A story about a girl who has always been jealous of the tales she has read, wanting a story of her own. When she finally gets one, she finds out that it's not all sunshine and rainbows. She doesn't know how to deal with strangers, and especially not...
"Mom...? Mom?" I called. There was no answer. I sat on the ground as I looked around. No one. Just some dead yellow grass on the ground, and some green trees around me. Behind me was our residence. Residence, yes. Because we were definitely not sleeping in a tent. I wouldn't really mind, but my parents were too good to sleep in a tent for a couple of weeks.
I stood up from my spot and walked over to our cabin. I walked up the four steps and over the wooden porch. I stopped in my tracks when I saw a pink note on the outside table. I picked it up and read what was on it.
'I am taking a shower; I have to say something when I get back. Monique.'
Kinda weird, but we'll see. I went inside the house and walked to my own room. The house wasn't nearly as big as the one at home, but I didn't mind. There was a kitchen in the back-left corner, a living room with a big couch in the front-left corner, two bedrooms on the right side; mine at the back and my parents' at the front. And in between the kitchen and my room, there was a small bathroom with just a toilet, since the showers are at the big house just a couple minutes from here.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I walked into my room and saw my cat laying on my bed. He is beautiful. He has white paws, and red and orange stripes all over his body. The end of his tail is white and he has freckles on his pink triangle shaped nose. We travel a lot together, so he is always by my side. He mostly just sleeps or eats. He is very lazy.
I fell next to him on the bed as I scratched his belly. He was purring when I heard a sound from outside. It was the sound of flip flops from slippers coming closer. It must be my mom; I mean it could be my dad, but he went to the store and I would hear a car. As you may think "but it could be someone else" no, let me explain. There is absolutely no one here. Like, we're the only ones. It's very quiet and nice. You can even hear the birds. We have the pools all to ourselves. There have been some other guests, but they all left. The footsteps walk up the steps of the porch and I hear a door open and close.
"I'm in here!" I shouted. The footsteps were coming closer and eventually my door opened. "I read your note. What did you want to say?" Her perfume filled the room as my mom entered with a worried expression.
"I know you don't want to, but Robert and I have to get away for work." She said.
I was extremely disappointed, she promised she wouldn't do this. "But we were on a family vacation in France so that you could take a break and stop working." She knows I hate it when she does this. She promised she would work less, but I haven't seen that happen yet.
"I know, but we have to. I did hear the owner talking about another guest. So maybe you can make a friend." She said solemnly. At points like this I wish I had a brother or a sister. "Yeah, I guess." You could hear the hurt in my voice. "So, when will you be back?" I asked.
"We have to see if you're going home on your own, or if we come and get you. But we have our phones so we can communicate. I think it's about 5 to 6 weeks." She answered.
This happened a lot. I just thought this time would be different. "Alright. Did you pack your bags already?" I asked, hoping her answer would be no.
"Yes, we did. When Robert comes back, we are all ready to go. We are going to wait for the other guests though. They will be here tonight. So, we have one last dinner together." she said with a tight smile.
"Yay." I said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Where do you want to eat? You can choose anything you want." Mom asked.
"Uhm I don't know. Can we not do something fancy for once?" I answered. My parents are always working, but a positive thing is that we have money. Like a lot, so we eat fancy almost every night. Weird thing to stay in a cabin on a campsite then, don't you think? Yeah well, they have a weird way of thinking. "no, we've been doing this for as long as we can remember. We just want something normal for you" is always their answer when I ask why we do this. I don't really mind staying in a cabin, I think it's kinda fun.
"If that is what you really want, we can go out for pizza. Robert will pick us up and we will take our bags, so we only have to drop you off."
"Okay. Cool." I replied without enthusiasm.
I put on some nice clothes and we went to a restaurant called la papillon. We ate a delicious pizza and when we came back at the campsite, the other guests had already arrived. I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed and mom and dad went to greet the guests
There was a big house with toilets and showers where I usually went to get ready for bed, just because I have a little more space in there.
"Hello, my name is Monique, and this is my husband Robert. My daughter Julia is somewhere around here." I heard my mom say as I walked back to my cabin. They were chatting when I arrived.
"Julia, come say hello!" my dad yelled, probably noticing my footsteps coming closer.
"Hi, I'm Julia!' I shouted without looking. I wasn't really in the mood to meet new people.
After some time, I heard three knocks on my door. "Come in" I answered. The door opened and my dad stood in the doorway. I stood up and we walked to the living room together.
"It is time for us to leave, otherwise we will miss our flight." My mom began. "The store is in walking distance, but you can take a train to the big one in town. You can go to one of the guests if you need help or call us. They asked if you wanted to eat dinner with them, and they also said they will make you breakfast if you want. So, if you're comfortable with that, you can do that and maybe even do things, like visit a little town or go out for dinner. I trust them to take care of you. You have your own card with enough money, so that will not be a problem. Say your goodbyes now." She smiled. Not because she wanted to, but because she felt obligated.
Really good move mom, you've known these people for what? 10 minutes? And you already 'trust' them.
"Goodbye." I said while I hugged her. The hug was awkward and stiff. We don't usually do this kind of stuff.
"I love you, kid" My dad said. "I love you too, dad." And I also hugged him. His hugs have always been warmer. Awkward, but very warm. I stood on the front porch as I waved them goodbye. The engine of the car started running and they slowly drove away.
It is no surprise that they leave me alone. It's not the first time they've done it. But it is the first time that they made a deal with the guests to babysit me. I just find it a little weird that I am allowed to eat dinner and visit towns with total strangers, but my parents have never been the type to care about that.
When they were out of sight, I stopped waving and went back into the house. I locked the front door and went back to my room. "Seems like we're alone once again, huh?" I said to my cat as I gave him a quick peck on his head and laid down next to him under the covers.
