A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

ACT 1: DURNINGTON

"Blake!"

A pause.

"Blake?"

An even longer pause.

The rustling wind can be heard from inside the car, whistling intently, rushing through the metal shell of the mini-van like a concentrated breeze; in one window and out through the other.

The sound of it makes it appear to be, in my dozed state, traveling at the speed of sound.

Or at least I think it's the speed of sound, I'm unsure.
Physics was never my strongest subject.

"Blake?"

I ever so vaguely hear my name being called, as if it were whispered by some ghost like entity trying to fucking haunt me or something.

"BLAKE!!!"

I certainly hear the yell, the shock of the shout still vibrating violently in my ears.

"Yeah?" I reply to the shout tentatively, knowing full well I'd have to be careful of what I say for 'ignoring' the caller.

And the caller so happened to be my dad.

"Are you even listening to me?" The impatience is evident in his voice.

"Yeah.....no, sorry."

The most simple of apologies seemed to work, and my father's tenseness is lessened, evident as his shoulders relax and his eyes turn from a glare to more of an understanding look.

My mom sends me a glance through the over-head mirror as she drives, as if keeping one eye on me and one eye on the road.

"We're nearly there, we passed the sign a few miles back." My father explains.

"How long have we been driving?" I ask, still as tentative and as respectfully as I can. Don't want to make the same mistake twice.

"Seven hours, son." The answer is about as surprising as I'd expect it to be: not at all.

We only traveled three hundred miles just to move house.

And yet, even through all this racket my sleeping brother is still as fast asleep as he was when we left.

The dozed wolf has his head slumped over his shoulder, which is pressed against the seatbelt, creating a dent in his ruffled fur.

"How has he slept through all this?" I hear my father mutter, shaking his head and smiling.

"D'ya want me to wake him?" I ask my parents.

A nod is the reply from both of them, and I reach over to my little brother, placing my paw in his shoulder and shaking it slightly.

He stirs slightly, his deep blue eyes flickering lightly behind his heavy eyelids.

He comes too somewhat, still dazed, the slurred "Huh?' leaving his half opened maw like a dying croak.

"We're nearly there, buddy." I whisper to him, and he nods again, this time much more awake.

We keep driving on, the last stretch of the journey feeling as if it is the longest part, not the previous seven hours we've spent driving.

"There it is kids!" My dad exclaims, and the tall apartments and high rise offices of Durnington come into view from the foreground of the sea of other cars driving towards it, it's view encapsulated by the stunning sunset hanging over it.

Finally, a fresh fucking start

Those tall high rise buildings are even more impressive looking as we drive beneath them on the surprisingly quiet roads.