Flagstaff, Arizona. My home. I had been living there all 18 years of my lonely life. Now I’m heading out the door. I said one last goodbye to my pony, Green Bean. “Beany” was a Pinto, with a perfect star on her forehead and two white socks on her front legs. She had come to my home from the SPCA when she was only a year old. I was 10 at the time. My cat, Scottie, who had followed me out to the stable, started playing with the shoelaces of my pink and purple high tops. I smiled. At least they didn’t care what they looked like.
I started to cry. I would miss it here. Even if I had had a lonely life here, I was still sorry to leave. But I knew that I wouldn’t be treated any differently in New York. Life would be the same there as it was here. College wouldn’t make it any different. Same crap. Different place. Except I wouldn’t have my pets to help me cope. I would be all alone, with only the pigeons outside my single dorm to keep me company.
My parents honked the horn a couple times. I threw my arms around Beany’s neck in one last quick hug and run for the car. Scottie bounded after me, his tabby fur getting covered in the dust I kicked up the driveway. I opened the door of the 4 year old black Audi and slipped into the seat, Scottie jumping into my lap. He loved car rides, and, as always, he put his front paws on the side of the car, his short fur blowing back as I grabbed onto him. The top was down and I looked back at my home. Beany neighed as the car pulled out of the driveway and we headed for the airport.
~*~
After a lot of tearful goodbyes and a few timid hugs, I scratched Scottie’s chin for and turned away from my family, wishing my eyes were normal and my natural facial expression wasn’t so threatening so people would stop staring. You see, when I completely relax my face, my expression always looks threatening and angry. So I almost never completely relax. I head towards security, looking back only once to see my mother sobbing in my father’s shoulder, almost crushing my poor cat between them. The sight was so sad. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I waved. My parents waved back, smiling tearfully. I took a deep breath and stepped into the line, ticket in hand. I sighed, realizing that it would be almost 6 or 7, maybe 8 hours until I got in a nice, warm bed in my college dorm in New York.
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