Erin Blake

Erin knew she had to leave. In both a mental and a literal way, she felt this awareness that Anchor Rock was no longer the place in which they felt they belonged. And so she had quit her job, withdrew all the money from her bank account, and packed their clothes into a ratty suitcase. The same suitcase she packed a decade ago, when their parents ushered them into a car to the town of Anchor Rock. Getting on that train was not an easy decision but a necessary one.

The Isopod Man wasn’t real; she had dedicated the past 9 years of her life to a scam. A ploy to what – attract more tourists to the town? It hadn’t worked anyway. She and Cassie were the only townsfolk that had believed in him, and while they had convinced some of the transfers but not many.

Sitting on the train, she watched her home disappear into the distance – slowly blending into the scenery. She thought of her parents. She hadn’t spoken to them in years, with her choosing to stay in Anchor Rock when they left for bigger, and better places. Erin thought she had been foolish – how could she face them? Knowing that she had stayed in the town for a scam, for something that didn’t exist.

She had to leave, and she wasn’t coming back. At least not for a while. With Cassie gone, they sat alone and counted their savings. They had 300 dollars in cash.

It wasn’t much but that was all the money she had. She knew what she wanted to buy. They needed a car, any car would do. They couldn’t afford much – the car she would be able to afford would be nowhere near safe but as long as it could drive that was all that mattered.

The Isopod Man may not have been real but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still more out there. They thought of Cassie, her ascending to the sky. If that was possible, what else is? The world had seemed to have opened up. As Erin watched Anchor Rock leave from view and the scenery become unfamiliar, she was excited for what the future holds.

By Katy N.