Element

Element IV

IV.

We arrived in Maine at 9:30 that night and I couldn't have been happier! A sixteen-hour car ride sure does a number on your back and I was experiencing it first hand.

After jumping out of the car I quickly stretched and grabbed the bag that held all my bathroom necessities and my luggage and headed in. I decided that what I didn't need tonight could wait till the morning.

As I walked around my car, my uncle grabbed my things for me and I threw him a grateful look. To be honest, I did not think I would make it to the house based off of how I felt. My aunt wrapped a loving arm around my shoulders and led me to the door.

As I took my first step onto the porch the front door suddenly swung open startling me. In the doorway stood a beautiful girl who I can only describe as the typical Cali girl. She was slim and stood at a height of about 5’5" with straight strawberry blond hair. She had clear blue eyes with just enough freckles that made her look younger then she appeared and of course the most perfect smile. As I stood there analyzing her she let out a loud squeal and ran towards me. I was swept into a tight hug as the girl began to ramble on.

"Oh my God!!! I can't believe you are finally here! I have been waiting all day for you guys and now your finally here and I am so excited! I'm not really excited for why your here but I'm happy you are here anyway! We are going to have so much fun together! We can stay up late together, talk about boys together, we can go shopping together, WE ARE GOING TO BE BEST FRIENDS!!!!"

She finally let me out of the hug as she flashed me the biggest smile I have ever seen. I couldn't help that a smirk found its way to my lips as I looked over at my aunt with a confused look. Both her and my uncle were silently laughing to themselves. They eventually saw the face I was throwing at them and my uncle stepped in.

"Alora, calm down. We just drove all day and Helen is too exhausted to handle you right now." He said with an amused expression on his face.

"I know dad but I'm just too excited!" Alora exclaimed while finally letting go so she could turn to her father.

"Helen, I would like you to meet our daughter Alora, and in case your wondering, she is always like this." He smirked while Alora playfully hit him on the arm. He faked hurt and pretended to pout out his lip while Alora just giggled.

As we walked inside, sheer exhaustion took over me. I have been practically running on nothing for the past week and it seems that life finally caught up to me. Although I really wished to stay up and explore the house, well I guess my new home, I just didn't have it in me. I excused myself and Alora showed me to my room. As we made our way up the stairs and toward the last room in the hall, Alora suddenly stopped and turned towards me with a look of sorrow in her eyes.

"Listen, I know that we don't really know each other but I just wanted to let you know that we are after all family. I can't even begin to understand how hard life must be for you but I want you to know that through thick and thin, I will always be here for you!"

As I stared at her I couldn't help but feel my heart start to ache. Of course there was nothing I longed more then to fully trust her and rely on her but that promise had been made and broken before by Michael and I just didn't know if I had it in me for it to happen again.

Sensing her waiting on my answer, I quickly flashed her a small smile and said "I would really like that Alora, it's going to take me time though and I hope you can understand that."

Taking my hand she continued to lead me down the hallway all the while showing me that she understood.

"Well, this is your room, it's right across the hall from mine so if you need anything then feel free to holler." Smilling, she wrapped me up in one last hug and went inside her room. As I turned around, I grabbed the knob and swung the door open.

To say I was speechless was an understatement.

The room was rather large with the main attraction being the king sized bed in the middle of the room. The walls were all painted a mild mint green with black furniture filling the room and bed contained what looked like the softest white blankets I have ever seen.

As I approached the bed, my assumptions were confirmed when I laid and practically melted in the down feather blankets. As I lay starring at the ceiling, the clouds shifted and the moon came to view through the window. As I sat up I quickly realized that it wasn't just a window I was looking through but rather the entire wall was a window. As I approached the glass, the view outside took my breath away. With the light of the moon, I could just make out the plush forest that surrounded the perimeter of the background and beyond that I could see the mountains that seemed to reach for the sky.

Turning from the window, I noticed two doors sat adjacent to the window, as I approached both I quickly realized one was the bathroom and the other was the closet.

After having fully satisfied my curiosity for the night, I did my nightly routine of brushing my teeth and washing my face. I quickly crawled into bed and turned off the light.

Laying there, I thought back to everything that had taken place these last couple of days. My father died, I met and Aunt and Uncle who I can't remember ever meeting, I inherited an insanely hyper but kind cousin, I moved to an entirely different state and to top it all off, I was to start living a different life filled with completely different people. 

Most people say that new beginnings make the most beautiful stories but I'm a little bit hesitant with what mine has in store.