Away

Chapter 1

The sun was setting on the west coast of the large but, somewhat sparsely-populated island of Aruza. There was a warm breeze that carried the scent of the sea all over the island.

About a kilometer and a half away from the beach was a blue cottage, built on a small hill. The cottage had a perfect view of the sun setting on the horizon, silhouettes of people and houses barely blocking its view.
Two twine-woven plant pots hung from the porch ceiling, money plants held by each of them. There was a white wooden rocking chair on the porch and in it, sat Leyla Booker.

Leyla couldn't remember the last time she felt so at peace. She knew it wouldn't last long, her family would be back from the market soon, but she embraced it for as long as she could.

Just as the sun disappeared from her portion of the sky, Leyla's family came trotting up the hill. It was almost as if the sky knew that darkness followed them.

Leyla sighed and stood up as she watched her brother, her sister and her parents approach. They were breathing heavily and all carrying bags full of the week's groceries.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you gonna help?" Her mother asked, scowling.

Ruth had a mean face. She had frown lines and dark bags under her eyes. Her hair was a nest of grey and brown, pulled tightly into an ugly bun at the back of her head. She looked like she had never once smiled in her life.

Leyla rushed over to her mother and grabbed her bags. They weren't too heavy. She brought them inside.

The front door of the cottage led straight into the kitchen. The kitchen was a relatively good size. Spacious but not too big. There was an island in the center of the room. A simple chandelier hanging above, providing a warm glow to the room. The cupboards were all made from an oaky hardwood with rustic, golden handles. The tiles were cream coloured and had littles speckles of gold in them.

Leyla set down the groceries and sneaked a peak.
Tomatoes, cheese, butter, milk, spinach, potatoes and eggs.

Leyla's father followed with another two bags.

Ronan was an old, worn down man. He used to be jolly and carefree but after his sister passed away, he completely lost his very capacity for joy. He was cold and quiet. He barely ever spoke and he couldn't hear much either. He was fully deaf in one ear and almost deaf in the other.

"Hi dad!" Said Leyla. She knew he wouldn't reply but she didn't mind. He was just always like that. No big deal.

Then came Mars and Zara, holding one bag each. They were having some sort of debate about superheroes.

"Mars, there is no way that ant-man could've done that, just forget it!"

"You must be blind Zara. You're just plain wrong."

"Hey, what are you guys debating?" Asked Leyla.

Mars and Zara shared that same look of disgust they always did when Leyla spoke. They ignored her.

Alright then.

Mars was the youngest. He was 17 years old, two years younger than her. He didn't really care about anything much. He barely smiled and he never laughed.

Zara was the oldest. She was 24. She moved around a lot but somehow always ended up moving back home. She had just come back from Sweden. She had lived there for 8 months. She liked to make big deal of everything. If she was moving away for the 7th time, she wanted a big surprise going away party and if she was coming back she wanted a big surprise welcome home party. She wanted everyone to give her little gifts, sweet notes and make her food everyday. And if that wasn't what happened, she would be upset and claim that she was underappreciated. Any small fight with her meant that you were a demon and she was the innocent angel who got hurt.

Mars and Zara left the kitchen and continued talking about whatever they were talking about.

Leyla got started on putting the groceries away. Her psrents also left the kitchen. She sighed. As she cleared up, her mind started to drift off. She thought about how tired she was and how fed up she felt. No one had her back in this house no matter what they said. She needed to get out, even just for a little while. She kept thinking and thinking and spiraling until....

She had an idea.

Leyla put away the last thing left in the bags and scrambled to find a pen and a piece of paper. She found some in the top drawer beside the sink. She began writing a note.

Hey family,
I'm sorry about this but I have to do this for me. I really don't care what you think. I'm leaving for a little while. I don't know where I'm going and I don't know how long I'll be gone for. Please don't be too upset and take care!
See you soon,
Leyla.

She folded the note and put it in her pocket. She couldn't let them see it until she was ready. She rushed to her room and started packing a medium sized red suitcase.

Leyla's room was painted a dark green colour on two walls and a very light green, almost white, colour on the other two walls. She had the same LED lights that everyone had in their rooms these days. They were set to orange. Her double bed was placed in the center of the room. The window was on the left of it with a desk placed in front of it. Leyla finished packing pretty quickly. She didn't care about the details. She didn't care where she ended up or what she had with her. She grabbed her passport and slipped it into the front pocket of her backpack. She was ready.

Hiii everyone!

Anyone reading this, thank you so much!! I hope you're enjoying it so far. I know it's a bit of a short chapter but there will be more shortly.

See you later!