I learned new things, like how they practiced ‘sky burial’ in Nepal. I smiled at her smile in the photos she had shared of her picking tomatoes with locals in the Middle East. Once, she even wrote to me in detail about her walk from Russia to France. My room no longer felt like a dark place ever since I knew her.

      One day, I decided to tell her about my situation. After a month, her reply came—

Dear Suzuko-san,

    The truth is, I’ve run away too. A few years ago, I was a regular office worker, until my colleagues made my life hell.

       It’s tough, isn’t it? When the world hurts you, you have no choice but to bear the pain. But at the same time, it forces you to carve a new path in life. It was traveling that helped me move away from bad experiences. Things might not work out the same for you, but in time, you too will find your own way. So never stop believing in yourself.

      That said, traveling by myself can get lonely. That’s why I am thankful that I got to know you.

Thanks for exchanging letters with me,

Takako Asakura