Sample Chapter

Chapter 1. Dragged But Not Broken

On July 20, 2013 in Lincoln, Nebraska at the BNSF rail yard, west of downtown, my hand got caught under the wheel of a train. In an instant I was ripped along four hundred feet of grinding steel, jagged gravel, and pure chaos. Every rock seemed determined to smash my skull, each one a cruel reminder of how quickly the world could turn against you. All I could think was, this is it. I fought to keep my head lifted while I was dragged along, bouncing and scraping, yet refusing to let it smash against the rail bed.

My girlfriend at the time, Fluffy was right there, running beside me. She kept shoving my legs out from under the wheels, saving me second by second. I screamed to get help when I saw the light of a worker's van in the distance. However, deep down, I knew I was on my own. If I didn't do something fast, the rails would claim me. With everything I had left, I reached up and grabbed the ladder. One last pull. Every ounce of will and strength was ripped out of me. Then it happened. My arm slid free, torn from my body. I had been degloved completely. The train spat me out like I was nothing. My heel was caught in the wheel and mangled in an instant.

I gave up the lie that stability automatically means peace. Out there, with a pack on my back and a sky that did not care what happened to me, I found something rougher and truer.

That was the trade. Freedom was real, but so was hunger. So was cold. So was the hard lesson that nobody was coming to save you. Still, when the train pulled and the wind hit my face, it felt like I had stepped into the only life that ever told me the truth. The country looked different from the shoulder of a highway and different again from the side of a freight train. Small towns slipped by like half-forgotten songs. Bridges groaned over rivers black as oil. Yards hummed at night under sodium lights. Every mile had the chance to turn mean or beautiful without warning.