Okay, so this is a continuation of a series from a bit ago. To be honest, I think I've written stories (like "Day" parts 1 and 2) that have a character named Lily that *likely* aren't the same Lily as this and previous stories. But yeah, look for Lily characters that seem to match. I think the first one from this series is Solitude from 2026/01/15. The next few days probably have the next parts, and then I may have written more after that too. All in all, you really don't need to read those for this story to make sense, but you can if you want to understand Lily better, perhaps. Anyway, enjoy.

Escape

Lily needed an escape. She had been studying non-stop all week. Or... she had been trying. It had been so hard lately for Lily to focus—on anything. She would sit at her desk for hours, making no progress on her work but refusing to allow herself a break until she got something done. Sometimes she just crawled into bed, choking on sobs and wanting to... well... do something, not... whatever this was. Lily wasn't even doing any of the things that usually distracted her from studying—her internet... acquaintances, writing, watching anime... And the reason was that each time she tried, she felt an overwhelming sense of guilt—she didn't deserve to do anything other than study. She needed to study; finals were next week and it was already Friday. Lily wanted to bang her head against her desk, but it was too cramped and her laptop sat there. The thing was, Lily had no one to complain—vent—to. She couldn't waste precious studying time whining about all her problems to people online, and she didn't really... have any friends at her university. She just wanted to scream, but what would the others in her dorm think? The others... Lily often  forgot there were others, so near.

Lily slumped in her crappy college-issue spinny chair, causing it to creak. She needed... something. Something different. She stood up, closing her laptop, and lay on her carpeted dorm room floor, gazing at the ceiling, letting her thoughts sort themselves out. Lily found that when she was... frustrated like she had been, a change helped her be able to think again. Usually that meant switching locations—anything to get away from that increasingly-depressing desk. Now that she could think again, Lily realized what she needed: fresh air. She had barely left her dorm in the past week... or even few weeks... except when necessary. She had walked quickly between classes, not stopping to savor and take in the nature.

So, Lily sat up—getting momentarily dizzy—and looked around for her shoes. The dirty purple sneakers were near her bed, and she grabbed them and put them on. Lily's fingers trembled with anticipation as she tied her shoelaces, causing her to fumble them and take a few tries. She already had a hoodie on—though she wasn't sure if she'd even need it. It had looked sunny enough last time she'd glanced through the dorm curtains.

Lily opened her dorm door and awkwardly walked down the hall, passing the other rooms, toward the stairs. Once she reached them, she realized just how weak and tired she was from barely sleeping in... well, weeks, but that week had been particularly rough. Lily slowly descended the stairs, then exited her dorm building.

Lily was immediately greeted by a sweet breeze that blew her messy hair into her eyes, but she didn't mind. Not one bit. She was, however, surprised to discover that it was dark outside. Had that much time passed? Another day, wasted? She tried to push away those thoughts as she walked around the campus, headed nowhere in particular. She walked slowly, trying to make the most out of each moment, each breath, each gust of warm late-spring breeze. She soon found herself wandering toward the town her university was in. More room to walk, that way. Besides, she had never got the chance to explore these streets.

Lily wandered the cracked-pavement roads, momentarily forgetting her burden. She found a random gas station, and was going to go in and get something—just for fun, as a little treat for herself—but sighed as she realized she hadn't thought to bring her wallet—practically empty though it was. Instead, she found a park and sat down on a bench. Lily sat there for... for... a while. She mostly allowed her mind to drift, pondering the nature of abstract art or the ultimate misery of life.

After some time, Lily jolted from her mind as someone spoke.

"Hey, uh, mind if I sit down?"

P.S. yippee for my first longer story in a bit!

P.P.S. any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and uhh all characters are products of the author's imagination? Hehe?

- Lily