The Cabin

Sebastian: Stargazing

Sebastian

It had been a week since I last saw my father. He invited me over for the evening. My father expressed to me that he even hoped that I would spend the night. I realized that I didn't have a good enough excuse to decline, so I packed my overnight bag. My mother and her girlfriend Sam, were out on a trip. I am guessing my mom called my dad, so he could take care of me. Both of them worry and neither of them want me left alone. Even though "alone" is all I want to be at the moment. I have been filling all my idle time trying to find somewhere for me to be. I have been searching for companionship ever since, and now I just want to breathe. I refreshed Layla's website and saw two new leads. One person reported that they saw her in Tennesee and the other saw her in Washington State. I called Layla's detective and got the automatic "Thank you for letting us know. We have written down this information and will look into it further."

I got into my car, took a deep breath, and began the 15-minute drive to the cabin. During my drive, I realized that I was rather lucky. Although my parents were split up, at least my father remained relatively close. I didn't want one more person to go so far away. I know it's selfish of me, and I know I am a grown adult, but I just want to wrap everyone up in a net and keep them all close to me. I can't lose anyone else at the moment. I had reached my quota.

My father greeted me at the front door. When I walked in, I could smell his signature pasta sauce simmering. "How was your drive?" My father asked. "Pretty good, I was able to listen to the ending of my podcast," I answered. I stood on the rug near the door and just waited. "Go ahead a set your things over by the couch." My father suggested. I am sure he saw me standing idly and awkwardly, as I hovered by the front door. I took off my coat and boots and carried my bag across the cabin. I slumped on the couch and realized I should probably offer to help my dad with dinner. "Hey, do you need any help?" I asked, kind of hoping he would say no.

"No, thank you, Sebastian. All that is left is to simmer for about 10 more minutes and then serve it up." My father answered. I rested on the couch and took in the cabin again. I had only really seen it from the front door last week. I admired the great big windows and the beautiful dark wood. I looked around and looked at the fake fireplace. That seemed out of place, my dad wasn't one for having fake or synthetic ornaments in his place of living.

Then, something caught my eye. I was looking at the bookshelf and saw the board games and card games that my dad had. I got up and moved closer. I saw Clue, Dominoes, skip-bo, checkers, chess, and some other games.

"Want to play something tonight?" My dad asked as he got the dishes down from the cupboard. "Maybe," I answered as I held Monopoly in my hands. "I played this with the Whitmores a little bit ago." As I said this, I felt a smile cross my lips. "How was it?" My father asked. "It was good. That was the first time I saw them smile in... well ever since," I said and I returned the box to the shelf. I then crossed over to the other shelf. There was a wave of comfort as I recognized many titles. "Layla loves Of Mice and Men," I said out loud to myself, recognition of the familiar title made my thoughts burst from my lips. Then I saw Jack London's To Build a Fire. Layla loves that story because she cynically enjoys plots where the characters get what they deserve. The traveler in the story ignored all signs and continued on, into the cold. "The idiotic man perishes and the dog moves on," Layla said to me when I asked about this book being on her shelf. Layla most likes two genres, fantasy and classics. To build a fire, although it was a classic didn't fit with the rest of her shelf it was always out of place. Layla liked to reread it when she wanted to read something realistic. Layla didn't always want a happy ending.

"You've got a lot of classics," I remarked as I could feel my father coming closer. "The classics are classics for a reason. They never get old and can be reread a million times." My father commented. "Even Pride and Prejudice?" I asked. I had never once seen my father read a romance novel or watch a chick flick. My father was very predictable. He was either reading a medical journal or a non-fiction historical experience.