“You’re leaving… tonight?â€? I ask, my voice quivering with fear.

“Yes, that’s right. Now, actually.â€? She ties back her hair. “Are you coming or not?â€?

I pretended not to hear her, and played with my mask on the ground. She raised her voice.

“I said are you coming with me, or not?â€?

I looked at her, and the entire, empty, and dark expanse of the unknown ahead. I looked back, seeing the faint glow of the huge bonfire behind me. All I had been thinking about since I first took my mask off was being rid of the piece of plaster hiding me—but now, all I could think of was the familiar comfort of anonymity.

“I… I…â€? I stammer.

“You what?â€?

“I don’t know. You’re leaving now?â€?

“Yes, I am. See?â€? She turns around, revealing a full pack.

“What are you expecting to find?â€?

“I’m not sure. What do you think is out there?â€?

“I don’t know, I suppose.â€?

“You don’t know. Well, neither do I. But I sure as hell am not sitting around and waiting any longer to find out. Come on.â€? She starts walking out into the expanse, wading into the foliage, surveying her surroundings intently.

I hop up and take one last look back home, images of my younger brother’s face, my dead father, and my mother racing through my head at a breakneck pace. I step after her, and finding watching my step being much easier without the confines of my mask.

Before tonight, I was simply dipping my toes into the deep end. Now, here, with a girl whom I’ve never met before this evening, I’m treading in open water, feeling completely naked and vulnerable in an alien environment.

We walk for what seems like hours, the scenery staying almost exactly the same throughout.

“Where are we?â€?

“Well, I don’t know, nobody has ever been here before, have they?â€?

“We’re lost.â€? I say, sounding desperate.

“Yes, isn’t it wonderful!?â€?