running up that hill

It doesn't hurt me.
You wanna feel how it feels?
You wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me?
You wanna hear about the deal I'm making?
You *be running up that hill*
You and me *be running up that hill*

And if I only could,
Make a deal with God,
And get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh... Placebo version


Ellie found herself down the road from Mount Rushmore. Past the Reptile gardens. Even far from the famous Native American monument. Crazy Horse. Actually, she didn't know where in the hell she was. But she was alone, walking down the road with a Canadian wind at her back. Her feet didn't feel so well, either. Probably blistering as she thought about the heels she walked in.

What had she done?

OK, she'd had words with Ryan. Might not have been the best time to have a fight with him about him. About her. About them. At the time, she didn't know her phone wasn't going to work. It was either dead or the reception was awful in the Black Hills. And she was cold. And hungry. Thirsty.

As she looked around the prairie, she knew this had to be the worst moment of her life. If she could have gone to sleep and woke up somewhere in a dream.... she would have been happy. But she walked on down the road. She was going south. She might have been in Nebraska, already.

She had to feel positive about that, because at the moment nothing was going right. Everything was wrong. And how did that happen?

Ryan did hate her. He really hated her, and it was the real kind of hate, evidently. He'd gone out of his way to get back at something she never knew existed in the first place. Those damn feelings, she thought. Was it feelings like these that could make someone want to kill someone. Was that what he was hoping for?

He didn't have to say it. She knew it. She felt he was pretty close to getting his wish. Hadn't he left her for dead? Except the car had come to a complete halt and he'd pulled her right out of the car. Her knee still stung from the toss. But she kept walking.

Ellie hoped she never saw him again. If she got out of this, she was going to change. She was going to be more quiet. More to herself. Not want so much. Just to be in her own room. Her own bed. That's all. She wasn't asking for anything more.

Now she had no idea how big the world could be out here in this epic open space. Far from the city. She hadn't seen nor heard a vehicle of any kind. Just a buffalo.

A buffalo. She looked back at it grazing in the spacious sea of green. Ellie shivered. She picked up her pace. She had to get somewhere, but it seemed she was in the middle of nowhere, and her heel just broke.