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Samantha Lopez

Rural Suburban Living

I walked there by myself I journeyed across our development and
through the neighboring one to reach it. The hill grew out of the land
just where the houses stopped, and ifI could sneak through a backyard,
I could climb it to the place were there were several footpaths that wove
around the bits of nature they left us.

We walked everywhere before we had cars. My friends and I
walked to Sheetz to buy junk food or soda or to be picked up by boys
we didn't want our mothers to know about. Summer days were spent
traversing the landscape of our neighborhood and exploring the small
clusters of trees at its edges we called woods; nights were spent with our
bodies sprawled on the asphalt soaking up its left over warmth from the
sun and telling secrets until we spotted rare sets of headlights forcing us
to leave our position in the cul-de-sac.

I packed up my backpack with Goldfish, pretzels, bottled
water, a book, and a blanket. It was a twenty-minute walk to my spot
of the mountain, and I wanted to bring everything I would need. My
CD Walkman was tucked in the small top pouch of my bag, and my
headphones snaked out the zipper and around my ears. I was prepared
for my journey.

We found beauty in drainage pits we called ponds and the free

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