Free When They Fade by Jeyn Roberts

Once it awakened, it was the only thing that mattered.
    I never told my dad I was going. I knew he wouldn’t approve, even though Andrea had her beat-up Ford car that burned blue smoke but still managed to be reliable. We scraped together enough gas money to get us there and back. I borrowed a tent from one of the families I babysat for.
    We did all this under complete secrecy. Andrea’s parents were relaxed and fine with her attending the concert. They’d even expressed interest in going themselves for a bit. They gave her the lecture about not doing drugs or drinking with strange men and then gave her twenty bucks for gas. But I knew Dad would be furious if he knew my upcoming secret. I was only fifteen, and he wouldn’t want me crossing state lines. That’s why I never asked him. I figured I could deal with the consequences when I got back. Even if he grounded me for the rest of the year, it would be worth it.
    Lucky for me, Dad was on the road, spending long hours driving from one end of the country to the other. I was the good kid, never doing anything that got me seriously into trouble. My brother, Marcus, was two years older and had a job at the auto shop that kept him busy. Dad didn’t think twice about leaving us alone for weeks on end while he worked. He knew he’d come home after each shift and find the house still standing. Besides, he didn’t really have a choice. Mom had run away when Marcus and I were both still little. They’d gotten married far too young, and I guess she never could accept the idea of staying in one place for the rest of her life. One evening she packed her bags, called a babysitter, and snuck out in the middle of the night while Dad worked a double shift. No goodbye kiss. No letter. Just the babysitter, angry and annoyed the next morning when Marcus and I awoke.
    Dad did whatever he could to try and raise us kids. Trucking brought in good money. We needed the income. From the time Marcus was twelve and I was ten, we’d pretty much been keeping the house clean and doing our homework by ourselves. Our neighbor would keep an eye on us to make sure nothing bad happened, and Dad often made it home on weekends to check that we’d behaved while he was away.
    Marcus and I were both self-sufficient and there were no pets to take care of. Dad was allergic to dogs. The town we lived in was amazingly boring and predictable. Nothing exciting ever happened. The “bad” families were just poor; there hadn’t been a murder in twenty years, not since two brothers got into a fight over who got to keep a prized horse.
    Dad was delivering a load of foodstuff out to the West Coast and wasn’t due back until three days after Woodstock ended. I planned on going there and coming back before he even noticed I was gone.
    “Where are you going?” Marcus asked when Andrea and I came into the kitchen. I had the suitcase under my arm, and Andrea was carrying the tent. So much for hoping he’d still be at work and I wouldn’t have to say anything.
    “We’re going camping at the lake,” I said. I handed Andrea my suitcase, and she headed out the door, letting the screen slam behind her. I went over to the kitchen and grabbed a few items. “Where’s the kettle? Do you mind if I take it? We might want to make coffee in the morning.”
    Marcus opened the old Frigidaire and yanked one of Dad’s beers from the back. “Yeah, sure. I didn’t hear anything ’bout camping. Who’s all going to be there?”
    “It’s just us girls, so keep it quiet,” I said. “No boys allowed.” I grabbed the kettle off the counter and packed it, along with a few other things I thought would come in handy.
    My brother put his beer against the counter and used the corner to catch the edge of the bottle cap. Beer foamed from the top, soaking his fingers. The cap rolled along the floor and went straight under the fridge.
    “You better replace that before Dad gets home,” I said.
    “I will,” Marcus said. He turned