Marathon [h.s]

one

Ellie Meyer

The smell of salt air hits my nostrils the moment that I step out of my car and open my eyes to the new place I will be calling home. The humidity on my skin is a noticeable ten degrees warmer than my hometown back in Ocala, which says a lot considering that winters are basically non-existent there.

When I drove past the Marathon sign, which is part of the many small islands that make up the Florida Keys, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself for getting to this point. I have been working multiple jobs since I was 15 years old to save up for this moment. After having no hope of living a happy life for so long, being able to say I am here now is like a breath of fresh air.

I never had the perfect family life growing up, and my parents abruptly dying at such a young age didn't do anything to fix that. I was always envious of the other kids at school who would boast about their family vacations or events that I never got to experience.

For the longest time I thought it was normal for your parents to constantly be yelling at each other. My dad would always get incredibly mad at me if I asked why we didn't partake in things that every other family did. He convinced me that just because I had two parents, and had a roof over my head, that I had nothing to complain about. By the time I got old enough to realize that I lived in a toxic household, my time with my parents had run out.

I spent the rest of my six years at home living in foster care, along with my older brother, Ashton, who never made my already terrible situation easier. I grew up absolutely hating my life and wishing that I could've been born into a more "normal" family. Once I came to realize that I didn't want to be stuck in that life forever, I began my journey to get to where I am now.

No one else can hurt me now. Little 13 year old me, who had just had their world turned upside down, never could have pictured this ending. Now that I am finally in this chapter of my life, I can't help but feel immensely proud of myself for how far I have come.

After sitting in my turned off car while I ran through all of those thoughts, I finally open the car door to begin to check out my new house. A slightly cool breeze rushes through my hair when I step onto the crunchy gravel. The sounds of joyed laughter and screaming can be heard from the beach that's only separated from me by the houses that line it.

I make my way up the creaky stairs that lead to my front porch. I take out the key that was already sent to me through the mail and begin unlocking the tall, white, wooden doors, which is the entryway to the start of my new beginning. From the moment I walk in, I am met with a giant kitchen to my right with a carpeted staircase leading to the second floor on my left.

I take a look further into the house from where I am standing, this being easily done from the open layout of the first floor. I take a few steps in to shut the door, and continue walking into the spacious living room. Separating the kitchen and the living room is a dining room table that is way too big considering it's just me living here. Sitting against the cream colored walls, is a light blue suede couch. Directly across the room, a flatscreen TV is pressed against the wall. Everywhere you look there are various different tropical and beachy paintings hanging along the walls.

The entire back wall of the house is full of glass panes, accompanied with a sliding door, looking out onto the beautiful scenery that I could easily get used to. I turn around to make my way upstairs to check out where I will be sleeping, along with the spare bedroom.

When I make my way onto the second floor I can't help but take note of my bedroom that is way bigger than anything I ever lived in growing up. From here I can also spot my huge bathroom, my walk in closet, and the vast amount of floor space. This bedroom also has a sliding glass door with its own balcony looking out onto the beach.