Far Off in the Distance

A Change, Maybe for the Better

As the mini van stumbled down the dirt road, my stomach stumbled with it. It was the first day I would be meeting my new foster parents. I really hated switching foster homes. It always felt like I was getting left behind, or that I was leaving somebody else behind. Every time I got switched to a new foster home I felt like I was starting my life all over again.
I never really knew my placement, how I was supposed to fit in with the rest of the world. I heard I have a sister, even though I don't think I was supposed to hear that. I heard it on accident. The foster parents I had when I was nine were talking about it in their room one night, whispering. I didn't really understand most of what they were saying, but I understand it now. Years and years of knowledge, mistakes and maturity, spent mostly in dusty, drafty old rooms in the attic of my foster parents house, have led me to the person I am today. Just one run of the mill 17 year old Kaelyn Quelia Levreal, even though my life isn't really that simple. It's a big pool of jumbled up emotions and feelings that I'm not really sure how to control or organize. And all my life, I've been searching for the one person that will help me figure out how to do that.
My real mission, my goal, is to find my birth parents. They are the people that will finally and truly make me feel like I have found a home. I don't want to keep living in some strangers houses, being awkward at the dinner table, not knowing exactly what to say or tell them about. I want parents that I can cuddle up on the couch with while we watch old black and white movies, parents that will actually know how to help me with my moods an emotions! I can't do those things with any other "parents." They're really just strangers to me.
The dirt road comes to an end and we turn into a driveway. At the end of the driveway is a pretty little light yellow house, all neat and cute, with flower pots on the windowsill. There are willow trees in the backyard, billowing in the wind. Right in front of the willow trees is a flower garden with beautiful poppies, lilacs, zinnias, marigolds, hydrangeas, and tiger lilies. To the right of that is a vegetable garden, growing carrots, kale, peas, green beans, and lettuce. Behind the willow trees is a little playground set with a pair of swings, a slide, a climbing rope, a tunnel, and a sandbox. Bordering the whole property is a gate, and near the playground set is a doghouse, with a ball and a bone laying in the entry way. The luscious green grass has been recently cut. It's like a paradise, a perfect place that might come to you in a dream or a fairy tale. I can't take my eyes off it as my driver slides open the mini van door. I'm lost in a gaze for a moment, and then I see something out of the corner of my eye. I look over at the door to the house and see a family stand there, smiling and waving at me. There is a beautiful lady with shoulder length hair in a yellow dress, and a man in khaki shorts and an orange shirt, with sunglasses perched on top of his brown, buzz cut hair. Standing with them are two girls, a little one with golden braided pigtails in a pink dress, and an older girl standing next to her, one with her dirty blonde hair whipping in the wind, wearing a sky blue tank top and a lavender skirt. They are the perfect family and I can't take my eyes off everything I am seeing.
I get out of the van and walk slowly over to the family and shake hands, with each one. The mother's name is Carolyn, the father is Mark, the little one is Jessica and the older girl is Belle. I can't contain my smile so I just let it shine. They lead me into the house and give me a tour of everything. And for once I won't have to sleep in a musty old attic! They have turned the guest bedroom into my bedroom! I can't believe my luck. Just as I sit down on the couch with a glass of fresh lemonade, Carolyn asks me, "So are you ready for your first day of school tomorrow?"