I find I’m so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.

I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.

I hope I can make it across the border.

I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand.

I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.

I hope.

— Red, “The Shawshank Redemption”