Metal Storm

Stranger In A Strange Land

-May 23rd, 1987-
May came faster than any of us had ever anticipated.
I had been able to finish high school at a high note, scoring A's and B's in almost all of my classes to the delight of my parents.
Eric and I had actually been able to finish earlier after talking to some of my teachers and explaining our situation to them.
The only downside was that we weren't able to attend prom but there are more important things to miss than that.
And now, here I was packing all my clothing, my several posters, makeup, family pictures, records, books, etc into my suitcase and getting ready to step onto the next stage of my life.
      Eric, recently acquiring his own drivers licence had made his first long trip, arriving at the place the previous day and Ace and Sebastian would be joining us on the weekend.
     Taking one last look around my room which now looked so strangely empty without all my books and clothes, I silently bid it farewell, closing this 17 page chapter of my life.
      My parents were waiting for me downstairs, their expressions both tearful and proud at the same time.
       "You ready, Marl?" my mom questioned.
       "Yeah..." I whispered.
       "Come on, let's go. We have a long, long drive ahead of us," my dad said, giving me an encouraging pat on the shoulders.
       Getting into the car, I looked over to the back window, watching as my house, the place that I had called home for most of my life, slowly disappeared from view as we drove towards the main highway that lead to Sweden's capital city Stockholm.
        The classic road trip music of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith, and The Doors kept me company during the drive along with the ever changing Swedish landscape which gradually changed from small storybook villages to centuries old conifer forests haunted by witches and goblins and then to rolling green farmland on which cattle lazily grazed.
       A couple of times, we stopped to grab food in unfamiliar towns that we passed through, me wishing that we could stay a while longer to walk through the cobbled streets or peer into the many bakeries with their inviting scents of chocolate and fruit.
         It was late evening when we finally arrived in Stockholm.
         It was a typical modern European city, its architecture a mix of historic buildings and new yet drab grey blocks which I'd always thought were so ugly. So soulless.
       People milled about on the streets, walking in and out of stores and restaurants.
       "This must be the downtown," my dad said looking up from the paper where the directions were written on, "your place is on the very outskirts of town according to the directions that your friend has given us."
        The sun had almost entirely set by the time we were driving up the gravel road which lead to the house.
        For almost half a mile there was no houses in sight, only green forest.
         "Wow, that must be it," my mom suddenly said, jerking me out of the nap that I had been trying to have.
         Yawning, I pressed my nose to the window.
        Half hidden among the trees stood a large house, an old wooden two story house. One of the lights was on in the second floor but if it hadn't been for that light, I'm sure that we would have just driven right past it.
        Pulling into the cracked driveway beside Eric's car, my dad parked the car and got out to knock on the door.
        My bandmate appeared in the door dressed in an oversized Jack Daniels tank top and blue jeans.
       His face instantly lit up when he saw me and he nearly tripped over himself as he ran over to greet me.
       We hadn't seen each other in almost a month so it was nice to see Eric again. I was actually almost fairly certain that I had missed him...I don't know, but it was a strange feeling that I'd never gotten with anybody before.
      "How was the drive," he asked my parents.
      "Very long but beautiful," my mom answered with a short chuckle.
      "And tiring," I added.
      "You've got yourself a nice place," dad said, nodding at the house.
"Oh yeah, it's great! I had some issues with the hot water but otherwise it's pretty awesome," Eric said, "you can come inside and look around if you want."
"We'd love to but we have to get going, we still have a long road ahead of us," dad said politely exchanging a glance with mom.
       So this was it.
       Eric helped me with my stuff while my parents stood by, watching proudly as the girl who they had raised entered the adult world.
       When my suitcase and my guitar shit was in the house, I went over to give my parents a long hug, promising that I would make sure to call them every weekend and perhaps pay them a next visit next summer.
        "I know that this seems scary but you'll be alright. Your friends are here for you. Me and your father are prouder of you more than words can say," my mom said tearfully.
"Spend your money wisely and stick close to your friend! Oh, and don't get too drunk at parties," my dad called out as he and mom walked back to their car.
"I'll try not to," I called back, watching the family car disappear down the road.
I gave my parents one final wave before their car disappeared behind a curve.
The sun had hid behind the hills and darkness was already beginning to set in. Soon, nocturnal animals would be on the prowl. I shivered as I wondered what kind of creatures could be hiding in the trees. Bears, porcupine, elk, Bon Jovi fans...
"We should probably go inside. Only Satan knows what kind of animals live in these woods," Eric, said voicing my thoughts.
Light flooded the grassy front yard when he pushed the door open and from the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a snake slither away into the shadows.
Picking up my suitcase from the porch, I walked inside, looking around at my new home.
It was a vast house with hardwood flooring and walls, probably built somewhere during the 50s.
      There was a battered table with chairs in a room that I assumed must have been the dining room at one point and a worn couch in the living room but otherwise, it was quite bare.
      "Svenn's bringing in a TV tomorrow and we're going to the supermarket in the morning to stock up on groceries," Eric told me as we climbed up the creaky stairs.
      "Must have been unnerving spending the night alone here," I said, wincing at how loudly the stairs creaked whenever we took a step.
      "Ah, the only thing that scarier than a ghost floating around was the amount of mosquitoes that were in the house when I came here," Eric muttered, "my room's the one at the end so you have a choice between these two bedrooms and or the one downstairs."
Peering into the doorways, I saw that there wasn't much of a difference between the two bedrooms; one was just a little smaller and had a nightstand beside the bed and a closet as well as a bathroom whereas the second one didn't have a nightstand and only had a large, dusty drawer.
I chose the smaller one with the bathroom.
Mostly because I didn't really like the idea of having to leave the bedroom at night to take a piss or a crap.
"I'll take this one," I said, opening the door to the smaller bedroom.
"Good choice. The other one had a bunch of mouse shit on the floor before my dad cleaned it up," Eric grimaced, scrunching his nose up.
"Just don't tell that fun fact to Ace or Sebastian when they come," I said earning a short laugh from my bandmate.
"Oh hell no, Ace would never set foot in here if he hears about that," Eric snorted, leaning on the doorway, "anyways, I'm tired as fuck and I'm probably gonna head to bed now."
"Yeah, I will too," I said, only now realizing how exhausted I felt.
"Goodnight, Marlene," Eric said as he turned away, bare feet padding down the hallway to his room, "just whatever you fucking do, do not open that window."
Yawning, I headed into my room.
My new room.
The lightbulb flickered a few times but thankfully didn't go out when I turned it on.
Putting my guitar on its stand in one of the corners and my suitcase down on the floor, I took a look around.
The bare walls seemed to practically beg for posters to be plastered on them and the empty shelf looked sad and forlorn without any books or records on it.
Tomorrow is gonna be a busy day
Turning off the light, I flopped down on the soft mattress, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the strange noises and rustling that sounded from the trees outside every now and then before my eyes finally closed and a long, deep sleep overtook me.