Out of the Woods

by Hannah Bonam-Young

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 other but desperately seeking independence, evolution, and change.

He is my steadfast, easy, contented man. Something solid in a world that constantly seems to shift on its axis.

He’s so familiar to me now that I feel myself having to concentrate to truly see him. As if he was a mural passed every morning on the way out the door or the lyrics to a favorite song I’ve sung along to a million times. Beautiful. Special, even. But known.

I choose to hope that maybe, just maybe, fate will have something kinder in store for us. That I’ll never need to know a day without Caleb, his ease, puns, or comfort, ever again. That, just maybe, I got lucky earlier than most.

I cannot afford to go to jail, I have a gluten sensitivity. Prison food would turn my gut into a tear-gas factory.

HANNAH WHY ARE U WRITING ABOUT ME OMG

“It can sometimes be difficult for me to feel grateful for what I have because I’m thinking about what I’ve lost or what I could lose. I feel directionless, because I don’t really know my own feelings or wants or desires. I just sort of live in some…middle. Not really pleasing myself or performing what is expected of me.”

But you don’t have to be ahead. You don’t have to be extraordinary. You don’t have to do anything. There’s no shame in living a carefree existence.”

“If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you. Always.”