She had driven for three days straight.
For two nights she had pulled over, finding a quiet spot to spend the night. Sleeping in the car wasn’t the best, but it was heaven compared with the bed she’d left behind. Now, pulling into a motel’s carpark, randomly chosen, she’ll use cash to get a good night’s sleep and in the morning plan for the future, whatever that might be. She would disappear. For now, a long awaited shower and something from the café. She was drying her hair when she heard it. A shudder went through her. The buzzing of a phone; her phone. She thought she had covered everything… but this, the most obvious. By the time she reached it the ringing had stopped. She stared at the screen; of course, it had been him!
These things were traceable, she knew that. She opened it and removed the tiny card. She snapped it apart and sat down with it, thinking. Even if it was broken, could it give off a signal? She had no idea. Once this was gone, all ties would be severed. From her window she could see a stormwater drain in the parking area. She kept breaking the thing into smaller and smaller pieces. Then, she wrapped them in sections of toilet paper, over and over until she had a small ball. This she put into the corner of a plastic bag and tied it off with a knot. It had to fit through the grid of the drain and it had to float. She thought about it drifting out into the waterways and eventually to the sea.
The light was failing as she made her way to the café, pausing a moment to push it through the slot. In that moment, despite not being at all confident about the logic of what she was doing, the sense of disconnection was powerful. Regardless of how long it would last, with it came the euphoria of severance!