Jerry always played this game. "Ha ha, I'm trying to get away from you ... "

Everyone laughed it off, without giving it much of a thought. Sarah always grabbed him or smacked him playfully. It was a fun game.

A few years later they'd marry, but Jerry ultimately drifted away. He was there, but for a long time he wasn't there. He'd sit at the table after dinner, staring off into the middle distance.

One day he walked out back to get some wood for the stove and he never came back. There'd be no more laughing it off.

He didn't have to climb any fences that day, he'd been doing it for a while in his thoughts.

What would it be like to shine up a good pair of shoes and head out west? What new, happy, quiet life could I start somewhere out there?

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