Shining Stars

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

I spend the next day packing for my flight home. I've done what I came here to do and now its time to go.

"You will come again to visit us, won't you?" Kaitlyn asks.

I smile, "Of course, and maybe you and Isabelle could come for a visit sometime too."

They drop me off at the airport, a goodbye that's full of tears and hugs. As I watch them drive away I realise that I'll never be able to say goodbye to Hazel, that's just impossible. Maybe I could've ignored Hazel if I hadn't disrupted old ghosts by coming home, but I'm glad I did.

A journey is always quicker when your going home, maybe because I'm not as nervous as I was on my way to Indiana and that means I can sleep, or it may be that I now have peace of mind that my family are together and safe.

My mama and papa are waiting to collect me on the other side and I'm glad I'll be able to see them. I've enjoyed my time away but I've missed working with my papa, and listening to my mama's nagging.

When my flight comes to an end I rush past everyone so I can find my parents. After losing my "other parents" as it were I now appreciate every minute I have with my mama and papa and I'm thankful for them. My parents find me before I find them and they bombard me with questions. Was the weather nice? Did I have a good time? Did I take any pictures?

I promise to tell them everything once we get home and that seems to satisfy them for now. A couple hours of interrogation later I flop down onto my bed, exhausted and feeling slightly dirty. That's the one thing I hate about flying, no sanitation. I lazily walk into the bathroom to shower and remove whatever makeup I have on. Afterwards I moisturise with a vanilla sceneted cream. Its a warm comforting smell and I fall asleep with its scent around me.

Papa had said I could have the next day off to rest and recover from my flight, but I declined. I'm just desperate to get back to my mundane life after all that's happened. I certainly wasn't expecting to cure blindness, or discover that my little sister had died but I guess you can never be prepared for what lifes going to throw at you.

It feels good to be back at the shop, chatting to customers and catching up on gossip that I mussed while I was in the US. However my brain seems to be taking a while getting adjusted to the German language again after having spoke English for so long.

Its weird because I feel like a new person yet entirely the old me, the Hazel me. Whatever I feel, it makes me look at my life differently, with a little hope. Maybe I'll find Augustus, maybe we'll have the life together that we always dreamed about. It'd be so nice to finally get my fairytale ending after so long.