La Luna Pallida

i.

i. home away from home
wc: 900+

Waving to the taxi driver you closed the door. Biting your cheek you held back a smile as you looked ahead. Lugging your rucksack over your shoulder, you began pulling your suitcase behind you. Finally. A chance to experience a holiday without your family.

Your family and you had often gone away to Italy for the summer. For no reason other than that they simply adored the place and went every other year. As well as the fact that they had met at lago di Garda, whilst both on separate trips.

They actually had a jar they would put loose change into as spending money for the trips. It was a sweet tradition, it just meant you had been barely anywhere else. Though, you were not bothered in the slightest about it though.

This year you decided to travel there alone. You were twenty-two and it seemed like a good first solo-trip. Crema, a smaller, quieter, part of Italy. As opposed to the likes of Verona, Roma, Milano and Sicilia. All of which you had seen before.

You'd actually picked up quite a lot of the language over the years and naturally decided to use some teach-yourself books alongside. By the time you had reached eighteen you were confident enough with the language to have a conversation.

When you shipped yourself off to move out of your parents house, you decided you needed to learn how to cook. For two reasons. The first being a girls gotta eat good to feel good, right? The second being that you picked up an Italian cook book the summer before you moved away and were determined to use it. A two birds, one stone situation.

The hotel you had booked was a quaint little place, not far from a small forest. You'd found it through this small agency in your city centre.

You'd been saving up from doing over time at work, then on top of that, selling items you'd found in charity shops or the side of the street, at car boot sales on a Sunday. Making sure you had enough money to have a fun and stress-free holiday.

To be honest, it was more of a collection of flats and cottages as opposed to one big hotel. Much better than what you had expected. There was a beautiful mural across from a small swimming pool as soon as you walked through the check-in lounge at the biggest cottage, which had an extension, connecting it to another one. In this cottage there was a games room full of pool tables and dart boards. A bar with a few locals and a few older couples. It was lovely, a home away from home kind of vibe.

As for your room, you were in a flat - the cottages seemed a bit too extravagant and pricey considering you were alone. It was nice none the less though.

It wasn't small, nor was it huge, it was the perfect in between. As you walked through the door, which was opache with a stain-glass floral arrangement, there was a Persian rug underneath a huge single sofa chair that was in front of a low oval coffee table holding: playing cards, poker coins, chess. In the corner stood a small television box on a stand.

After that came a tiny kitchen with a small stove, a fridge, kettle, sink and double cupboard. The whole floor was wooden, real wood too, not that plastic stuff they had in new builds. Continuing through there was a bathroom and toilet, beautifully decorated with plants and a huge mirror. The stand-alone bath wasn't the fanciest. More of a metal tub but still nice enough.

Then came the bedroom, it had plain cream walls, adorned with pictures of Mary and paintings of what you assumed to be the local area. There was also two walls that had candle prickets. The bed was supposedly a single but it was big enough to be a double. It was a light gold metal frame with beautiful fixtures.

The rest of the room had a wooden wardrobe, dressers, a big mirror and a balcony. The blessing to climbing the stairs to the second floor of the flat.

The balcony doors were a faded sage green wood that opened up onto a small platform overlooking a stone gateway followed by a pathway into what you assume was the town centre and possibly also to the woodlands.

On your first evening you had been into the town to do a light grocery shop and to rent a vhs, which you didn't end up watching as you fell asleep. Tonight however, you decided to go to one of the open parties that most travellers did.

The live music from the band was fast and upbeat, it was already dark out but there was a purple tint to the night, emitting from the small stages lights. A sea of people were on the makeshift dance floor, some tipsy, some just high on life. There wasn't a bored face in sight.

It was refreshing to see so many people enjoying themselves in one place.

As you sat swirling your wine around in your glass, you wondered, is there anyone my own age here. This wasn't to say that you hadn't seen people in their twenties around, but the grounds were small here, you were practically on the edge of the town.

When you picked up your groceries you had asked the shop keeper what was further into town. To which they replied, bars, fountains and silly magazines.

Worth a shot right?

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