The Bright Side

Welcome To Town

It’s two in the afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky. I squinted at it and inhaled some fresh air. It was okay. Although, if you really wanted some fresh air, go to an island. When I finished drowning myself with thoughts of comparisons between Briegstine city and Chelin Island, I decided it was an opportunity to turn over a new leaf, this time I was certain I was going to be alone. Without any guardian whatsoever. I’ll seriously miss Uncle Fred though, he’s been If some random teenager was in my place, he’d probably be partying right now. But I’m far from that. Whatever. I should just stay positive and ..

I saw yellow cars streaming along the road, taxis. Yes. I’ll just show the address to the driver and I’ll be home in no time. I hailed one and jumped in.

“So where to, pretty lady?” He chewed on his gum as he looked at me through the mirror. I pulled out my mom’s letter from my pocket and dictated the address.

He nodded, “Okay. Not so far from here. Sit back and relax.” Then he started driving like a boss as Maroon5 boomed in the radio. He was so into the song as he went from lane to lane.

We passed the supermarket, a mall, a gym, a park.. And I couldn’t help but just ogle at how modern things looked over here; I was even sticking my face out the window.

“Hey. Careful there,” He popped his gum. “You’re not from around here aren’t ya?”

“Yeah.. I grew up at Chelin Island..” I nodded conversationally as I sat back down properly. He took a sharp turn and grinned.

“We’re here!” He exclaimed, “Enjoy your stay, hon. It’s a great town! Nice people and nice places.” I gave him the bucks he needed and closed the car door. I turned around. I could still hear him wailing, She wiiiiilllll be looooved!

Gasp. It’s beautiful! It’s not just a house. It’s a mansion. My eyes grew wide like saucers as I gazed at it, walking slowly, step per step. The Queene’s Manor was carved on top of the metal gates. This house is probably the residence of the Queene’s before. The ones who didn’t actually want me to be born. I recognized that style of house, it’s .. What was that? Victorian. Three story. Gray and brown. Haunted looking. Yes. But the beautiful kind. Purple cherry blossoms were everywhere, especially around the majestic arched windows along the staircase. It looked magnif—

“Ow!” I fell to the ground and a kid was hovering over me. Dang it. I was run over a bike. Talk about ruining the moment.

“Oops. Sorry, lady!” He was probably around six years old. The kid had spiky blonde hair and an evil smirk on his face. He’s an attractive kid but he looked like trouble. He sniggered as he carried the bike off of me and helped me up, ”I told you to move but you weren’t listening.” Okay. So I’m the one to be scolded? Ugh.

“Well, kiddo, I was kind of having a moment here.” I put my hands on my waist. “Just go bicycling your way out of my face.” I told him off. He stuck his tongue out and zoomed away. I wasn’t the mean kind, but it seemed like that little devil did it on purpose.

I frowned and got out the huge ring of keys my mom sent me and tested each freakishly large bronze key on the gate. Does big foot have a sister called big hand? Why exactly did they have to make these keys so huge? When I finally got it right, I entered.

There was a garden full of plants I didn’t exactly recognize. But those that I did recognize were the purple orchids and pink carnations. A huge stone fountain in the middle of the garden, but it wasn’t working, vines were working its way all over it. There were engraved pictures of people on it looking at a mirror. Weird. It’s kinda a bizarre design for a garden fountain, don’t you think? It could’ve been mermaids or flowers or something nature-y. I didn’t take the Queene’s as the narcissistic kind but, okay. If that’s how they are, I’m cool with it.