The Rope Swing

Chapter 1

When I first heard we were moving to Oregon I was overjoyed. Finally I was going somewhere without spirit rituals every week. I was going to where I was from (even though I'm not even a citizen) and things might just be... normal. We were going to live in a actually working house and I was going to go to school. Yup. Life was looking good. But I had no idea what was going to happen. I had no idea that I would meet her. And I had no idea that my life would change forever

Let me tell you a bit about myself. My name is Ojas Schnedle. My name means filled with sun in Indian which is where I was born. Believe me it would have been worse. I was almost named Chirag which means "a lamp". I don't have any Indian heritage or ancestors or anything. Here let me explain. My dad was 20 when he married my mom. They got a house in Maine and they were living a normal life. Then my dad got offered a job as a journalist around the world. My dad accepted the job without a thought. Now you would think that this would just mean my dad would be gone a bunch, but turns out my mom is so thrilled about his new job that she says, "Thomas! I've got a great idea! How about I come with you and we can bring up our yet to be children while traveling. 10 years later I was born.
We arrived at our new house in the early morning. It was painted green and the paint was weathered and peeling. The toilet didn't flush and I couldn't see through the windows. But, it was my first real house in awhile. I still was confused on why we were going to this normal place, but I really didn't care enough to ask. As long as we stayed here for the promised year a would be a happy kid. Nothing could stop me from enjoying every second of an average human's life. At least, that's what I thought.