Henderson Cousin

Long Drive

  "Now entering Hawkins, Indiana," I read the sign as I passed it. I was exhausted from driving as long as I have been, driving from South Dakota all the way to Indiana with multiple stops for food and for restroom stops. The drive was only eighteen hours with stops so I planned on just going to sleep when I got to my new home. After about twenty more minutes I arrived at my aunt's house, grabbing my bags as my little cousin burst through the front door, wrapping around my waist.

  "Hailey," he smiled, still missing his 2 front teeth.

  " Hey Dustin, it's been a minute little dude, " I smiled back as he grabbed a suitcase, helping me carry my things inside.

  "Oh Hailey, it's nice to see you dear," my Aunt Claudia smiled as she pulled me into a tight hug in the doorway.

  "How are you feeling sweetie," she asked gently as I huffed.

  "Tired and a little hungry," I said as we walked into the kitchen where she had a meal made already out.

  "Food's on the counter, room's mostly set up for you," she said as I hugged her.

  "You're the best," I sighed as I made my way to my room. It wasn't much, a bed with some blue sheets and an old blanket of mine, an old brown dresser in the corner and a mirror next to the closet. I gently took my clothes out of the two cases of clothes I had, sorting them and putting them into their organized drawer. The dresses went on their hangers, swaying from the wind the fan was whirring through the flowered walls. I ran back down the stairs to the trunk of my red, Chevrolet El Camino, grabbing the very last of my things and heading back inside.

  "Hi," a young boy said as I looked over the top box to see a group of young boys standing by Dustin.

  "Hi," I said as he smiled.

  " I'm Mike and this is Will, Lucas and you already know Dustin I guess, " he said as I nodded.

  "Very nice to meet friends of Dustin, I'm Hailey," I said as he walked past me, grabbing a box from by the door.

  "I got this, you boys go play," I said as he shook his head, carrying the box up the stairs.

  "You start school tomorrow Hailey, get some sleep."

  " I'm almost finished in here, " I said as Aunt Claudia laughed, sitting on my bed and patting the space next to her.

  "Your father was always a workaholic," she smiled as I felt my mind wander into memories. My mother passed away when I was born and my father raised me. I was definitely a daddy's girl with straight A's, skill with tools, sporty and was never afraid to get dirty.

  "He was, wasn't he," I smiled as she nodded. I looked like my mother but I did get a few things from my father. I had wavy brownish red hair that I usually straightened, green eyes with pale skin. I was surprisingly curvy yet skinny which I get from my mom and I was 5'6' which I also got from my mother.

  "You can tell you have both of them in you," Aunt Claudia smiled as I smiled again, taking the picture off my nightstand. It was a picture of my mother holding me only a few minutes before she passed.

  "So I've been told," I smiled as she stood up.

  " I have something she said to give to you when you come back to Hawkins. She hoped one day it would be 'safe' as she put it, " she said, leaving the room and returning a few minutes later with a large chest, a large lock on the front.

  "Thanks Auntie, I'll go through it when I get the chance, but is there a key?"

  " She said you'd know how to open it when you're old enough, " she smiled, setting it in the corner before walking out. My mother had many mysteries my father always said, but he said those mysteries kept people safe. Now sitting on my bed, looking at the chest I felt drawn to it in a way I couldn't put my finger on. Just as I thought of going to open it Dustin appeared in my doorway.