Freeridge, a small town in the heart of Los Angeles known as the place where the devil makes his yearly visits to earth every summer and where snow rarely falls, and when it does you can count on Hell being completely frozen over. The place where winter feels like pre-spring, and every spring feels like Heaven meets earth. One day, my mom got a letter in the mail about a job offer as a pediatrician at a local children's hospital in Los Angeles. Ever since my dad passed away, it had been tough on my mom working at one of the only medical centers in Saluda where they were barely paying her enough to pay the necessary bills and although I would have loved to stay here in this little small town, I strongly encouraged my mom to take the job offer. For the past three years, my mom has been saving up money to buy a new house, and even though it wont be in my small little hometown I was ready for a new adventure.
Hi, my name is Leighanna-Grace Smith and I am a seventeen-year-old senior from Saluda, North Carolina, about thirty-five miles outside of Asheville. My mom and I werent set to start our move across the country for another two days but I knew that if I waited too long to start packing we would never make it to California in time for mom to start her job. While I was sitting on my bed folding my clothes and placing them into suitcases and cardboard boxes I began daydreaming about the people I would meet in Freeridge. My phone began to ring and when I looked at the caller ID it was my best friend, Ashleigh Kingston and although she lived right down the street from me we have been hanging out a lot more recently.
"Hey, what's up?" I answered the phone.
"Oh, nothing much. Hey, what are you doing right now?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just trying to pack up some clothes before mom and I leave Friday. Why? What are you up to?"
"Standing outside your front door. I came here to help you pack and I brought Starbucks so you better open up or I'm gonna drink it."
Im on my way down!
A burst of energy surged throughout my body as I threw my phone on the bed and raced down the stairs to open the front door. Ashleigh stood at the front door in her everyday attire which normally consisted of a Bass Pro Shops camouflaged hoodie, blue jeans, an old Carhartt hat, and work boots. I hugged her and invited her into the foyer when my mom overheard us talking. She walked to see who was there and a smile lit up her face when she saw Ashleigh standing there with me. She greeted Ashleigh with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and she invited her to come to sit down in the living room before we scurried off to my room where we would spend hours on end packing things away.
"What are you doing here, honey? Shouldn't you be at home helping your dad plow the fields?" My mom asked Ashleigh as I handed her a glass of sweet tea.
"No ma'am, not today. Mama told me to come to spend the next three days with y'all before y'all left. She was fixing to make y'all a squash casserole until she got a phone call for Sister Mary-Anne down the street. Said she needed some help canning her fruits and vegetables from the farmer's market. You know how that is." Ashleigh responded with a chuckle as she took a sip.
My mom smiled at Ashleigh as they talked for a little bit more. After they finished their conversation, I prepared Ashleigh for a sight that was so ghastly that not even Harry Houdini could fix it. A pile of shoes on one side, at least five piles of clothes were thrown about as if a hurricane ripped through my room. Ashleigh and I looked at each other, and we got straight to work. Ashleigh came up with a strategy to help us divide and conquer this disaster of a room, so she decided to take on the shirts, pajamas, and dresses, and I would take on the pants, undergarments, and skirts.
We worked like mules for about the next two and a half hours before my mom called us both down for supper. We raced down the stairs to find a whole buffet waiting for us on the island. Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and gravy, corn on the cob, sweet iced tea, and peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. The last time my mom cooked a big meal like this was after daddys visitation five years ago, but I always appreciated it when she cooked a meal like this.
