It all started on November 20th when my aunt's boyfriend Ben Dover crossed the line. He threatened to pound the shit out of me, and I couldn't stand it anymore. If I had stayed there one more night, I would have killed him. That night, I got everything ready - an extra shirt, pants, some food, a peanut butter sandwich, some crackers, a bottle of water, a map of Ontario and Toronto, a lighter, a can of lighter fuel, a flashlight, and a couple of knives that I got from my friends. I hid them just in case a crazy guy decided to picked me up, because my plan was to hitchhike to Toronto.

The next morning at 6 am, it was very cold. It had been snowing the night before, which had made it even more difficult for me. I first started walking along the road, but it started to get really bright outside. I worried that people would see me. If I was to be found by one of my aunt's friend's, they would take me back home. I then started to hike along a ski trail (which was harder since I didn't have skis, and I didn't stay on the trail). I wandered around for a while, and eventually got lost. I saw a wolf, though, which was pretty cool. Luckily it didn't see me, so I just ran in the opposite direction. After running a while, I stumbled across a red "X" on a tree that had been spray-painted on by loggers.

 I then followed the X's and they brought me to a field. I could see a house and was going to cross the field, but I didn't realise that the field was filled with water. I ended up knee-deep in water, and I turned back at that point. I got so cold that I had to light a fire. In order to do that, I had to soak the wood in fuel. The fire only lasted a couple of minutes. After a while I found the trail again and a short hike took me back to the road.

 A little while later, I got a ride in a truck with an old man, and he asked me where I was heading so I told him Toronto. He asked me how long I had been walking for, and I told him I had just started today. I told him I was from Bogner and that's when he asked me if I knew Ben Dover; I said no. I was worried that he had talked to Ben and he knew that I was on the run. But if he did, he didn't say anything. He did say I was going the wrong way, though, and then he took me to the highway, He then told me to follow highway 10, all the way to Toronto. He wished me luck, and drove off.

 I started walking down highway 10 for about twenty minutes, when another nice man picked me up. We talked about the attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. We told each other our own opinions on what happened, and I said the passengers on board must not have known they were going to die because they could have easily overthrown a few terrorists even if they didn't have guns. He thought one of the pilots was a terrorist. By the time we finished the conversation, we were in Berkley and that's where he dropped me off.

Then a kid and his mother pulled up and offered me a ride to Flesherton so I took the ride. We basically talked about why I was AWOL and how they thought hitchhiking was cool yet very dangerous. She dropped me off at her son's school right on the highway, and after three minutes, three teenagers in a Corvette decided to picked me up.

With the teen driving a sports car, I made it to a gas station about ten miles away from Dundalk in no time at all. They dropped me off at a place called Proton Station and drove off. Then I continued my long journey. I stopped at a rest place four miles from the gas station. It was 1:00 p.m. and I had been walking for seven or eight hours. I thought I deserved a sandwich (or at least half of one), and I rested for about ten minutes.

No one picked me up for the next three hours. Walking down highway 10, I was daydreaming and it distracted me from the pain in my legs. After a while, a car drove by and slowed down, but continued going up the road. A short distance away the car turned around and asked me if I needed a ride. I said sure, I hopped in and we were off again. At first I thought he was dangerous because of the way he looked. But it turned out he was very nice. He was an artist and he showed me a couple of his drawings in his back seat. They looked good to me. We put on the radio until he dropped me off in Shelburne.

After a little bit of walking, I decided I was tired. So I took a break and leaned against a tree. I fell asleep and woke up at around three and took off right away before it got too dark; I really did not want to walk in the dark. I jogged for a long time and I could not feel my feet at all.

click to enlarge

At a corner or the highway at Primrose, two college guys heading to Orangeville gave me a ride and offered me food. I said no thanks because for some reason I was not hungry. We listened to music all the way. At Orangeville they dropped me of in front of McDonalds and I started jogging again. A couple of minutes out of Orangeville a guy who was from Afghanistan picked me up. I was going to ask his opinion of the attack but was worried I would offend him in some way so I stayed quiet the whole time. It was a long ride to Caledon where he dropped me off. I continued my march from there; a guy picked me up who just got off work from a quarry.

We talked a lot, he said he never picked up hitchhikers but he thought he was stronger than me. We both laughed. He was a very aggressive driver, but nice. He told me he would drop me off at Dundas Street after he went to the beer store. He dropped me off and gave me some money. I bought two chocolate bars and continued walking but it was not long before I got lost.

So I just kept waking in one direction and after a bit I got to a huge car dealership. In front there was a big sign with a set of stairs to the side so I walked down the stairs and fell asleep. After a bit I got up and started slowly dragging my body down the street 'till I got to the Queen Elizabeth Highway where there was a bridge. I crawled under it and fell asleep. When I woke up I was debating about going to Nova Scotia or staying in Toronto. I was cold and wet so I started walking back towards Toronto.

After a bit I walked past a police station and went in to ask for directions. First, I got rid of my knives and I made up a story. At first I was going to leave but the police officer stopped me. He asked me my name so I said I was John Mojo (my old name). He knew I was lying and checked the computer and found out I was a runaway. Then he asked me to come with him where he led me to a holding cell. They got me some milk and a croissant. It tasted gross because I was still not hungry. After a while they reached my sister and had an officer drive me there. My sister said I could lay on the couch and I would have to explain the whole story later ,so I went to sleep and did not move for three days because my feet hurt.

The End!

Now I am living in Toronto with my sister, working and trying to get back in school. I am still trying to figure things out and whether I want to move back to Nova Scotia and finish school down there or stay here and finish a year early and then go to an east coast university.

Names and places may have been changed for privacy reasons.