Shelter Me Read Online Free Page A
Author: Mina Bennett
eyes more often than not.
For Sara, nothing could ever be easy. That was just the hand she'd been dealt.
***
I was flying.
Hurtling down the side of a mountain, anyway, which was as close as I was going to get in this life. To call it a religious experience would be blasphemy, but just between the two of us, I'll admit that I felt closer to God on my bike than I ever did in church. The pure exhilaration erased everything from my mind. When I rode my bike, I didn't think about Marissa or my sister or the fact that I had no idea what I was doing with my life. It was a blissful escape.
I'd made sure to take Molly for a long walk and fill her food and water dishes first, and I even called my mom and left a voicemail to check in. Hopefully, that hadn't made her even more suspicious. Brandon used to sarcastically refer to cell phones as "an electronic leash," and at times, he was painfully correct.
But now, for the moment, I was free.
I felt my phone start buzzing in my pocket. Coasting to a stop as best I could, I stumbled a little on the dismount, scrambling for my phone before I missed the call. Sure enough, it was from mom.
"Hi, honey. Just returning your call. How's everything going?"
"Great. How's Sara?"
"Well, you know. She's not happy, but that little Nintendo thing you got her is definitely making it easier."
I grinned. The latest and greatest DS had been an obvious choice for her birthday, but I had to save my chore money for ages to make it happen. She actually squealed when she opened it. I'll never forget the way her face lit up.
"Good," I said. "That's exactly what I was hoping."
"Wait, wait, okay. Don't distract me. I was calling to check up on you . What are you up to?"
"Nothing much." Right on time, a bird on a nearby branch let out a high-pitched warble.
"Are you outside? It sounds like you're outside."
"Oh, yeah, I'm just out in the yard with Molly."
"Okay," she said, slowly. I could tell she was skeptical, but she stopped short of asking the neighbors to spy on me. She paused, taking a deep breath. "Jacob, you - you know I'm just worried about you, right?"
"Yeah. Of course." I chewed on my lower lip.
There was a long silence.
"Okay," she said, finally. "I'll let you go. Don't stay up all night."
"No promises."
"Love you."
"Love you too, night mom."
"Goodnight, Jacob."
Dusk was settling in. I needed to get home before the trail got too dark to see. I hopped back on my bike and started pedaling until I gained my momentum back, and continued coasting down the side of the mountain until I felt pavement under my wheels.
Wherever I was, there were no street lights. I pedaled cautiously along the side of the narrow road, keeping my ears perked for the sound of approaching cars. I knew I couldn't be far from home, but I didn't recognize this particular stretch.
Glancing up at the sky, I saw it had grown dim and grey, and bats flitted across the expanse, little dark shapes, zig zagging like drunken birds.
I was starting to feel that little tickle of nervousness, but I pushed it aside and kept pedaling. I'd gotten "lost" plenty of times before, and I'd only ever actually been lost once or twice.
After a few more minutes, I pulled off by the ditch and looked around me. I still couldn't recognize a thing, and it was getting darker. It felt like admitting defeat, but I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Last Christmas, my parents had managed to spring for newer phones that actually had GPS built in. They were as basic as it came, but as my mom said meaningfully, it was "better than nothing." I hadn't ever used it, but I figured now was the time. I pulled up the map and waited for it to find me.
And waited. And waited.
ERROR: NO CONNECTION FOUND
Seriously?
I threw the phone back in my pocket and started pedaling furiously down the road again.
In all my years of riding around these back roads, it seemed impossible that I could have somehow stumbled across a stretch I
For Sara, nothing could ever be easy. That was just the hand she'd been dealt.
***
I was flying.
Hurtling down the side of a mountain, anyway, which was as close as I was going to get in this life. To call it a religious experience would be blasphemy, but just between the two of us, I'll admit that I felt closer to God on my bike than I ever did in church. The pure exhilaration erased everything from my mind. When I rode my bike, I didn't think about Marissa or my sister or the fact that I had no idea what I was doing with my life. It was a blissful escape.
I'd made sure to take Molly for a long walk and fill her food and water dishes first, and I even called my mom and left a voicemail to check in. Hopefully, that hadn't made her even more suspicious. Brandon used to sarcastically refer to cell phones as "an electronic leash," and at times, he was painfully correct.
But now, for the moment, I was free.
I felt my phone start buzzing in my pocket. Coasting to a stop as best I could, I stumbled a little on the dismount, scrambling for my phone before I missed the call. Sure enough, it was from mom.
"Hi, honey. Just returning your call. How's everything going?"
"Great. How's Sara?"
"Well, you know. She's not happy, but that little Nintendo thing you got her is definitely making it easier."
I grinned. The latest and greatest DS had been an obvious choice for her birthday, but I had to save my chore money for ages to make it happen. She actually squealed when she opened it. I'll never forget the way her face lit up.
"Good," I said. "That's exactly what I was hoping."
"Wait, wait, okay. Don't distract me. I was calling to check up on you . What are you up to?"
"Nothing much." Right on time, a bird on a nearby branch let out a high-pitched warble.
"Are you outside? It sounds like you're outside."
"Oh, yeah, I'm just out in the yard with Molly."
"Okay," she said, slowly. I could tell she was skeptical, but she stopped short of asking the neighbors to spy on me. She paused, taking a deep breath. "Jacob, you - you know I'm just worried about you, right?"
"Yeah. Of course." I chewed on my lower lip.
There was a long silence.
"Okay," she said, finally. "I'll let you go. Don't stay up all night."
"No promises."
"Love you."
"Love you too, night mom."
"Goodnight, Jacob."
Dusk was settling in. I needed to get home before the trail got too dark to see. I hopped back on my bike and started pedaling until I gained my momentum back, and continued coasting down the side of the mountain until I felt pavement under my wheels.
Wherever I was, there were no street lights. I pedaled cautiously along the side of the narrow road, keeping my ears perked for the sound of approaching cars. I knew I couldn't be far from home, but I didn't recognize this particular stretch.
Glancing up at the sky, I saw it had grown dim and grey, and bats flitted across the expanse, little dark shapes, zig zagging like drunken birds.
I was starting to feel that little tickle of nervousness, but I pushed it aside and kept pedaling. I'd gotten "lost" plenty of times before, and I'd only ever actually been lost once or twice.
After a few more minutes, I pulled off by the ditch and looked around me. I still couldn't recognize a thing, and it was getting darker. It felt like admitting defeat, but I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Last Christmas, my parents had managed to spring for newer phones that actually had GPS built in. They were as basic as it came, but as my mom said meaningfully, it was "better than nothing." I hadn't ever used it, but I figured now was the time. I pulled up the map and waited for it to find me.
And waited. And waited.
ERROR: NO CONNECTION FOUND
Seriously?
I threw the phone back in my pocket and started pedaling furiously down the road again.
In all my years of riding around these back roads, it seemed impossible that I could have somehow stumbled across a stretch I
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