Out of the Woods

by Hannah Bonam-Young

My husband, Ben, and I began dating in high school and got married when I was eighteen. Which, in hindsight, is a batshit thing to do.

As some who also got married HELLA young, it is, in fact, a batshit thing to do.

Thankfully, we’re still happily together. Not without effort. Not without painful lessons. Not without struggle. But ultimately, I’m lucky to say that I’m married to my best friend. There’s no one else whom I’d rather spend time with. No other person can make me laugh harder or make me feel safer. We were just among the lucky (and not-so-lucky) few who met their person a little too young—which is the inspiration for this novel.

Out of the Woods is my love letter to all of us who met their soulmate before they had the chance to fully meet themselves. I wanted to write a story that reflected the delicate dance of being madly, deeply in love with your significant ot...

“I mean…” I say, voice muffled by half-chewed-up kernels before I swallow. “How many people do you know who got married as teenagers stay married into their thirties? Statistically couples who get married before twenty are fifty percent more likely to get divorced and divorce rates are already high to begin with.”

Caleb is taking a long enough shower that I know he’s either masturbating, avoiding me, or had turned the water on before realizing he needed to take a shit. Behold: the intimate knowledge held within marriage.

“I just wish that I’d met Caleb at twenty-five, you know?” Helen nods, waiting for me to go on, as we begin walking side by side. “Sometimes I fantasize about it. What it would’ve been like to meet him at a bar, or through a friend, or at some party…”

“I want to have something to look back on when I’m old. I want to make my life worthwhile. I want to be great.” “Great for whom? By whose standards?”

“A lot of people will say relationships are fifty-fifty, but I think that’s a load of rubbish. We all have seasons and periods where we require more from our partner. The trick to a long, lasting relationship in my professional experience is not getting stuck at a set percentage.”

“I want you to understand that you can be anything but not everything. And, sometimes, you have to make a choice for yourself, right or wrong, before life makes it for you. I don’t want you to let anyone tell you not to try just because you might fail. Failure is simply an opportunity for those who have time. And you will have so much time. Okay, baby?”