Not all who wander are lost.

Only a few months shy of 17, she loved the freedom of driving herself around- as did every teenager- but the places she loved most were the ones to which her own two feet could carry her. She was a simple girl...maybe the perfect example of a well-rounded being, and it took little to inspire, or excite her. She was outgoing as well, but sometimes she preferred to revel in only her own company.
Tonight she drove down the dark winding back streets of Naples. She had just dropped off her cousin, but she wasn't quite ready to go back home...wasn't quite ready to surrender to the night.
Catching sight of a deep, pitch black trail, she considered taking it. It didn't look like it could possibly lead anywhere, but she decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
She parked her car in the closest deserted parking lot she could find, and ran across the empty streets and beneath the lonely street lights to peer in.
The crisp night air stung the tip of her nose,and pierced her lungs as she inhaled. She bent down, took off her shoes, pushed up her sleeves, and cuffed up her jean legs.
Maybe she would have been hesitant had an adrenaline rush not overcome her, but it had, and so she ran.
Shadows of tall dark trees and bushes did not allow even the luminous overhead moon to offer her a bit of light as guidance, but she kept on.
As this darkness enveloped the space around her, a silence like she had never heard before did the same. A silence that became a steady hum in her ears—a hum so loud she couldn’t think.... she didn't want to consider her thoughts anyways. She was alone; she didn't have anybody to explain herself to, anybody to hold her back, and it felt damn good.
Eventually the trail ended, and her pace slowed down to a casual stroll. Her determined sweat-gleaming face changed expressions, allowing a smile to spread wide, and her eyes lit up as they caught the moon's reflection on a still lake surface. There was an old swingset overlooking it. It looked as if it hadn't been put to good use in quite some time, and so she raced to it.
The feel of the coarse sand grains between her cold bare toes made her laugh, but not nearly as hard as the incredible feeling of being suspended in air over the water.
The man on the moon smiled down at her in her innocence. She smiled right back, ignoring the constant creaking of the old swing with every back and forth.
It was a night unlike any other for her. She felt so full of life, so... happy.
The emotion had never felt so powerful before.
She hardly gave herself the time to even process the thought before she had jumped from the swing, splashing into the chilly lake water below.
It was at that exact moment that she remembered why she had always encouraged surrendering to your impulses, being a little adventurous, and occasionally doing things on your own.
She picked up shoes, tied up her dripping hair, and swore she'd never live any other way.