She followed the blue-marked trail into the woods. Soon nature engulfed her. The deeper she got, the more distant her world.

Emails snagged on thorny brush. Ringtones faded into birdsong. Deadlines were trodden into the dirt.

She emerged, laptop still in the car, unplugged, yet her batteries were fully recharged.

Christa Planko, MA, is a professional writer with a passion for creative expression. She has had her poetry and short stories featured in several publications, including River Poets Journal, Tanka and Haiku Journal, Poetry Quarterly, and Every Day Fiction. Her story, “The Olde-Tyme Village,” won the 2021 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest. Christa resides in South Jersey with her feline muses.