Life, Love and Growing Up

Starry Nights

It was a late night during the summer. The air was warm and hot and in some areas was completely mosquito infested.

I sat in my room texting my friends and scrolling through social medias with the tv on in the background playing Grease which soon, when this was over, would probably end up being changed to hairspray.

My new, bright white fan was on my nightstand and was already being over used as it was on the highest power almost all the time for the past week.

Even with shorts and a tank top on I had my back window open to let some of the cool night air into my room. Summers could easily become too brutally hot, even if it was almost midnight.

What's worse than the agonizingly painful heat and tremendous amount of annoyance from it?

Well for starters, being trapped in my room.

My parents grounded me a few days ago and they said it was going to last a few weeks. I could go out but I had to be home before 8. I can not have sleepovers or stay over other people's houses, I can not do just about anything.

Whenever my friends do something like go bowling where there is alcohol or go to the movies or go shopping I am not allowed to go.

All because of what happened last time. Plus I have to give them a play by play of my every single move and what could possibly be worse! Oh yeah, how my parents took away my car and instead they drive me to wherever I decide I wish to go to.

Now there is nothing more painful than that.

After awhile of seeing the same old things over and over again on almost every social media feed that I had I sighed and closed my computer and sat up from my lying position.

I got up and set my computer back over on its usual spot on my desk before I than turned of the light on my nightstand.

I let the movie continue to run and made my way over to my window. I rolled my chair over from my desk and brought it over and sat down.

I looked up at the stars, they were glistening brightly in thousands upon thousands, some grouped into constellations and others alone is some areas of the sky.

I sympathized with the ones alone. I knew what it was like to be alone. I knew what it felt like to be abandoned and to be forgotten.

When I was a baby my parents had left me at an orphanage. They couldn't take care of me. A year ago I looked for them and found out that my mom was arrested on multiple illegal substance accounts and my dad had died of a brain tumor a little after I had been born and given up.

When I was small I was adopted almost immediately by a couple that wanted a kid well kids but they couldn't have one on their own.

I've been with them ever since.

But I knew it wasn't always like that, and I knew some kids were still out there and just like those lonely couple stars all the time.

The family I had no treated me like I was their own, raised me like I was their own and we were our own special sort of family. I have a younger sister who right now was at a summer camp.

I also have an older brother but he was already off, staying somewhere near his college and so far I hadn't seen him since Christmas since he was on vacation for a trip and than he was catching up with tons of his family that had given him up that he wanted to know. That's quite strange that I understand.

Thankfully both of them would be coming home quite soon, hopefully.

So now, without my siblings and not being able to see my friends almost at all, I did feel a little alone.

I looked up at the moon and watched as the clouds rolled by the bottom, sometimes blocking the calming white light that fell over the earth like an aura.

The stars all twinkled and danced on their own tunes and sole brightened while some darkened and vise versa. The night sky was always a beautiful sight to behold.

Always so different but yet it resembled itself so much every night that there was a comfort and relaxing feeling to it all.

Just like I knew that when I was a little older and I'd leave home, there was somewhere I could always go back to, someplace I could always call my one true home, and that was right here, with my sister and my brother and my parents.

Suddenly I saw a pair of lights coming down the street from my peripheral vision. I looked down from the stars and down to the road in front of me. A car was slowly crawling it's way up the street.

Isn't that may parents car? I thought that they were home.

"Mom? Dad?" I called as I turned away from the window and called out. It took a minute or so for me to call out to whoever was home again. "Mom? Dad?"

I heard movement and finally came to a stop at the bottom of the staircase."Yes honey?" Ok so mom was home. Dad was the one who went out.

"Where'd dad go?" I asked. That I know of he never said anything about him going out somewhere or going to do anything.

"I don't know sweetheart he wouldn't tell me either." She replied before the conversation ended.

I heard her walk away from the bottom of the stairs and probably back to the living room to continue reading her book.

The car pulled into the driveway before the lights and engine were turned off. The drivers door opened and I saw my dad get out, but there was someone in the passengers seat.

I moved a bit trying to figure out who could be in the car with him when the door was swung open and someone started to exit the car.

"Mason!" I screamed as I jumped up and ran out of my room, throwing open the door and than running down the stairs.

My brother was home!

I threw open the front door and ran over to him. "Mason!" I squealed. He turned around and I immediately jumped into his arms. He laughed as he held me tight.

"I missed you!" I whispered.

"It's good to be home little sis. It's good to be home." I smiled as I hugged him tighter.

"It's good to have you home too." I pulled back from our hug. "So how did your family hunt go?" I asked.

I looked at dad and he looked a little uncomfortable as he grabbed masons things. "I'll bring these into the house. I'll see you inside in a minute." We both nodded as he headed inside.

Once the front door closed Mason looked at me. "Well I found tbem." He said quietly.

"And. . . ?" I asked.

"Well." he looked down for a second before he looked back up at me. "They were deadbeats. Terrible people. Im so lucky to be here. To have you and Ashley and to be able to call this home with two great parents." I smiled and junked forward, engulfing him with another hug.

"Carol! Mason! I made chocolate cake if you want some! And you might want to get it before your father does!" We both laughed as she smiled and went back inside to wait for us.

"Come on." Mason pulled back from our hug and he slung an arm over my shoulder. "Let's go to our home."

Together we both walked into the house. Our one and only true home that was the best one, we know knew, both of us could ask for.